1) The document reports on a study that examined the relationship between Maori employees' connections to their whanau (family) at work and home, whanau support, and outcomes like life satisfaction, career satisfaction, and stress. 2) The results showed that stronger whanau connections at work were linked to higher life satisfaction, while stronger home connections were associated with greater career satisfaction and lower stress. 3) Whanau support had a direct influence on outcomes and also interacted with whanau connections, such that the highest career satisfaction and lowest stress resulted from strong connections at both work and home combined with high whanau support.

1. Whanau Connections At Work And Home and Whanau Support: A 3-Way Interaction Study of Maori Employees Associate Professor Jarrod Haar University of Waikato & Maree Roche, WinTec

2. Acknowledgement This research was funded by a Marsden Grant “The Role of Maori Cultural Support for Employees and Employers” (X957)

3. Maori in New Zealand New Zealand is typically considered a Western and individualistic society, while Maori the indigenous population, who live alongside European New Zealanders, are predominately centered on collectivistic beliefs. Maori - collectivist beliefs. Tikanga Whakapapa Whanau Whakawhanaungatanga

4. Maori Employees Maori make up 14.6% of the population and around 13% of the workforce. Maori work income is 22% lower than Europeans March 2010: 14.2% unemployment rate for Maori compared to 4.4% for Europeans only (a 323% difference!!) Maori also over-represented in mental health: highest levels of anxiety and depression Cultural renaissance, with 24% of Maori able to hold an everyday conversation in Te Reo Maori (Maori language)

5. Whanau Whanau is not a simple ‘alternative’ term for the nuclear family. Whanau may include intergenerational, extended family structures, possible foster-relationships and other family and community connections and obligations Whanau is a crucial concept for Maori because choices and decision-making processes focus around the implications of these towards whanau Therefore, whanau are given priority in deciding what action to take, with benefits to the whole whanau rather than just some individuals

6. Working with Whanau This paper explores whanau connectedness as a measure of exploring Maori employee’s relationships with their whanau in the workplace Connections through sharing work, interactions, and stories, regarding both work and home issues, with whanau are likely to build confidence and satisfaction amongst Maori employees such that their wellbeing is enhanced. “Weekend effect” as a benefit towards well-being. Why? Interacting with family… Hence the potential benefits for Maori

7. Hypotheses Direct Effects: Higher whanau connections will be related to higher (1) life satisfaction and (2) career satisfaction Higher whanau connections will be related to lower (3) stress Potential moderating effect: Whanau support whanau connections (work and family) 3-way interaction btwn whanau connections (work and family) & whanau support

8. Method Data were collected from 13 NZ organizations in the same regional location (high population of Maori employees). From 304 Maori employees, a total of 192 responded to surveys 1 (predictors) & 2 (outcomes, for a 63.2% response rate. On average, the participants were 38.8 years old, married (73%), parents (77%) and male (55%), working 38.3 hours per week and had tenure of 3.9 years. By education levels, 18.3% held high school qualifications, 39.3% held a technical college qualification, 35.1% held a university degree, and 7.3% had a graduate qualification. Compared to the NZ Maori population, the levels of degree and postgraduate qualifications are over represented.

9. Exploratory Factor Analysis

10. Results: Life Sat

11. Results: Career Sat

12. Results: Stress

13. 3-Way Interaction: Career Satisfaction

14. 3-Way Interaction: Stress

15. Discussion Measure of whanau connections split between work and home Whanau connections had distinct influences on outcomes (work towards life sat, and home towards career sat & stress) Accounted for modest amounts of variance towards stress, but large towards satisfaction Whanau support important direct influence, especially towards career satisfaction

16. Discussion 3-way interactions supported Towards career sat: highest benefits for high whanau work & home connections and high whanau support and least benefits those with low connections and support Towards stress: highest benefits [lowest stress] when high whanau home connections & low/high whanau work connections and high whanau support and least benefits those with low connections and support

17. Limitations & Conclusions Limitations: cross-sectional data  But, data collected at two time periods ([1] predictors & [2] outcomes) Narrow number of Maori organizations – further studies extending data collection… Further testing of whanau connections measure needed and the role of whanau support Conclusion: working with whanau is beneficial for Maori employees, especially towards life and career satisfaction. Furthermore, support from whanau is important directly and indirectly!