DOC restructuring

The Herald reported:

The Department of Conservation will axe 140 jobs and reduce the number of conservancy regions in a department-wide shake-up.

Director-General of Conservation Al Morrison announced the cuts this afternoon after the proposals were put to staff around the country this morning.

The cuts include 118 regional management and administrative roles, as well as 22 operational roles including asset management, planning and inspection positions.

Less managers means more money for operations. Sounds good to me.

Of course there is a balance. Every organisation needs manager and administrators, but they tend to grow in every company and organisation and from time to time you do a restructure.

I am a huge fan of the work DOC does, and the conservation estate they administer. But that doesn’t mean they are immune from the pressure to be as efficient as possible.

“DoC must adapt if it is going to meet the conservation challenges that New Zealand faces – even if you doubled DOC’s budget tomorrow we would still be going ahead with this proposal,” Mr Morrison said.

I think that statement is a massively important one – that this proposed restructuring would be put forward regardless of funding. That the sign of a chief executive focused on  improving their organisation.

I don’t know enough about the details, to critique it in depth. But Al Morrison is pretty respected for the work he has done as Director-General, and I am sure DOC with 1,200 staff can continue to deliver.

Of course for those staff directly affected, it is a tough time. No amount of talk about organisational improvement is consolation for a loss of job security.