Ranjna Patel brought pride and honour not only to her team at Nirvana Healthcare Group but also to the business community in general and Indians in particular as she received the ‘Walk the Talk Award’ last month.
The Honour, which formed a part of the Diversity Awards of the ANZ-Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Trust, recognised leaders who exemplify excellence in managing a diverse workforce.
The event, 17th in an annual series, was held at Langham Hotel on August 27, 2014.
Corporate Leader
A Citation said that the ‘Walk the Talk Award’ celebrates leaders who understand the benefits of diversity create healthy workplace cultures where everyone’s skills and talents are utilised and appreciated.
The Nirvana Group personifies cultural diversity, both in its complement of staff (comprising doctors, nurses, other medical practitioners, management and support personnel) and customers, and is the largest private medical care provider in the country.
Incorporating East Tamaki Health Care (EHTC) and Total Healthcare Otara, the Group accounts for 21 healthcare centres located throughout Auckland with more than 800 staff (including the White Cross) serving about 170,000 registered patients.
High Achiever
Four months ago, Mrs Patel became the first Indian to decorate the Hall of Fame of ‘Co. Of Women,’ an organisation of high achievers in Auckland (Indian Newslink, June 1, 2014). EHTC won the Indian Newslink Supreme Business of the Year Award’ in addition to winning in the ‘Best Innovation Business’ and ‘Best Professional Services Business’ categories and being a finalist in the ‘Best Large Business’ category in 2009. Mrs Patel won the ‘Best Businesswoman of the Year Award’ in 2010.
“Her commitment to developing opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and genders and providing meaningful leadership has seen her devoting significant time and energy, not just to her work at Nirvana Health Group, but also to roles with other community organisations,” a press note said.
Positive Inclusion Award
The Nirvana Health Group also won the ‘Positive Inclusion Award’ of the EEO Trust, celebrating innovative responses to inclusivity in the workforce.
“New Zealand’s workforce comprises varying genders, religions and sexual orientations. An accepting unbiased workplace encourages engaged, active, productive employees and recognises the whole person.
“Early on, it was recognised that a dynamic organisational culture and practices should reflect and answer the needs and expectations of a growing culturally-diverse workforce.
Multi-faith Celebration
This approach means that everyone in the Nirvana family celebrates each other’s religious and cultural festivals, such as Diwali, Ramadan, Eid, Christmas and Easter. It is common practice that staff offer to work extra hours on these special occasions to allow their colleagues to take the time off to celebrate the occasion with their respective families,” the press note added.
The picture here (taken at the Awards ceremony) shows (from left) Tina Evangelista, Vicky Solomona, Gillian Davies, Sarita Chand, Alistair Sullivan, Kate Moodabe, Ranjna Patel, David Codyre, Bev Cassidy-Mackenzie, Pramod Galgali, Geetha Galgali, Nikki Patel, Radhika Patel, Rakesh Patel and Shobhana Patel. Those sitting are (from left) are John Evangelista, Mark Vella, Nikhil Zaveri, Deva Mutthuvel and Mahesh Patel.
