Gold Coast City boss Tim Baker says staff morale on the turnaround despite future job fears

Council has conducted a major survey of staff to find out how they rate their workplace’s culture. This is what they found.

Council CEO Tim Baker says there has been a “clear and deliberate turnaround” in the morale of its staff after a survey showed positive feedback from employees.

The Bulletin last year revealed almost half of staff who took part in an “engagement” survey said they were not motivated to work at council, with whistleblowers describing it as a “nightmarish hellscape”.

But Mr Baker has welcomed a new round of separate “cultural” surveying of the Gold Coast’s second biggest workforce by Keogh Consulting, which confirmed a “statistically significant uplift” in organisational culture.

“Three years ago, our culture results were poor. Today, we have a more engaged, aligned and future-focused workforce,” Mr Baker said.

“This has been achieved while saving ratepayers over $200 million and reducing average annual rate bills by $300.”

On the frontline — Local Disaster co-ordinator Mark Ryan, Police Minister Dan Purdie and City CEO Tim Baker discussing Cyclone Alfred.

The surveying was completed before the this month’s City Budget and announcement that council bosses were looking to find at least $75m worth of savings in the next 12 months.

Key takeaways from the cultural surveying, which went out to almost 4000 staffers, include:

* ‘Aggressive behaviours’ – like controlling or blaming colleagues – were down 21 per cent from 2022 to 2025.

* Staff were asked if the City was committed to employee safety at work and they understood their responsibilities, which led to an 82 per cent positive response.

* On questions of whether “I am proud to be working for the City”, there was a mean average of 3.76 out of 5 result.

* On whether “I would recommend the City as a place to work”, the mean was 3.67.

* There was a 72 per cent participation rate, with more than 3,900 staff completing the survey.

Keogh Consulting described the improvements as “among the most impressive they have seen in Australia,” citing a 60 per cent rise in constructive workplace behaviours and strong results for general managers, frontline teams and the female workforce.

Gold Coast City Council CEO Tim Baker working on the frontline with staff as a parking compliance officer.

“I want to thank the Mayor and councillors for their backing during this period of change,” Mr Baker said.

“Their support has enabled us to make difficult but necessary decisions, stay the course, and deliver outcomes that benefit both our workforce and the broader community”.

The survey also identified areas for continued focus, including career progression and reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, he added.

“This is not a finished job. But the positive direction is clear, and the data shows major gains in leadership trust, teamwork, job satisfaction, and a shared sense of purpose,” Mr Baker said.

Meanwhile, City bosses are looking at staff-related cost saving reforms post-budget:

* Vacating council’s Karp Court building in Bundall and relocating staff to its Waterside East and West buildings.

* Merging Service Gold Coast and the planning and regulation departments.

* Finding rostering efficiencies and reducing fixed term award staff.

Employees who asked not to be named told this masthead the announcements had increased anxiety levels among staff and contractors.

“People are genuinely concerned. A lot of people are stressing. They think they are in the gun,” a staffer said.

“People who are on contract are saying ‘are we here or not’. There’s a lot of uncertainty in this place.”

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Originally published as Gold Coast City boss Tim Baker says staff morale on the turnaround despite future job fears