100 staff quit city council
Exactly 100 permanent employees have resigned from the Invercargill City Council in the past 16 months – including 55 since the arrival of chief executive Clare Hadley eight months ago.
Of the 55, four were managers. As of last week the council had 370 permanent employees in total.
One of the long-time staff members who departed the council in the past eight months said there was a lot of uncertainty among staff.
‘‘Consultants are coming in left, right and centre.
‘‘There’s definitely change in the wind which may be good or may be bad. They are certainly losing a lot of corporate knowledge.’’
Hadley’s focus was not about people, consultation or communication, the former staffer said.
‘‘It’s about change . . . and that’s probably what she was employed to do by councillors [who] selected her.’’
Saving money short term didn’t necessarily meet the needs of the ratepayers in the long term, the former staffer said.
Hadley said it was ‘‘only natural’’ for there to be a period of change and renewal with a new chief executive.
‘‘Feedback from the community was that change was needed,’’ she said. ‘‘I acknowledge that when change occurs, it can be unsettling.’’ Her priorities were on making sure the council was serving the ratepayers, with money being spent wisely and services delivered in the most efficient and effective way.
‘‘So I am asking a lot of questions and I make no apology for that.’’ Hadley, who has now worked at seven councils, said she had utilised consultants to provide better value to Invercargill, citing consultation currently taking place on joining the Local Government Funding Agency which may save ratepayers around $350,000 a year in interest costs.
She had given staff the clear message they should act as one organisation, reduce costs and improve customer service, she said.
‘‘I’ve shared with them my immediate focus is on improving our systems and processes to achieve these.’’
She was putting effort into ensuring every staff member knew what was going on, she said. ‘‘I have received positive feedback from staff, both directly and indirectly, that they like being told what is going on.’’
Invercargill city councillor Alex Crackett said she had been aware of the increasing number of resignations, and said Hadley had commented about it to councillors. ‘‘I would say the consensus of the councillors has welcomed the shift in accountability and leadership style,’’ Crackett said.
Hadley, who replaced longtime chief executive Richard King in March, was ‘‘employing a culture shift’’, Crackett said.
‘‘As directed by council, we have encouraged Clare to have a customer focus, being
‘‘There’s definitely change in the wind which may be good or may be bad.’’ Former staff member
accountable to ratepayers first and foremost.
‘‘For her, that has meant taking all the staff on that journey, some staff have decided it’s a journey they want to come on and others have decided it’s not for them and have chosen to leave.’’
Crackett said some staff had been at the council for a long time and were used to doing things in a certain way.
The council had put in parameters around sensitive expenditure and being 100 per cent accountable and transparent to the ratepayers, she said.
‘‘Some are happy with that and some are finding the shift difficult.’’
Cr Ian Pottinger said Hadley needed to be given the opportunity to run the ship how she wanted to.
Pottinger had seen an improvement in transparency, accountability and reporting back to the council since Hadley had started, he said.
The resignation figures at the council show in the eight months before Hadley’s arrival, from July 18 last year till March 18 this year, 45 permanent employees resigned and three retired for a total of 48.
In the nearly eight months between Hadley’s arrival on March 19 and November 12, 55 permanent employees have resigned, another 11 were made redundant from their work at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery and three had retired, including two managers, for a total of 69.
The managers to have resigned since Hadley started are finance director Dean Johnston, parks assets manager Graeme Davies, environmental health manager John Youngson and Rachel Reece, a manager in human resources.