Experienced staff leave, key positions vacant as acting Geelong council CEO Kaarina Phyland reshapes organisation

An exodus of experienced staff, senior workers on stress leave and 30 per cent of manager roles sitting vacant are heaping pressure on Geelong’s council. Insiders say City Hall’s ability to serve the community is at stake.

Geelong council mayor Trent Sullivan, left, and acting CEO Kaarina Phyland, right

City Hall is “in shock” as it battles to deliver services “on budget and on time” amid a restructure that’s hurt morale, seen staff on stress leave and managers lose their jobs, a Geelong council insider says.

But City of Greater Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said the restructure, two years in the making, was “crucial” to keep council financially sustainable and improve the way it served the community.

After making 19 roles redundant in April, council is looking for another $4.5m in savings that staff fear will lead to more job cuts.

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Council insiders and recently departed staff have spoken out as concerns grow among community leaders about how the organisation is functioning.

A well-placed council source said the loss of experienced staff and associated vacancies had put pressure on City Hall to deliver services “on budget and on time”.

The source said the organisation wanted stability under the tenure of acting chief executive Kaarina Phyland, who was appointed last year, but that hadn’t eventuated.

“It’s been a massive culture shock; an operational shock. The whole council is in shock.

“Good staff have walked out; good staff are on stress leave and are not coming back until there’s change.

“It is an environment of fear; if you talk – you’re out.

“We were part way through the 2023-24 budget when we lost many of our finance team. It was a debacle of a budget process.”

Three senior finance staff have left council in the past year but a chief financial officer, with significant experience in banking, was hired recently.

Eight senior positions are vacant at City Hall, and the Geelong Advertiser understands a property and procurement manager is due to depart council shortly – described as a “huge loss” for the organisation.

City infrastructure, and the customer, community and economy departments are headed by staff in acting positions, while the directorship of strategy, governance and corporate is vacant.

Ms Phyland will return to be director of strategy, governance and corporate when a permanent chief executive is found, Mr Sullivan said.

At manager level, seven of 29 positions are vacant, including waste services, civil infrastructure and family services, according to council’s website.

In April, as part of the restructure, council parted with a 30-year veteran who was the co-ordinator of economic development and who had shaped the work that saw Geelong recognised as a UNESCO City of Design.

This week council, which has about 1850 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, had job advertisements for 16 vacancies across transport planning, community inclusion and youth development.

Staff have questioned why the major restructure of council departments was executed by Ms Phyland.

Mr Sullivan said council had instructed her to continue the work as a priority when she was appointed.

The Australian Service Union has written to the Geelong councillors outlining “deep concerns for the potential reduction in services” in the moves to find $4.5m in savings.

Ms Phyland said finding efficiencies within council required “difficult decisions to be made by leaders and employees” but staff and the community would notice improvements to the way council operated as a result.

“We understand that change is difficult, but these changes are about helping our staff serve the community as efficiently and effectively as possible,” Ms Phyland said.

“We have been carrying out employee meetings across all of our directorates to explain and answer questions about the changes taking place.

“While we have been clear that we are looking for ways to be more efficient in the face of rising costs, we have a focus on protecting frontline jobs, and this has been well received by employees.”

One ex-staffer said: “Senior staff are on stress leave or have left. If you have an organisation with such high turnover I don’t think it’s operating effectively.”

Another former staffer, who was in a senior council position this year, said the lack of experience of staff in senior roles was concerning.

“There is a lot of inexperienced executives there at the moment; they are unable to consult or engage with staff; they don’t form effective working relationships.

“We need an experienced chief executive to come in and restore culture and morale because for many people working there now is a nightmare.”

Mr Sullivan said: “The council supports the organisation taking a continuous approach to improvement and efficiency.”

Originally published as Experienced staff leave, key positions vacant as acting Geelong council CEO Kaarina Phyland reshapes organisation