Annual Report 2006: Commissioner's introduction
Our Way Forward
In 2006 we finalised a new five-year business plan, Our Way Forward. This plan sets out our desired future and describes how we plan to build on our strengths and position our selves for the future.
The business plan emphasises the way we want to work with our customers and has four aspects to our strategic direction.
- Target and tailor our activities through understanding our customers.
- Optimise organisational efficiency and reduce compliance costs over time.
- Create an environment which promotes compliance.
- Continually invest in our people and the tools to deliver future outcomes.
Our Way Forward provides the ongoing focus for us to design and deliver the services the government and our customers expect and are directed at our primary outcome -improving the economic and social wellbeing of New Zealanders.
Our new business plan continues with aspects of our previous five-year plan and incorporates some new concepts and thinking. Our people are demonstrating a high level of understanding and commitment to Our Way Forward in line with their response to our previous business plan.
Changing organisational arrangements
Over the last five years, we have achieved a great deal and have taken on additional responsibilities, such as Working for Families and KiwiSaver. At the same time, we have been experiencing the impact of a more complex and diverse customer base. Furthermore, community expectations have changed and we need to be responsive to these changes.
Given these issues, we are implementing a new operating model and realigning the organisational arrangements across the department. This will help us deliver new and existing business, develop an even stronger focus on our customers and take advantage of our increasing skills and new technologies.
In the design and delivery of services, our organisational arrangements now include redefined business groups that focus on large organisational functions:
- Customer Insight - brings the voice of the customer into the organisation, and helps identify and understand the needs of our customer groups and how to enhance our customer relationships.
- Design - provides specialist design services and capability for the wider organisation to ensure customer-focused business solutions and the integration of these new initiatives into our systems.
- Assistance - provides integrated, cost-effective customer contact, identifies when specialist tailored services are appropriate, and provides these as required.
- Customer Operations - efficiently manages customer processes across the department which do not require "person-to-person" intervention.
- Assurance - helps to increase voluntary compliance and deter non-compliance through the development and delivery of our compliance programme in a way that builds community confidence.
There are also changes to Adjudication and Rulings that include:
- the Chief Tax Counsel having greater oversight of legal technical issues across the department
- changing the business group name to "Office of The Chief Tax Counsel".
These changes will result in closer involvement with service delivery and improved technical decision-making across the department.
The new operating model and organisational arrangements will be progressively implemented during late 2006.
Date published: 29 Nov 2006
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