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Audit and Risk
Committee
18 May 2021
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Auckland
Council Hauora / Wellbeing Review
File No.: CP2021/05274
Te take mō te
pūrongo
Purpose of the report
1. To inform the members of the Audit and Risk Committee of the
Auckland Council Hauora /
Wellbeing Review key findings.
Whakarāpopototanga matua
Executive summary
2. The
Hauora / Wellbeing Review report details the findings and recommendations from
the hauora / wellbeing review conducted within Auckland Council in early 2021.
3. The
review is part of an ongoing process within Auckland Council to reconsider and
strengthen how it provides hauora support for employees. It was instigated in
response to events in 2020, and in furtherance of the Chief Executive’s
aspiration for Auckland Council to be an exemplar among New Zealand employers,
in terms of how it supports staff hauora.
4. The
review team gathered feedback from staff and other stakeholders and analysed
the council’s wellbeing and engagement surveys. It also sought external
guidance on what an exemplary programme of hauora support might look like for
the council.
5. In
general, the review team concluded that for most employees the experience of
working at Auckland Council is a positive one. This reflects the results of
engagement surveys undertaken over the past 12 months. Unfortunately, for
several reasons detailed in the report, this is not the case for some
employees. These reasons are many and varied but the ones that most profoundly
affect employee hauora are: workload, employees having to deal with
unacceptable behaviour, ongoing structural change, and the capacity and, in
some cases, the capability of people leaders to deal with hauora issues within
their team.
6. The
report’s recommendations are intended to assist Auckland Council’s
approach to employee hauora to go from acceptable to exemplary. The review team
recognise that this is a journey that will take time, organisational
commitment, and resources but that these investments are necessary and
worthwhile if working for Auckland Council is to be a positive and empowering
experience for all its employees.
7. The
recommendations in the report relate to Auckland Council’s organisational
culture, leadership, resources, and organisational structure. They aim to
improve hauora support provision at the council by:
· developing an
organisational culture that actively supports hauora
· establishing a
hauora challenger group to ensure employees are involved and heard in the
hauora work programme
· establishing a
hauora governance group to ensure organisational ownership of the hauora
programme
· managing the impact
that work and the workplace have on employees’ hauora
· managing
employees’ exposure to antisocial and aggressive conduct, whether from
the public or within the council
· supporting employees
in challenging and stressful roles, including those affected by organisational
change
· building awareness
of the council’s existing support hauora provision and how to access it
· reviewing existing
hauora support resources to ensure they remain appropriate
· reviewing the
options available to employees for raising issues and concerns
· building
leaders’ ability to support employees who are experiencing challenges to
their hauora
· shifting
responsibility for hauora to People and Culture.
8. The
review team recognises that over the past decade there has already been
significant and ongoing change within the council, including in response to
COVID-19, and that for some staff this is itself a challenge to their hauora.
9. However, it stresses that for Auckland Council to achieve the
aspiration of being an exemplar, there must be further changes to the
organisation’s culture, and to the form and delivery of its hauora
support. It concludes that it is vital that the council’s leadership acts
on the recommendations in the report, including by ensuring there are adequate
resources available to implement them.
Ngā tūtohunga
Recommendation/s
That the Audit and Risk Committee:
a) note
the Auckland Council Hauora / Wellbeing Review key findings.
Ngā tāpirihanga
Attachments
There are no attachments for
this report.
Ngā kaihaina
Signatories
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Authors
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Andre Lubbe - Head of Employment Relations
Ian Maxwell – General Manager Health, Safety and
Wellbeing (Acting)
Sara Harris – Project Lead Employment Relations
and Health, Safety & Wellbeing
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Authorisers
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Patricia Reade – Deputy Chief Executive
Jim Stabback - Chief Executive
Phil Wilson – Director, Governance and CCO
Partnerships
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