Te Pūkenga a shambles – ex-staffer

Tertiary staff have slammed the nation’s new mega-polytech as a shambles, a former deputy chief executive says, as the tertiary provider launches a last-minute search for eight new directors.

Te Pū kenga will be fully operational from January 1, but after two and a half years of planning ‘‘it’s come down to the wire’’, said Merran Davis, who held one of six senior roles at the Crown entity until she quit in April last year.

Eight newly created regional director co-lead positions are currently being advertised and the successful candidates will be paid between $200,000 and $350,000 a year.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins was grilled about the roles in Parliament yesterday and said the co-leadership model ‘‘has a lot to offer’’ in this instance.

‘‘Each of the four regions will have one co-leader with primary responsibility for maintaining and operating effective partnerships with iwi and hapū in that region,’’ he said.

Penny Simmonds, National’s tertiary education spokesperson, asked Hipkins if the cost of the coleadership roles was included in the business case he received from Te Pū kenga last month.

He said it was, but could not say the cost, as the information had not yet been released.

Te Pū kenga is looking to slash its budget by $35 million and has not ruled out job cuts.

Simmonds asked what impact the eight co-leadership roles might have on the morale of staff waiting to hear if they were going to be made redundant.

Hipkins did not answer, but said consolidating 16 individual entities into one with a regional leadership structure would likely result in cost savings ‘‘at the leadership level’’.

Te Pū kenga acting chief executive Peter Winder said the regional co-director roles were identified ‘‘as part of decisions on our proposed executive structure’’.

‘‘The roles are full time and are senior leadership roles with appropriate salary for the skills, expertise and leadership we expect at this level of a national organisation,’’ he told Stuff.

‘‘While we continue to address our financial sustainability, we must also progress the integration of the 24 organisations that have been brought together to form Te Pū kenga.’’

Davis was appointed deputy chief executive for transformation and transition at Te Pū kenga in August 2020 but is now a vocal critic of the organisation’s management.

She met with tertiary staff at the weekend and said they talked about the entity ‘‘being a big cluster f...’’.

‘‘They still haven’t got an operating model for the new organisation,’’ she said.

‘‘What did the current execs actually do in the last two and a half years?

‘‘Because it’s come down to the wire.

‘‘If you look at any of the evidence on successful transformation, it almost looks like they have set about to do everything wrong.’’