Every Friday the team from Koha Kai sit down together for a shared lunch. 

There is plenty of laughter, plenty of conversation, and of course, plenty of kai. 

And while those lunches are a way to fill hungry mouths, they are about much more than that. 

They are about creating a sense of belonging, a feeling of inclusion, team bonding.  

That feeling of being like whanau is critically important for the team at Koha Kai. 

A large percentage of the workforce are living with disability of some kind, some are living with poverty, some have health conditions that make working in less inclusive environments more difficult. 

Chief executive Janice Lee said creating that feeling of connection and belonging wasn’t part of any kind of policy, it was simply part of the way things were done at Koha Kai. 

“It’s just a part of our culture. We have always been about looking after people’s nutritional needs so the fact that we eat together is just an extension of that.” 

Koha Kai was one of the 12 entries in the Healthy Families Invercargill Workplace Wellbeing Award at last year’s Westpac Southland Business Excellence Awards. 

Creating a place where people can have purpose, value, and embrace opportunities is what Koha Kai is all about. 

Since starting its journey five years ago, Koha Kai has undergone rapid and sizeable changes. 

Originally operating a small team responsible for providing hot, nutritious lunches to a pilot school in Invercargill, the team now operates across three areas – the commercial kitchen, the gardens, and the trainee system. The organisation has grown to 35 employees – the commercial kitchen has enabled the  employment of more trainees, something that was always part of the organisational vision of encouraging a life of purpose. 

But those changes have brought challenges too. The workforce has diverse needs, and recognising that everyone learns differently, and at their own pace, has been among the challenges that management and team leaders take into account when developing and building the culture of wellbeing. 

There are opportunities for trainees to learn new skills and opportunities to try new recipes and receive feedback in a safe environment. Training meetings are held weekly, when all staff are involved in working on the business and focusing on the people they are working with. It’s all part of ensuring everyone feels part of the process, part of the team, Janice said. 

“It’s that team building, belonging, whanaungatanga.” 

Article added: Thursday 20 August 2020