Council redundancy numbers unknown

Council chief executive Wayne Jack informed staff of the realignment.

While the restructure of Napier City Council has been completed, the number of affected jobs is still unknown.

On June 8, council staff were advised of a proposed new structure which would disestablish 78 roles to make way for 78 new ones.

Under the proposed changes, it was expected overall staffing numbers would stay about the same, but the final impact on the current staff would not be known until the end of the consultation period.

Last week, council chief executive Wayne Jack informed staff that the council's proposed realignment was now confirmed, and would move ahead.

"I appreciate that the realignment process has taken longer than expected to complete", he said, "but it was important that we got the structure right and that all staff had plenty of opportunity to digest the changes and provide their feedback.

"I now feel confident that all teams have had as much information as possible, as much time as needed to consult with us, and that managers have considered every question and piece of feedback our staff have raised."

When asked to confirm if the new structure would disestablish, and make way for 78 roles, a council spokeswoman said, "at this stage there are still 78 new roles in the agreed structure, which all staff are welcome to apply for.

"More roles may open up as a consequence of any internal appointments made to those 78 roles - it would be premature and ill-advised to guess at what the final figure will be."

She also said the number of staff affected by redundancy would not be fully known until the recruitment process was completed, which was still a few weeks away.

Mr Jack said senior managers had met with impacted staff and advised them of the expected timeframes for change.

When asked, the council spokeswoman said there was no general timeframe when these changes would take place.

"Each role and directorate are different and managers are working closely with their team members to complete the realignment as carefully as possible," she said.

Mr Jack said he understood change could be upsetting for some.

"It's not an easy process, and I acknowledge that there are a range of emotions at play for many of our staff. But I do believe that this new structure will move Napier City Council into a strong position within a changing local government environment," he said.

"The realignment also offers some very exciting and invigorating opportunities for staff who wish to progress their careers with council. We're hopeful that the new structure will see this council leading the way in innovation, creativity, customer service and community engagement."

There were an unconfirmed number of newly created roles, which had no incumbents, currently being advertised.

There were 11 positions advertised on the Local Government Jobs website for applicants interested in joining the "Napier City Council team" this week.

These included established roles, such as the chief financial officer, and new roles, including a people and capability manager.