GOULBURN Mulwaree Council is shaking up the staffing structure less than a year after a widespread review.
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The Post understands some three staff members received letters last week advising their jobs would no longer exist in the proposed new structure. Others were encouraged to apply for reconfigured positions, in some cases of a lower grading.
General manager Warwick Bennett could not guarantee jobs wouldn’t be cut in the organisational review, “[but] it’s not so much about job losses as delivering services,” he said (see inset, right).
The GM said there were too many managers and these resources could be freed up for service delivery.
Mr Bennett would not reveal which areas would be cut, saying the council was midway through a 28-day consultation period with staff over the proposed changes. The United Services Union is also involved.
But a leaked consultant’s report reveals two management roles, one each in planning and engineering, and an operations supervisory role are slated to go. Despite its conclusion that the council is “top heavy” with management, the plan recommends the appointment of 11 business managers sitting beneath each directorship.
“There is not enough focus on operating as a business and ensuring that processes currently in place are followed and reviewed to achieve continuous improvement,” the report stated.
The authors said the council leadership team had expressed concern that “the organisation currently does not have the capacity, skills and infrastructure in place for growth and to manage $140 million in capital projects effectively”.
It also calls for a greater focus on strategic planning and managing growth, saying there’s a current “disconnect” between these aspects and implementation.
The titles of the current Utilities and Operations directorships will remain unchanged.
However, Corporate Services will change to Business Services.
Planning and Development, currently overseen by Louise Wakefield, is in for the biggest shake-up.
It will be re-badged to ‘Growth, Strategy and Culture’, taking the art gallery, tourism, economic development and some community services under its umbrella. These currently sit in the corporate services portfolio.
In all cases, the directors will have fewer people reporting directly to them.
“There are too many people getting involved with economic development and a strategic, common direction is required,” the report stated.
Furthermore, planning assessments needed to be simplified and there was a tendency to attach too many conditions to developments “which were beyond Council’s responsibility and ability to implement".
“A number of council decisions have been made as a result of poor advice and inadequate internal processes and thus resulted in unnecessary legal claims,” it stated.
While the authors praised management for the initiatives implemented to date, the document revealed that some staff were stressed by the pace of change and long working hours.
Regarding what didn’t work, the leadership team told the consultants that the organisation was “stretched to capacity and close to breaking point.”
“The key focus is for staff to be externally focused to support the community,” the report stated.
“However there is insufficient resource for internal, corporate requirements. This is putting the organisation at risk from a compliance point of view.”
The review also raised concerns about duplication of work and effort, including in purchasing and administrative areas.
Despite the wholesale recommendations for change, Mr Bennett insists no decisions have been made yet.
A report will go to the December 15 meeting for councillors’ decision.
