Annual report - 2004 - Part 4
Capable people and leaders from the 2004 Annual Report - 2
Attracting, motivating and retaining good people
We have a performance-based remuneration system which is designed to attract, motivate and retain skilled people.
A significant achievement over the last two years, has been the move to an annual review of our salary ranges with reference to the salary rates primarily paid by other public sector organisations. This is an important contributor to the achievement of our outcomes as it influences our ability to recruit and retain the people we need to achieve our desired future.
Our turnover has remained steady over the past four years, with higher turnover in Auckland and Wellington, reflecting the competitive labour markets in these centres. Although some areas of Inland Revenue experience very low turnover, for example Policy Advice (2%), Processing (5%) and Information Technology (3%), other areas show higher turnover, such as Call Centres (29%), Strategic Design (17%) and Child Support (16%). Much of these turnover levels are expected, for example, the skills of staff in our call centres are in demand both in and outside of the department.
Our average length of service is 10.3 years, which allows us to benefit from staff expertise and institutional knowledge. Like our turnover figures, this varies across the department. Call centres have an average length of service of 3.8 years, compared to our field delivery group that has an average length of service of 12.9 years.
Previously, we have offered a superannuation scheme to all new employees. With the announcement of the new superannuation scheme for public servants, we have now closed off the Inland Revenue scheme to new entrants and supported the transition of members to the new scheme. At 1 July, 520 of the 1,350 Inland Revenue scheme members have elected to transfer.
People capability
We have 4,713 22 employees based in 22 sites in 17 different towns and cities. Our employee numbers have risen by 1.7% (77 people) on last year with the largest increase being in our Service Delivery business group, with increases in:
- Call Management, to meet demand
- Child Support, to increase community liaison work and enable a more substantial investment in our multi-year debt reduction strategy. This increase was a result of extra money received in the 2003 Budget.
Additionally, as mentioned earlier, our Corporates group received $3.7 million in the 2003 Budget to further strengthen its capability, including the appointment of staff with expertise in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, international tax and finance.
22 Full-time equivalent.
23 These figures represent the distribution of employees at 30 June 2004. On 29 July 2004 our new structure was announced and will be progressively implemented over the 2004-05 year, see Figure 1.
Integrity training programme wins ethics award
In 2003 we introduced programmes for all staff designed to promote awareness and understanding of the importance of ethics, integrity and honesty in our workplace.
This training covers practical aspects of the standard of integrity that is expected of our people. The team that tailored and delivered this package to Inland Revenue were recognised through receiving the 2004 State Services Commissioner's Award for Ethics, Values and Standards.
The award, now in its second year, was created by former State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham to recognise individuals and groups who make significant contributions to the ethics, values, and standards of the New Zealand public service.
The award recognised the work of Chris Linton, Manager (Integrity Assurance) Risk and Assurance, who developed and implemented the Judge for Yourself training, as well as the facilitators who deliver the programme. Each was presented with a certificate of recognition from the State Services Commission.
Over 4,000 staff have undertaken the training.
Judge for Yourself course facilitator Glen McCloy (seated), Team Leader, Wellington Call Centre with Chris Linton, Manager (Integrity Assurance) Risk and Assurance, who tailored the course for Inland Revenue
Date published: 16 Nov 2004
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