Staffing Levels and Efficiency - Bega Valley

From an interview with the departing General Manager of Bega Valley Shire Council, Graeme Faulkner.

Q. How do you rate the Bega Valley Shire Council and its staff in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, viability?

A. Bega Valley Shire Council is severely constrained through lack of human an other resources, however the shire continues to meet its statutory requirements through a commitment from staff and Councillors that is largely ignored by those external to Council.

The few resources available to Council are used effectively and efficiently. They will, however, never be able to accommodate all the expectations of a small community that doesn’t have the capacity to afford ongoing maintenance and replacement of the infrastructure which has been put in place over decades and which is now deteriorating.

The ongoing viability of the shire will continue to be under threat from the processes of cost shifting and rate pegging, possibly culminating in the formation of larger, regionally-based Councils and the loss of control and representation at the local level.

The heavy reliance by Bega Valley Shire on “grants income” as a significant proportion of its revenue base and its current level of borrowing is a risk that needs to be alleviated.

Perhaps the greatest threat to the viability of the shire is the continuation of divisions that have existed and continue to exist within the community and that are regularly reported in the media.

Q. You instigated a staffing restructure last November and the senior positions are now filled. Will the new structure bring about the improvements the community is expecting?

A. The staffing structure agreed by Council has been put in place and all senior positions have been filled. The process has resulted in gross savings to Council of approximately $810,000, with $500,000 quarantined in reserve for potential application to infrastructure works. Annual award increases, however, approximate $500,000 so Council has simply “bought time” as it considers the options available to it.

In adopting the staffing structure, Council recognised the need for the shire to attract and continue to retain employees with a significant and relevant knowledge base, in recognition of the challenges the shire faces.

It is now widely recognised that knowledge-based industries are going to be the employment and profit generators of the future and that those that survive this transition will only do so by ensuring that knowledgeable employee assets are available to them.

This holds true for private and public sectors and is considered in a context where globalisation and communication technology have impacted on the Australian economy significantly, reducing our manufacturing and service-based industries which have been traditionally relied upon to generate employment wealth.

Tangible evidence of this process can be seen in the demise of coastal industries and the transfer of traditional manufacturing and service based industries offshore (Mitsubishi and call centres generally).

Q. How are staff coping with the restructure and with the extra workloads caused by the loss of some 20 jobs? Which areas are suffering most?

A. Staff never complain directly regarding the impositions placed upon them in Council’s current financial environment, but it is obvious to all that they are suffering increasing stress, while continuing to take on more and more duties.

The resilience and commitment of the staff was never more apparent than during the recent restructuring process as they accepted more duties and responsibilities as the organisation reduced its employee complement by 29 positions.

The organisation was under-resourced prior to the restructure but, having no other option, Council cut back in the only areas that it could to free up funds for infrastructure works.

While the imposition is across all areas of Council, as natural attrition was used whenever the vacancy occurred, those areas that continue to suffer the most are those with a high level of public and customer contact such as Planning, Building Services and Customer Services.