Hundreds of staff leave Christchurch City Council in the past year
Sunday, 9 January 2022
More than 400 Christchurch City Council staff have left the organisation in the past 12 months – an 85 per cent increase on the previous year.
The council, which employs 2791 people, says it is not concerned about the increase, and is confident the organisation is a place where people want to work.
Data released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act shows 414 staff left the city council between November 2020 and November 2021. During the previous 12 months, 224 staff left.
Five departments had more than half their staff leave including two where the turnover was 100 per cent.
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Exit surveys show staff were leaving to pursue higher salaries and because they found working in a bureaucracy challenging. Other reasons included retirement, returning home and wanting to spend more time with family.
The council’s 2021 Annual Report shows 584 council staff earn more than $100,000 a year. Some 1013 earn between $60,000 and $100,000 and 1087 earn under $60,000.
Acting chief executive Lynn McClelland said the council was not concerned about the number of people leaving. It reflected the fact the council was restructuring.
“Significant work has been done in the past year to right-size the council so that it can better meet the needs of residents.”
Information supplied by the council shows 45 staff were made redundant in the past year – about 11 per cent of the total staff that left.
Last year, chief executive Dawn Baxendale restructured her leadership team by axing 13 positions and creating eight new roles.
In November, she confirmed 20 senior management jobs would go. Thirteen new jobs would be created, and minor changes made to another 119 existing roles.
McClelland said the Covid-19 pandemic also prompted some people to re-think their priorities and work-life balance – something which was happening globally.
Low unemployment rates and immigration settings meant employees had a lot of choice and opportunity, she said.
“It is understandable the council is experiencing some turnover of staff, similar to other employers.”
However, she said some turnover enabled the council to refresh skill sets and bring on board people with diverse experience.
In March last year, the council released a survey, which showed the number of staff recommending their organisation as a place to work had plummeted.
The November 2020 survey found fewer staff were positive about their workplace than a year earlier.
Staff called for better leadership, increased communication, flexible working hours and less bureaucracy.
They said their life at work would be more satisfying if the council hired more staff, reduced pressure and stress and provided better, fairer pay.
At the time, the Public Service Association union, which represented about 900 of the council’s workforce, said staff were stressed. They had made considerable sacrifices and many were worried about their future.
McClelland said the council was confident it remained a place where people wanted to work and that it offered a competitive and satisfying work environment.
“We offer good development opportunities, a flexible working environment, and our employees get to do meaningful work that makes a difference to the communities they serve.”
From Monday, all council staff are required to be double-vaccinated. Unvaccinated staff face losing their jobs if no suitable alternative arrangements could be made.
McClelland said she expected a small number of staff could leave because of the vaccine mandate, but it could also be a reason why people chose to work at the council.