Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) is reaping the benefits of a comprehensive review and restructure, which saw the whole organisation have input into building continuous improvement into everyday practice.
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Roach said that during 2012/13 he talked with staff about mapping out the future of Council with everyone pooling their skills and talents to deliver a strong and efficient SDRC.
“We began with a staff survey, several staff development days and regular staff meetings to make the team stronger, more resilient, and pull together in tough times. I have been working hard with the Council to facilitate that environment where each of us has the opportunity to step up and be part of that change.
“The change was quite extensive from a structure point of view with a reduction in the number of directors and managers within the organisation and redeploying duties from several vacant positions.
“Overall the structure reduced the number of departments from four to three, reduced the number of managers, identified vacant positions where duties could be redeployed and created a customer service pool of 15 employees.
“Ultimately Council saved $1.3 million in our budget and while there were some difficult times, I’m pleased we were able to direct these funds back to our services for residents and ratepayers of the Southern Downs.
“Another major aspect to the restructure was our cultural change. Council staff worked together to establish its mission and values. The mission is an extremely important statement that binds all staff to the one idea – we strive to be a proactive organisation that supports, develops and empowers our people to serve our region.
“The five values for SDRC are Communication, Leadership, Efficiency, Integrity and Co-operation and these have been incorporated into graphic design, and transferred to posters and stickers that are now displayed throughout the organisation. The overall message is ‘One Region One Council
My SDRC’.”
