For Wenerei | Wednesday, the kaupapa is Te Reo i te Wāhi Mahi, recognising the role workplaces can play in making te reo Māori part of everyday life.
Work is where many of us spend a good chunk of our lives. It’s where we greet each other in the morning, share ideas, learn new things and stop for a kawhe. That makes it a pretty important place for te reo Māori to be heard, used and shared.
We caught up with Olivia from our People and Capability team in Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington to talk about the role workplaces can play, and how te reo has become part of everyday life at Coffee Supreme.
Olivia’s work is centred around helping our people do their best work. She develops people-friendly practices, processes and initiatives that bring our values to life, while helping create a workplace where everyone feels comfortable, supported and like they belong.
For her, learning belongs at work too.
“Workplaces can play a really big role in normalising te reo Māori. It’s where, as adults, we spend most of our day. Learning can be fun, it can support our hauora and work can be a safe place to try things out.”
Big Ways And Small Ways
Olivia describes the way te reo has grown at Coffee Supreme as both nui and iti: big and small.
Some of the bigger moments are easy to spot. During Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, our core blends wear their te reo Māori names on the front of pack. Supreme becomes Taioreore, Boxer becomes Ririhau and Brazil becomes Parīhi. We’ve also created a step-by-step guide to ordering coffee in te reo Māori, helping bring a little more reo into a familiar daily ritual.
The smaller moments happen throughout the year. A kia ora at the beginning of an email. Mōrena when arriving at work. Ngā mihi nui or ngā mihi mahana at the end of a message. A quick kōrero with the team. Karakia to open our all-hands hui.
They’re simple additions, but repetition is what helps new language begin to feel familiar.
“We believe in doing things 1% better,” says Olivia. “If I can add one kupu Māori each day, over time that can help people become more comfortable using te reo themselves.”
Learning From Each Other
One of Olivia’s ideas for bringing more reo into the workplace came from her dad. While he was learning te reo Māori, he labelled objects around his home with their kupu Māori. Olivia borrowed the idea and brought it into Coffee Supreme, adding te reo labels to familiar spaces and objects around the workplace.
What began as temporary signs is now becoming permanent room signage, making te reo a visible and lasting part of our spaces.
Olivia also learns from her tamāhine (daughter), who brings home kupu, pronunciation tips and lessons from kura (school). It’s a good reminder that learning doesn’t always move in one direction. We can learn from our whānau, our colleagues and the people around us, then share that knowledge again.
That shared approach matters. For Olivia, workplaces have a responsibility to make it safe for people to have a go, without feeling whakamā if their pronunciation isn’t perfect. At our all-hands hui, team members are invited to volunteer to lead the karakia. Speaking in front of a group can feel daunting, so the support of everyone in the room makes a difference.
Te reo doesn’t need to appear perfectly or all at once. It can grow through the words we choose, the habits we build and the encouragement we give each other.
As Olivia puts it: “Find ways to fold te reo Māori into your everyday life and interactions. Just like a great cup of coffee, it’s something best shared together.”
Kia kaha te reo Māori.
