Using the theme ‘Strategies for Excellence’, the South Australian Institute of Municipal Management’s Annual Conference was held recently in Adelaide. In a climate of major change, including Council amalgamations and a review of the Local Government Act, the Conference program was well received by delegates.
Speakers from Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide presented processes for achieving improvements on operating efficiency. South Australia’s Minister for Local Government, Scott Ashenden, opened the Conference, which was held in association with the Australian Quality Council.
An introduction from Neil Hodges, SA Manager Australian Quality Council, highlighted AQC’s framework for Sustainable Organisational Excellence. Dr Ziggy Switkowski, CEO Optus Communications, referred to the advantage of working with a newly formed business entity which had not developed a working culture and barriers such as ‘this is the way we have always done it’.
“To start with a new organisation from scratch is a luxury that is not available to Local Government in South Australia,” said John Comrie, President IMM-SA Division. “Nevertheless, the challenge is there for newly amalgamating Councils to be aware that they are now a new organisation and that all personnel have an obligation to themselves and their customers not to be inhibited by past work cultures.”
Helen Ringrose, Manager Customer and Corporate Services at Brisbane City Council, outlined the initiatives undertaken to make Brisbane City Council more customer oriented. Great interest was shown by delegates in the vast improvements made in the handling of customer service inquiries through the establishment of Brisbane’s Customer Call Centre. A short video presentation vividly demonstrated efficiencies achieved.
PLAIN Central Services is the central support agency for the State’s 137 public libraries. In 1996 PLAIN won the Customer Service Award for South Australia in the small business category and was highly commended nationally. Vanessa Little, Associate Director, Public Library Services with the State Library of South Australia discussed focusing on the customer as a method to achieve cultural shifts and performance improvements and how PLAIN involves public librarians and Local Government in the planning for and monitoring of her organisation’s services and outcomes.
The City of Marion’s commitment to using contestability to enhance organisational performance was presented by Janet Binder, Manager Organisational Development. She described some of the difficulties encountered and the benefits gained over the 18 months of this process.
Improvements achieved using AQC processes, which resulted in Wollongong receiving due recognition in the Quality Awards, were covered by Rod Oxley, General Manager Wollongong City Council.
Not only informative but also entertaining, the presentation by George Martin and ‘The Waterleak Warriers’, a frontline quality circle team from Mitsubishi Motors Australia, kept the after lunch blues at bay. Their explanation of the benefits to their company of an improved and multiskilled workforce were highly applicable to Local Government.
