One team,
one council
Burdekin Shire Council
The Burdekin Shire
Council is undergoing a
change which will benefit both
employees and the community
by changing the mindset of
staff to think and work as ‘One
team, one council.’
The division between the
outdoor and indoor
departments is disappearing
and employees are working in
unity to deliver the best
services to council customers –
ratepayers.
Burdekin Shire Council Chief Executive
Officer Matthew Magin has brought about
a change of culture within the organisation
by talking with each department and
employee to gauge sentiment within
Council.
Mr Magin found that employees needed
more cohesion and began taking the
organisation on a journey to create a
united workforce, calling the project - ‘One
team, one council’.
“We have a great group of people working
for this team, but we needed to look more
holistically at how we worked,” CEO Mr
Magin said.
“We needed to understand how to change
the silo-approach culture where decisions
were made by one person and bring a
broader decision-making group together
and we need to get that through to all of
our employees.”
The project
Council developed a Senior Leadership
Group made up of the managers and a
Senior Supervisors Group to ensure the
message continued to filter down the line to
all employees.
Council employed a professional
development company to provide these two
groups with proper tools and
understanding, in order for them to drive the
project and influence the employee mindset
of ‘One team, one council.’
Burdekin Shire Council has now introduced
a planned and systematic skills
development program specifically aimed at
effective project management within
council and an emphasis on effective
workforce planning.
Council is also reviewing its training budget
to ensure the focus is on council priorities
and that it delivers an effective return on
investment.
To achieve these aims council employees
will be asked to model the highest standards
of personal professional and organisational
values and behavior.
Part of the change includes a new corporate
plan which for the first time at Burdekin,
enables every employee to see where they
sit under the corporate plan.
The corporate plan also has measures by
which the community can evaluate council’s
performance, and goals council can strive
toward.
The word
“Individually and as a group, our
employees are responsible for
building and maintaining council’s
reputation locally as perceived by
ratepayers and community
organisations, regionally by
neighbouring councils and both State
and Federal Governments.
At the core of the ‘One team, one
council’ mantra is our commitment to
our customers. New thinking is
encouraged to improve service
delivery and any idea is a good idea
as they demonstrate employee
engagement and creativity.”
CEO Matthew Magin
“This new commitment to Council’s customers is bringing tangible results for the
council.
“Compliments logged with council have risen 100 per cent on last year’s figures and
complaints have dropped.
“These are the sorts of results that show me, our Councillors and our team that we are
on the right path.
“I am very proud of the way our team has picked up the ‘One team, one council’
theme and have run with it.”
CEO Matthew Magin