Council changes put community first

Staff and community feedback has led to improvements in a Christchurch City Council proposal to change its organisational structure and become more community-focused.

Chief Executive Karleen Edwards has released a final structure after considering staff submissions and informal feedback from the community. There are a number of changes to the original proposal which strengthen and support the goals of increasing the focus on community, streamlining the organisation, empowering staff and creating a more agile organisation.

"The final decision introduces some key structures that will make it easier for people to work with the Council. This includes: creating single points of accountability so residents can get the answers they need; more streamlined, end-to-end functions that make sense to residents; reducing layers of management; and ensuring we have people with the technical expertise in the right positions.

"On their own, these changes will help the Council become more community-focused and better able to respond to the needs of residents. In addition, we will also be looking at our ways of working to ensure this new structure makes sense and is ultimately successful."

The final reorganisation will result in the disestablishment of 180 roles (including currently vacant positions) and the creation of 134 new roles.

"I am confident this reorganisation will make the Council a more community-focused, agile organisation. When I announced the change proposal, I said the aim of the process was to create a stronger community and customer focus; reduce duplication by bringing similar services together; and improve accountability by providing clarity of leadership and reducing the number of management roles.

"I was impressed with the calibre of staff feedback and the further understanding this added to the process. I have made a number of changes to the original proposal based on the comments and insights raised by staff," she says.

Key changes to the proposal include:
• Increasing the number of operational groups from five to six, with the addition of a small Corporate Services Group to ensure the Finance and Commercial Group can focus on enhancing the organisation's financial and commercial performance. Under the final decision, the six groups (each of which will be represented by a General Manager on the Executive Leadership Team) are: Customer and Community; City Services, Consenting and Compliance; Strategy and Transformation; Finance and Commercial; and Corporate Services.
• The decision to retain the Reporting and Analytics team, after feedback highlighted this team's essential role in providing digital mapping (GIS) information that supports services across the Council.
• The reorganisation of the Council's communications and marketing functions, but the retention of a greater number staff in these areas than outlined in the proposal. Strong feedback was received in support of these functions to the wider Council's ability to inform and engage with the community.

The proposal was developed drawing on research into local and international trends, and discussions with staff, city leaders, community groups and business leaders. The Fit for Future restructure has been directly lead by the Chief Executive and supported by staff. The Council has spent $219,508 engaging PwC to carry out external research and provide specialist advice.

ENDS

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