Gympie council staff survey shows council has hit rock bottom

The internal culture of Gympie council has been blasted by staff in a new survey, with workers saying the organisation cannot possibly get any worse.

Gympie council’s internal culture has been eviscerated by workers in a scathing assessment which leaves the little organisation anywhere to go but up.

The report reveals the council has bottomed out with its workers, with only 22 per cent rating it at the top of a seven-point performance scale.

It was a significant drop for the council on the last results in 2018.

That survey revealed less than a third of workers felt the organisation was performing well.

Only four of 63 key areas surveyed this time were rated strongly by more than 50 per cent of respondents: teamwork, that staff’s personal success is important to the council’s, their immediate supervisor listens and responds, and producing quality work in teams.

This was down from 2018, where 13 of the 63 categories were rated well by staff.

In contrast, only four per cent of respondents were happy with the council’s incentives and rewards, and only six per cent felt the council was keeping skilled people on the payroll.

A new Gympie Regional Council staff survey has delivered a scathing assessment of the organisation with the latest results (right) significantly worse than in 2018.

Nine per cent felt the council valued its workforce.

The council’s corporate and infrastructure services were the two worst-rated directorates, each receiving strong support from less than one-fifth or workers.

The office of the CEO, which since the election has been held by two CEOs and two acting CEOs, was rated as performing well by 29 per cent of staff.

This was on par with the 2018 results.

Slivers of green were few and far between on the survey, with the best results coming from casual staff and those at the organisation for less than a year.

Less than one in five Gympie Regional Council workers thought the organisations corporate service and infrastructure service branches were performing well.

Female staff were slightly more favourable of the council’s performance (26 per cent) than their male counterparts (21 per cent).

More than two-thirds of the council’s 465 workers responded to the survey.

In a statement to The Gympie Times, acting CEO David Lewis thanked staff for being “honest and open”.

“The results from the staff survey are poor; this is not what we want for our organisation or our staff,” Mr Lewis said.

“It is very clear that we need to focus on our culture, and we need to listen to the feedback from staff and rebuild the organisation.

“We didn’t get here overnight and it will take time to turn this around.

One of the lone bright spots

“We know the last few years have been tough on staff, with major changes to our leadership team including CEOs, numerous restructures over the last five years, high staff turnover, COVID-19 and three floods just in the last five months.

“It has taken a toll on our staff.

“We have good people working right across our council, who consistently deliver high quality work for our community.

“I am saddened to see our culture and morale low at an all time low.”

Acting Gympie Regional Council CEO David Lewis said “saddened” by the results but thanked staff for being “open and honest”. Picture: Gympie Regional Council

The abysmal results are the latest troubled development for the council already reeling from internal problems.

In September 2021 the Services Union slammed the organisation over what it called “shonky” investigations which were obliterating morale.

These claims were rejected by then-CEO Shane Gray.

Mr Gray left the council in January 2022, 18 months after he was hired and adding to a growing list of senior managers who have exited the organisation since the March 2020 elections.

In June 2022 it was revealed staff are considering industrial action over a proposed 1.5 per cent pay rise, an offer labelled “measly” by the Services Union.