Cr Andrew Simms. Loss of senior staff at the Dunedin City Council is worrying, raising questions about workplace culture, a councillor says. Andrew Simms was one elected representative who sought to delve a little into perceived workplace issues during an audit, risk and assurance committee meeting on Tuesday. ‘‘I’m very concerned at the attrition rate in this organisation, particularly of senior staff,’’ Cr Simms said. Council chief executive Sandy Graham said there were no concerns about attrition. The comment from Cr Simms came days after the council confirmed Three Waters, property and urban development general manager David Ward and transport group manager Jeanine Benson had resigned. It also came after contention this term about the way some elected members had treated staff, generating criticism about a perceived lack of respect. Staff who departed since May last year have included executive leadership team members Robert West and Jeanette Wikaira, as well as former deputy chief executive Leanne Mash, who was made redundant. Ms Graham is to leave in October after she decided not to seek another extension on her contract. She has been chief executive since 2020 and her five-year contract was last year extended by a year. Material in front of the audit, risk and assurance committee included statistics from the council’s employee assistance programme (EAP), compared with the service’s overall data. Cr Simms highlighted that of EAP customer work issues reported, the proportion regarding managerial relationships was 21% for the council against a 13% average. The statistics cited for bullying were 11% for the council against the EAP service average of 4%, and workplace safety issues were at 9% for the council against a 2% average, he noted. Cr Simms wondered what difference scrutiny from elected members might have made, as it had been suggested to him overly aggressive questioning of staff had contributed to the situation. Corporate and regulatory services general manager Paul Henderson said the category of ‘‘relationship with manager(s)’’ did not appear to imply this. The proportion in this category had dropped from 25% in March to 22% in April and 18% in May, he said. The service was confidential and the categories were fairly generic, he said. Mr Henderson said work had been carried out with some of the council’s leaders about being able to have challenging conversations in a constructive way. Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker noted a peak in EAP use in March and asked if there had been exploration of why this had occurred. Council health and safety manager Jane Pearce said use of EAP for personal issues was starting to climb. One of the most obvious was financial pressures, she said. March was about the time the possibility of council amalgamations had been raised, as well as rising fuel costs, she said. Mr Henderson said there were no confirmed dates for the next staff wellbeing survey, but it was likely to be August or September. At a traffic and parking bylaw hearing yesterday, deputy mayor Cherry Lucas and Crs Lee Vandervis and Mandy Mayhem thanked Ms Benson for her service, praising her expertise and professionalism.
