2017-03-13 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                   13 MARCH 2017




Consultation process

An extensive internal consultation process was undertaken as part of this review. Details are
contained in the “Internal Consultation” section at the end of this report. It was important to
undertake an extensive internal consultation process for the following reasons:
1.    Due to the start-up nature of our Council in 2014, there was not a lot of time for staff
      consultation when we adopted out first structure. Accordingly, our first structure was
      developed using a “top down” approach.
2.    We undertook good internal consultation for the Corporate Plan and on that basis, it was
      important to follow up with staff about how we can make sure that our structure supports our
      desired strategies.
3.    We had a number of years’ experience with our initial structure so had better practical
      experience as to what was working well and what could be improved. The best knowledge
      of that comes from our staff.
4.    Experience tells us that organisational structure change can lead to concerns from staff if
      that change process is not managed well. An essential part of that change management
      process is for our staff to have their say on the future and be heard. The consultation process
      was designed accordingly with two rounds of staff consultation i.e.
      (i)   the “blank piece of paper stage” in December 2016 asking staff for their feedback
            generally and
      (ii) the “draft structure stage” in February 2017 when staff were provided with a draft
            structure based on feedback from stage 1 and asked to comment on specific proposals.

Many of the comments by our staff have been taken on board in the formulation of the final
structure. Obviously, there are always diverse opinions on what is an ideal structure for a local
government.

2.    Proposed Changes to Existing Structure

A number of “big picture” changes to our current organisational structure are proposed:
1.   Planning and Infrastructure Department to be split in two with the new Departments being
     called Environment and Sustainable Development and Infrastructure Services.
2.    The Environment and Sustainable Development Department is to have responsibility for
      Environmental Services, Strategic Planning, Development Assessment, Economic
      Development and Building & Plumbing regulatory functions.


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