Staff encouraged to 'celebrate individuality'
Kiwibank has refreshed its corporate wardrobe, saying its new range of attire has been designed to better reflect modern Aotearoa.
Marking the bank’s first workwear update in nearly a decade, the wardrobe will be rolled out to all customer-facing teams.
The 46-piece collection (see photo below), designed in collaboration with five local designers, is said to consider all body types, accessibility, gender-neutrality, as well as cultural and religious preferences.
Kiwibank chief executive Steve Jurkovich (pictured above) said that the new wardrobe reflected New Zealand’s “modern and progressive society”.
“Going into a bank where our people look smart and professional and reflective of the community, shows that we take looking after our customers’ finances seriously,” Jurkovich said.
The bank often speaks to staff about the importance of “bringing their whole self” to work – and there is no better visual representation of that than what people wear, he said.
Its new range reflects the “many identities and cultures than make up Aotearoa New Zealand,” he said.
“To deliver the best results for our customers, we need to ensure our team can thrive and perform without barriers. This new Kiwibank wardrobe enables them to do just that.”
Expression of individuality encouraged
Jurkovich said that the new wardrobe supported diversity in the workplace.
For Kiwibank, the updated wardrobe was about increasing the possibilities for team members to “celebrate their own individuality” and dress in a way that made them feel empowered, and in turn, perform better for customers, he said.
“It allows them to better represent their true selves while feeling a strong connection to the team,” Jurkovich said.
Higher customer satisfaction expected
Greater diversity in the workplace breeds better customer outcomes, Jurkovich said.
“We believe launching a new wardrobe for our people will increase employee satisfaction, helping them deliver better services for customers, increase performance and in turn help drive better investment back in New Zealand,” he said.
“The new wardrobe is one of the many steps Kiwibank is taking to build a world-class working environment, alongside our great range of other benefits.”
Kiwibank Whangarei branch manager Clint Wharf said the collection of items and range of colours represented “who we are at Kiwibank”, and that the uniform would help the bank to “stand out from the competition”.
The collection could be mixed and matched to allow staff to show their personalities in a professional way, Wharf said.
The Kiwibank wardrobe will be worn by customer-facing teams from mid-2023.
In response to questions around banks’ willingness to lend, Kiwibank said in March that it constantly reviewed its home lending offering to ensure it remained competitive.
Commenting on the 0.50% official cash rate rise in April, Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr said that the RBNZ clearly wanted to keep interest rates where they are while inflation remained high.
