Flight Centre has come under fire for a booze-soaked culture and murals that suggest women should carry condoms and become 'Naughtywise' ambassadors at the company's leading global event.

The company's vision of an high-achieving employee is emblazoned across the Auckland office - a scantily clad woman with her skirt hitched up, one shoe missing, holding a glass of champagne and wearing a pair of devil's horns.

The murals were installed as part of a recent refurbishment of the company's Auckland headquarters.

On the other side of the image, under the heading "Mindset", the mural refers to alcohol-induced memory loss, injury and "sharing" of embarrassing photos on social media.

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*Nobody else launched a rigorous #metoo investigation – so I thought, bugger it, let's go

Do you have more information on the Flight Centre culture? Email cecile.meier@stuff.co.nz or newstips@stuff.co.nz

Another mural nearby shows a young male staff member in uniform, wearing a headset. He is fully clothed and holding a beer.

In contrast to the female mural, the male "essentials" include an energy drink and an iPhone. The mural refers to male employees knowing their numbers, targets and goals. There are no references to sex.

The permanent murals were installed as "inspiration" for employees to hit sales targets, at which point they are eligible to attend the Global Gathering, the pinnacle of the company's achievement every year. This year's Global gathering took place in Berlin last weekend, with thousands of attendees, and a headline performance by pop singer Kylie Minogue.

The mural featuring the woman references the Global event. The company said there was a similar mural for men attending the Global event but has not provided it.

Flight Centre chief financial officer Victoria Courtney​ said the male version was on a different floor, and had similar messaging with a man dressed as Elvis.

The female Flight Centre mural was meant to be "inspiring".

Courtney defended the murals, saying they were "tongue in cheek" and the company had a "work-hard, party-hard" culture.

A "work-hard, play-hard" culture at law firm Russell McVeagh, was heavily criticised in the recent 89-page report into allegations of sexual misconduct at the firm. The report's author, Dame Margaret Bazely, said the culture at the firm, involving heavy drinking, had in part led to the sexual harassment issues.

Stuff spoke to an employee who felt compelled to speak out about the Flight Centre culture. The murals at Flight Centre in Auckland were seen as "stupid" by most of the staff, including the men, she said.

"The female sales consultants hate that poster. (They) look at it and say 'that doesn't describe me'."

When asked about the 'Naughtywise ambassador', Courtney said: "We have three internal businesses that exist for our people: we have a healthwise, a moneywise and a travelwise. They support the health, financial wealth and travel experiences for our people.

"So that's the origin of where that term comes from. It's around not taking ourselves so seriously.

"For example if the healthwise leader caught you sneaking out with your McDonald's after the awards night, she'd probably call you naughty for doing that so, so it really nods to that irreverence, having fun and not taking ourselves too seriously but it's not an official role or phrase. It's an in-joke."

The employee, as well as a former colleague who has since left the business, described a global Flight Centre culture where alcohol was the "reward for everything" and female staff members were routinely sexualised.

Emily, the former employee, told Stuff that at a company party she was hassled by a group of male and female colleagues to show her nipple piercing to them.

She also told of a male Flight Centre employee in Australia who took her phone and left a picture of his penis on it.

Emily said the booze culture was "a global thing" at Flight Centre.

"You are explicitly told you have to attend the monthly buzz nights. New people are brought up to be introduced, and made to do shots. It sets the tone for your work life - if you refuse you risk being seen as a stick-in-the-mud."

Courtney confirmed these events were considered compulsory.

"There is absolutely an expectation for staff to attend company events and we do stipulate that in our contracts. There is an expectation but we absolutely understand that it's unreasonable for everyone to attend every event... so we're flexible around that."

Courtney said 80 per cent of Flight Centre staff globally were women, and 50 per cent of senior management in New Zealand were female.

"We haven't had any concerns or issues raised."

The female staff member told of attending a Flight Centre conference where senior management gave "shots" of tequila to conference delegates from first thing in the morning.

The staffer said young people joining the company were often "really excited" by the hard-drinking culture but "it's not what you want in a professional company."

"A lot of people brought this up at the conference last week; that it's a young person's company that doesn't cater for families."

Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Canterbury, Ekant Veer, a specialist in equity and diversity issues, says the emphasis on drinking is common in many sales-intensive companies.

"What you're describing [at Flight Centre] was the standard culture in the Wolf of Wall Street times," he said.

"Some company leaders are still living in those times, not accepting that things have moved on from 40 years ago."

He said company culture was there to help employees feel connected and "part of something bigger."

"They're trying to do that through drinking. That suits some people, at the expense of people who might feel vulnerable."

Professor Veer also voiced concern about the mural of the partying woman at Flight Centre's headquarters.

"That to me, is a classic example of objectifying and victimising women.

"It's really difficult to change a culture like that, as we've seen in cases like (law firm) Russell McVeagh. We need to make sure that vulnerable people are taken care of, but to do that, you have to have a mindset shift among the people at the top.

"If management say change is needed but don't really believe it, nothing will happen."