Christchurch City Council grapples with low staff morale

Christchurch City Council CEO Dawn Baxendale

Staff morale at the Christchurch City Council remains low according to the results of a just-released internal survey.

Leadership saw a decrease from 55% to 51%, internal communications saw a decrease from 54% to 51%, project planning saw a decrease from 55% to 53%, while organisational learning saw a decrease from 55% to 53%.

Chief Executive Dawn Baxendale said “as a leadership team we are disappointed in how staff see our leadership and how we empower staff and demonstrate Council values.”

“However, we want to acknowledge there have been some positive changes including, where units are reporting greater awareness of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a higher alignment of objectives between units.”

Baxendale said" “although leadership, internal communications, planning and learning have decreased since 2022, the increases in cultural competency, strategy and culture are positive.”

“The majority of people who answered the survey enjoy working at Council and are proud of the impact they have on their communities,” she said .

“We want to assure our staff that the focus is on making sure this Council is a great place to work." 

An action plan was created following last year's survey results. 

Two of the key projects were around remuneration and development of a leadership framework.

The remuneration project will identify the organisation’s approach to remuneration and any improvements. It will be completed before the annual remuneration review later this year. The Leadership Framework is expected to be complete by July and will set out ways of working for all levels of staff. 

“Every day, across the organisation, we see the great work staff do for our communities and we want to acknowledge this.

We all come to work to make a difference and deserve a workplace that enables us to achieve this. As a leadership team we will work hard to make sure this happens,” Baxendale said.