A review into Moreton Bay Council has found a ‘concerning level of instability’ across all levels of management
A report into the operation of Australia’s third largest council has found a concerning level of organisational instability across all levels of management.
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AUSTRALIA’S third largest council has been found to have a “concerning level of organisational instability” across all levels of management.
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Moreton Bay councillors today voted to make public the long-awaited report from an organisational review into the council by local government experts Grassroots Connections.
The report contained eight recommendations on a range of issues which were brought to light as a result of interviews and surveys with councillors and more than 1000 staff, including senior management.
High staff turnover, lack of job security, intimidation, deteriorating relationships, out of date procedures and a lack of consistency and direction were all alluded to in the report.
“This is, frankly, a confronting report. But it’s a necessary one,” outgoing mayor Allan Sutherland said.
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“The Council asked for a warts-and-all evaluation of the culture within our organisation, and we’ve certainly got that. No stone has been left unturned.”
While the report praised the council for its strong financial position, it said that approach had come at a cost — with instability in management and in significant parts of the organisation.
In particular, the council’s Planning and Human Resources (HR) departments came in for strong criticism.
In the case of HR, its policies had “fallen behind contemporary practice and industry standards”.
“The very strong response by employees, current and former, to the surveys … reflects the desire to identify elements of Council’s operations directly impacting on them and the depth of feeling in relation to their views,” the report observed.
“Concerningly, many inquiries were received seeking assurance that their responses would remain confidential and their opinions not shared with management, for fear of repercussions.
“There was a common view in these inquiries that honest feedback on matters of concern to employees was not welcome by management.”
The report also found a declining level of trust and confidence between senior management and councillors to the point where councillors were unable to properly fulfil their role in setting the corporate direction of the council.
Councillors believed senior management had been, on occasion, withholding critical information from them.
They said senior management had also “misled” them in the case of the failed planning scheme amendments last year.
Some senior managers though said they were afraid that councillors would leak confidential information on sensitive matters to the public and were therefore reluctant to provide it.
They said there had been a “heightened political environment” since the 2016 elections and “a loss of unity” around the council table.
“Some (senior staff) see the increased political environment as getting in the way of effective strategic planning,” the report stated.
“Others felt that some (council) decisions were ‘kneejerk’ and not guided by a considered long-term strategy.”
Upon the report’s release, Cr Sutherland blamed the political environment on political parties infiltrating the council.
“As mayor I must take responsibility for the criticism about an increasingly political and divided Council Chamber since the 2016 election,” he told Quest Community News.
“That room is my responsibility to manage and we can’t allow political parties to infiltrate local government, to start playing the games we see in state and federal parliaments.
“I will seek to root those problems out before the election, so a new mayor can focus on the job at hand rather than being distracted trying to manage problem personalities.”
How Cr Sutherland intends to root the problems out though is unclear.
Senior managers also stated in the report that the behaviour of some councillors in workshops was inappropriate and some were uncertain as to where they stood with councillors in recent months.
The report also mentioned a breakdown in the relationship between council senior planners and the State Planning department.
In fact, it was the damning letter from Planning Minister Cameron Dick on October 11 last year, in relation to the failed planning amendments, that prompted the current organisational review.
The letter highlighted significant concerns about the proposed amendment and the manner in which council officers had negotiated with the government.
“Interviews with councillors and senior officers indicate that Council believed it had not been fully appraised by senior planning officers that the State had major concerns with aspects of the proposed amendment,” the Grassroots Connections review stated.
“In particular, this relates to the Co-ordinating Infrastructure Agreement (CIA) and that these concerns had been known to senior executive officers for several months before the Minister’s letter was received.”
The report stated concluded that Moreton Bay Regional Council was still in transition since forced amalgamation in 2008.
“The post amalgamation period now into its 11th year has been one of considerable organisational instability,” it stated.
“Restructuring, downsizing and implementation of short-term employment tenure arrangements, together with recent high turnover particularly in executive positions has caused increased anxiety among staff generally.
“The ongoing challenge now is to seek to achieve significantly more stability in terms of staff turnover, organisational culture and executive leadership.”
Councillors today voted to establish as Project Management Group that will oversee the implementation of the eight recommendations in the report.
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