Building Our Capability

A future goal for New Zealand fisheries is a collaborative objectives-based management system. The Ministry’s task as an organisation is to build the infrastructure and capability needed to allow stakeholders and Ministry staff to engage earlier and to a greater extent.

To support the development of our staff the Ministry’s People Strategy strives to provide a working environment that attracts, engages and retains good staff. All Ministry staff are also expected to make an ongoing investment in their skill development and growth.

In April this year, staff completed the Ministry’s first Gallup Q12 Engagement Survey. This is part of a State Services Commission development goal initiative intended to, over time, make ministries more attractive places to work and improve the level of staff engagement within them. Throughout the Ministry of Fisheries teams are developing action plans to improve engagement levels within teams and to identify new ways to contribute to wider organisational initiatives.

Developing strong leaders is an important priority for the Ministry. To build capability in this area a Leadership Development Programme, utilising Lominger competency models, began in 2008. The programme was designed in association with the Leadership Development Centre. Foundation modules focus on a range of leadership skills including: understanding the role of leaders; leadership styles; leadership effectiveness; motivation; engaging and inspiring; and coaching and delegation. The overarching objective is to develop and maintain a critical mass of leadership capability to help meet the Ministry’s long-term objectives. Participants will work through individual leadership development plans and follow-up modules over the next two to three years.

The Ministry also has a management development programme, which began in 2007. It consists of a series of skills-based modules available to managers and staff aspiring to managerial roles.

The Ministry’s values continue to guide organisational development:

• Integrity – MFish people are professional and widely trusted. We are honest and take responsibility. We strive to be open, transparent and impartial.
  
• Respect – We respect each other, tangata whenua, stakeholders, the law and the aquatic environment. We respect and value our role as guardians of our fisheries resources.
  
• Constructive relationships – We understand the sector we work in and the needs and expectations of those we work with. We maintain constructive relationships, engaging effectively with others to achieve the best outcomes possible.
  
• Achieving results – approach our work with energy and drive, with a focus on achieving high quality results. We value teamwork and collaboration. We share information and recognise people’s contribution to our goals.
  
• Continual improvement – We embrace continual improvement in the pursuit of excellence. We are agile learners and actively develop our skills, knowledge and behaviours. We are committed to helping our people to be successful.
  

Strategic Leadership

At the start of 2008 the Ministry’s governance structure was revised to redefine the role of the executive team. The shift from being the Senior Management Team in 2007, to the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) in 2008 is an important one. The SLT has realigned its focus to higher-level, strategic leadership.

Toward better performance management

During the financial year the Ministry has been working toward implementation of a new Human Resource Information System (HRIS), set to be fully operational in 2008/09. The HRIS is designed to improve human resource capability reporting and help managers and staff to manage team and staff development and performance. It will also help with planned work on talent management and work-force planning.

Improving information management

The Ministry conducted a review of its strategic information management needs during the past year. This resulted in two projects to improve our geo-spatial and numeric data systems, and the decision to form a central information management group, effective 1 July 2008.

This information management group has been formed from current Ministry staff and will allow the Ministry to collect, store and utilise data in a more effective way.

Document management

The Document and Records Management Project continues to be a high priority for the Ministry. To date, more than 400 Ministry staff have been trained in the new system. During the course of implementation a number of current business processes have been reviewed and improvements made. The Ministry is also making steady progress with the ongoing alignment of its paper and electronic file systems.

Sustainability

The Ministry is committed to sustainable work practices and is a member of both the Govt³ and the Carbon Neutral Public Sector (CNPS) programmes.

Since receiving awards in the annual Govt³ awards in 2006, the Ministry has continued to introduce sustainability initiatives. This includes completing an annual waste audit to ensure that landfill is minimised; ensuring that recycled and compostable material is treated separately; recycling printer cartridges; and utilising online purchasing where appropriate.

The Ministry’s procurement policy is also regularly reviewed to ensure that it includes sustainability requirements and incorporates Govt³ principles. This ensures that sustainability issues and practices are considered in all tendering and project management practices.

As a stage two member of the CNPS programme, the Ministry is working towards being carbon neutral by 2012. Now in the second year of the programme, the Ministry is reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by reducing domestic travel through use of video conferencing facilities in our offices. The Ministry also participated in a Ministry of Transport led review of vehicle fleets and operating practices during the 2007/08 year. This review was intended to identify and report on opportunities to improve sustainability, safety and cost effectiveness of government fleets. The Ministry has since revised its vehicle procurement practices, including the switch to more sustainable vehicles, such as diesel-fuelled vehicles, when replacing existing petrol vehicles.

Future reduction planning will take place once the 2008 annual carbon footprint has been determined, with a view to minimising emissions as much as possible.

Pay and employment equity

The Ministry’s Pay and Employment Equity review was completed in 2008. The Ministry will use the results from the review to address the issues that were raised. The Ministry continues to address issues around disability on the basis of individual needs and actively promotes Māori participation.

Educational resources

Fish for tomorrow is the guiding principle of the new teacher and student resource Starfish. The pack and accompanying website were redeveloped during the year and launched by the Minister in July 2008. The resource was developed by the Ministry for teachers of students in years 7 to 10. It includes 14 fact sheets and activities that will provide students with Social Sciences, Science and English learning experiences at levels 3, 4 and 5 of the New Zealand Curriculum framework. Starfish aims to teach children the role that they can play in making sure there are fish for the future.

Also recently launched was the Aquaculture in Action school fact sheets at Queen Charlotte College in Picton. An Aquaculture Academy was set up at Queen Charlotte College for students to learn practical skills and understanding of the aquaculture industry and is supported by the industry. Te Reo versions of the factsheets are also available. Helping students understand aquaculture is vital because they will be the consumers, scientists, decision makers, and leaders of tomorrow.

Feedback and complaints

The Ministry operates a process intended to provide a formal means of capturing and addressing feedback and complaints made by stakeholders. This process is governed by the Feedback and Complaints policy that sets out what should be classed as feedback and complaints, and the process that should be followed when feedback is received.

In the 2007/08 financial year the Ministry received 47 individual feedback and complaint items. Just over one third of these were complaints regarding the commercial sector. The figure is similar to that of the 2006/07 financial year.

A regular review of the information from the Feedback and Complaints system is conducted by the Ministry’s Strategic Leadership Team in order to identify and address any emerging trends and issues.