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Our social and cultural footprint
Our staff
The Ministry is a knowledge-based organisation, so the people who work with us – their skills, knowledge, relationships and ability to influence – are central to achieving our objectives
We aim to:
- have current and potential staff perceive the Ministry as a good place to work
- be a good employer, keeping our staff healthy and safe
- invest in staff training and capability development
- recruit the right people
- develop staff so that they can eventually be employed across a range of sectors and have input and influence.
Profile of the Ministry for the Environment
See figure at its full size (including text description).Our policy analysts come from a wide range of disciplines, including resource management, law, economics, engineering, science and public policy. Our other staff are in specialist roles, and come from legal, communications, contract management, human resources, information management and administration backgrounds. Most of the staff have worked in local government, the private sector or other central government agencies.
We had 144 permanent staff on our payroll as at 30 June 2002. [Our total headcount of 154 includes fixed-term contract staff, not included in these staff statistics.] Women make up 60% of the staff and outnumber men in all roles except management, where representation of women is 38%. At 30 June 2002 the average age of all our staff was 39.0 years and the average length of service of all staff was 4.6 years (2000/01: 5.1 years).
See figure at its full size (including text description).Our culture
We have consulted extensively with our staff over the past three years, using a mix of qualitative surveys and focus groups. Overall these processes painted a very positive picture of the organisation being on the right track. Most of those surveyed were very positive about the Ministry being a great place to work. Issues raised by staff related to management, turnover and growth, workload, remuneration, and cross-group co-operation and integration.
All staff were invited in April 2002 to prioritise the issues raised and to brainstorm potential initiatives to address the challenges. In August 2002 the senior management team released its preliminary response to the issues raised. This stated that although work is under way on specific issues, the five key issues would be given priority as part of the overall review of the Ministry’s work being undertaken by the new Chief Executive.
We intend to design and carry out a brief quantitative staff survey to enable us to establish some benchmarks for our cultural health and our staff’s perception of us as a good employer, so that we can track this over time.
Key commitments and targets
- Issues raised by staff will be given priority consideration as part of the review of the Ministry by our new Chief Executive.
- Design and carry out a brief quantitative climate survey of all staff by June 2003.
The Ministry as a good employer
We want to be a good employer, to have fair, transparent processes, and to appoint people on merit. We endeavour to be a model of good practice.
We work closely with the Public Service Association in the development of our major human resource policies and employment conditions. We have a history of minimal industrial disputes or personal grievances: in the last year there were no disputes, and there has not been a personal grievance case or dispute since 1998.
We have an occupational safety and health policy and system in place. There were three recorded minor incidents during the reporting period (2000/01: two minor incidents). Quarterly staff surveys identified any emerging occupational overuse syndrome symptoms and issues.
We have a higher proportion of women in management roles (38%) than the public service as a whole (36%). [State Services Commission, Human Resource Capability Survey of Public Service Departments as at 30 June 2002 (workforce profile), November 2002.] We also have a slightly higher proportion of women in all positions (60%) than the whole of the public service (57%). [ibid.] Representation of Māori in the workforce at 5% and in management roles at 7% are currently below our EEO targets for 2010 and public sector averages.
See figure at its full size (including text description).Key commitments and targets
- To progress consideration of a full ACC audit and the wider review of occupational safety and health provision and support to our staff by June 2003.
Staff training and capability development
We spent an amount equivalent to 2.45% of our salary budget on training and development initiatives during 2001/02 (3.12% in 2000/01). Significant training programmes undertaken included our leadership and policy analyst development programmes. Over the past 18 months we have organised 15 secondments, including placements into the Ministry and of our staff into other organisations.
Key commitments and targets
- Focus on project management training for the 2002/03 year.
Recruitment and retentions
See figure at its full size (including text description).Recruiting the right staff is crucial to our ability to meet our objectives. Our staff are well qualified and have wide experience. However, the younger our staff are, the more likely overseas travel and career opportunities will attract them away from the Ministry. Our core unplanned turnover for 2001/02 was 17.7%, an increase on 14.3% in 2000/01 but still well down on the 20–26% range of previous years. The turnover rates for the public service as a whole are only available from June 2000. They include all professions, and are not directly comparable because of our high number of policy analysts.
Consideration of Treaty/maori issues in Our Work
Our Māori group, Maruwhenua (meaning shield or shelter the land), provides leadership in interacting with tangata whenua (the people of the land) and in addressing Treaty and Māori issues. We have many initiatives in relation to Māori cultural activities, including our te reo (language) policy and training.
Key performance highlights
| Our social and cultural footprint | 2001/02 | 2000/01 |
|---|---|---|
| Total staff – year end | 154 | 134 |
| Average length of service (years) | 4.6 | 5.1 |
| Industrial relations disputes | 0 | 0 |
| Occupational safety and health – recorded incidents | 3 | 2 |
| Representation of women in the workforce | 60% | 57% |
| Representation of women in management | 38% | 15% |
| Representation of Māori in the workforce | 5% | 6% |
| Representation of Māori in management | 7% | 8% |
| % salary budget spent on training | 2.45% | 3.12% |
| Core unplanned turnover | 17.7% | 14.3% |
