Organisational Health and Capability

The Ministry undertook a major business transformation in 2009 which involved improving public value through two major initiatives: Fisheries 2030 and the Organisation Design Review. Our capability development in 2009 was driven by these initiatives and will continue to align with them.

The development process for Fisheries 2030 identified that while New Zealand fisheries management is amongst the world’s best, there is further significant potential to create economic, cultural, social and environmental value through the development of new institutional arrangements and tools. This potential will help to drive a primary sector-led strengthening of the New Zealand economy.

The Fisheries 2030 goal, outcomes and action plans for the sector, change the way fisheries are managed in New Zealand and the way the Ministry operates. The organisation redesign aligned the Ministry with Fisheries 2030 and positioned the Ministry to deliver on Government priorities and improve agency performance both now and in the future.

The Ministry is actively encouraging and supporting staff to engage with the new direction, including a better understanding of their personal contribution to Fisheries 2030. The new way of working emphasises delivering against expectations, measuring delivery, and working together to achieve Government priorities and Ministry outcomes.

Features of the organisation design include:

• Greater clarity of purpose and direction for the sector and the Ministry with the development of a long-term goal and a five-year action plan, both endorsed by Cabinet.
• The creation of a strategically aligned and more functionally integrated organisation to deliver better, more targeted, services to tangata whenua and stakeholders at lower cost to all parties. This includes new approaches to engagement and fisheries management systems.
• A greater focus on outcomes rather than processes.
• A more agile organisation, with the ability to deploy resources more flexibly and quickly within a reduced baseline to where they are most needed.
• The Strategic Leadership Team focused on whole-of-Ministry outcomes.
• Fisheries management as the axis of the Ministry’s business model. The new model requires a full commitment to objectives-based fisheries management, with the fishery managers becoming the budget-holders for scientific research, compliance and observer services.
• Streamlined fisheries planning processes to deliver objectives-based management. Five National Fisheries Plans are now being created with chapters for specific fisheries or locations as required. The new framework will take full effect from 1 July 2011 for the start of the next fishing year, and will inform the specification of Fisheries Services.
• The creation of a Deputy Chief Executive Treaty Partnership and Obligations to Māori role to support the Strategic Leadership Team in meeting obligations to Māori as a Treaty partner.

The organisation design review, effective from 1 October 2009, saw the creation of approximately 70 new roles and the disestablishment of approximately 90 roles. It set in motion the clarification of accountabilities and responsibilities for the majority of roles in the Ministry. New position descriptions were prepared for approximately 50 percent of the Ministry’s roles and this figure will reach 80 percent of the Ministry’s roles by 2011. The position descriptions are helping the Ministry identify future competency requirements that can be targeted in recruitment and development.

Staff Numbers and Turnover

As at 31 March 2010 the Ministry had 441 permanent and fixed-term staff, totalling 431.3 FTEs. Annualised core unplanned turnover was 6.9 percent as at 31 March 2010. For the year ending 30 June 2009 the core unplanned turnover rate for the core Public Service was 11 percent; for the Ministry the comparable figure was 6 percent.

An active recruitment programme is under way to ensure staffing levels are at or near the establishment level.

Value for Money

Providing value for money is a key consideration for the Ministry. Our annual expenditure review forms an integral part of the Ministry’s annual planning and budgeting cycle for both the Statement of Intent and the Fisheries Services Plan. The revised fisheries plans model includes an amended approach to engagement and a focus on delivering objectives.

The Ministry has reviewed how to allocate resources to deliver on its obligations to Māori consistent with organisation design decisions. The Obligations to Māori Service Delivery Review has created a new model for cost-effective delivery of fisheries services to iwi. The new organisational arrangements will be effective from 1 April 2010.

The Ministry is following up on the 2009 organisation design review with a targeted review of Organisation Services, which will focus on ensuring effectiveness, efficiency and value for money in the services delivered to the organisation. A final decision from this review will be made before 30 June 2010.

The Observer Services Strategy and Research Services Strategy reviews are designed to deliver cost-effective services in each of these areas. The reports on these reviews are nearing completion and will result in better value for money in the delivery of services in the 2010/11 year and onwards.

Information

The Ministry developed an Information Systems Strategic Plan in early 2010 as the first stage of its review of Organisation Services. The plan describes the Ministry’s current and desired future states, and contains a strategy to reach the desired future state over the next three years.

Work on amalgamating data from multiple sources has continued and has concentrated on integrating the catch data supplied by commercial fishers. The first version of the production system was released to selected Ministry staff in December 2009. The project is on track to deliver aggregated data to the public (via the Internet) in late 2010.

Accommodation Changes

The Ministry has rearranged the floor plan in its ASB Head Office to align with the new organisation design and take the opportunity to reduce the number of floors used. We have also refurbished our Napier office and relocated offices in Dunedin.

Staff Development and Achievement

The Ministry is committed to investing in staff development and expects staff to play their part in this. Our Performance and Development Policy provides for every staff member to have a performance agreement and a personal development plan, including access to Lominger and in-house competency frameworks.

The Ministry undertook the Gallup Q12 Engagement Survey, which is widely used in the New Zealand Public Service, in March 2010. The Gallup survey provides a simple team-based tool to improve staff engagement levels, make the Ministry a better place to work and improve performance. The Gallup Survey, our performance and development processes, and our desktop HR Information System are vehicles for providing practical support to help staff achieve competencies required to improve their performance in their current role and progress their career aspirations.

The Ministry’s Management and Leadership Development Programmes are designed to ensure we have an ongoing critical mass of leadership and managerial capability. The Ministry introduced a mentoring programme in 2009 as part of the Leadership Development Programme and in 2010 will focus on workshops to support managerial responsibilities for engaging and motivating staff.

Code of Conduct

The Ministry has opted in to the 2010 State Services Commission Integrity and Conduct Survey to obtain benchmarked feedback from staff to inform our approach to maintaining awareness and standards within the organisation.

Capital Intentions

The Ministry’s capital intentions over the five-year period from 2010 to 2015 are shown below. The capital expenditure programme covers the routine replacement of motor vehicles and the replacement of vessels for fisheries compliance duties. In addition, there is provision for the building and upgrade of new and replacement information systems, including associated hardware, and replacement of minor plant and equipment necessary to maintain the Ministry’s operating environment.