2 November 2023
Our reference 2324-0611
Charles Finley
[FYI request #24146 email]
Tēnā koe Charles
Thank you for writing to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on 14 September 2023,
to request the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
Following your recent restructure, I am interested in the following:
a - how many business groups were impacted by the restructure
b - how much was paid out in redundancy, and to how many people (total and quantity) across the
different business groups (if too sensitive to share, just the total across the ministry)
c - how many people resigned as a direct result
d - how many people were promoted (i.e. went up a pay grade) as a direct result
e - how many people were demoted (or went down a pay grade) as a direct result
f - further to d - a list of people / positions who went up more than 1 pay grade as a direct result of the
restructure (I believe that for those who are now in senior manager roles, tier 4 plus, this should be
deemed public information. If you do not wish to share names, please share positions that these people
are now in)
g - how many vacant positions remain (as of today) across the ministry
h - how are you assessing the benefits of the restructure
Over the last two years, MBIE has taken steps to build our organisation for the future and to ensure MBIE is set
up to meet the challenges which lie ahead. The changes are aligned to our people strategy, Te Ara Amiorangi,
and create a common sense of connection and direction and encourage collaboration.
On 23 March 2023, MBIE released a change proposal that aimed to address some outstanding structural
alignment opportunities. The restructure document focused on building operational excellence across MBIE,
removing duplication and encouraging an efficient and effective organisation.
Over 2,400 submissions were received from staff, with additional feedback through team submissions,
meetings, and discussions with senior leaders. As a result of this feedback, MBIE released its final decisions in
May, ahead of the new structure taking effect on 1 July 2023.
My answers to each part of your request start below. Please note, the data referred to in my response covers
the period from
1 July 2023 to
31 August 2023.
Question A
Groups impacted by the realignment
Through the recent change, five business groups were impacted.
Three groups had parts of their operations realigned, namely:
•
Immigration New Zealand, which has responsibility for New Zealand’s immigration rules and laws
•
Building, Resources and Markets, which has responsibility for the regulatory systems around markets,
including building, communications, energy and financial markets; and
•
Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery, which delivers services designed to uphold and promote fair
markets, through the provision of services to the public, including Tenancy Services, Employment
Services and the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ).
At the same time two of our groups, Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
(which housed our corporate functions including
human resources, internal governance, legal and privacy, onsite security, and communications) and Finance
and Performance were merged into a single new group named
Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement. Question B
Amount paid out in redundancies to affected people, number of affected people
MBIE’s realignment was not intended to reduce the size of MBIE’s workforce, but rather to make better use of
existing people and resources. In any change situation, our objective is to retain the skills, knowledge and
experience we need to achieve our goals.
Most staff retained their existing role, or remained in roles that were either the same or substantially similar,
through a process known as
reconfirmation. This option applies for roles where the following is true:
• The new position description is the same or substantially the same as their current role
• The salary and other terms and conditions of the new role are no less favourable than the old one;
and
• The new role is in the same location as the old one.
However, in some instances some positions were filled through:
•
Contestable reconfirmations, where there is a reconfirmation opportunity but there are more
employees who could be considered for reconfirmation than the number of positions available in the
new structure.
•
Reassignment through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process for employees in roles being
disestablished. This process allowed affected employees to express their interest in new roles within
the confirmed new structure.
Newly established vacant positions at tier 3 level (reporting directly to a deputy chief executive) were
advertised internally and filled through our standard recruitment process. The process for filling these roles
was merit based, with first consideration given to affected employees who may have otherwise faced
redundancy.
As at 31 August 2023, nine staff were made redundant as a result of the realignment. The total amount of
money paid out for this was $473,229.81.
Question C
Resignations as a direct result of the realignment
I am refusing this question under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the requested information does not exist. There
is no document held by MBIE that records this information.
Question D
Number of people promoted as a result of change; and
Question E
Number people were demoted as a result of change In response to
questions D and
E, employees directly affected by change are not promoted or demoted, the
positions they hold are usually disestablished and no longer exist. Where an employee is affected by change
MBIE seeks to reconfirm them into a position that is the same (or substantially similar) where possible.
Where reconfirmation is not possible MBIE may reassign an employee, where possible, to a position that does
not require such a significant a change as to be unreasonable, taking into account an individual’s skills, ability,
and potential to be retrained. This process is outlined in MBIE’s employment agreements and could involve an
employee moving salary bands as a result.
Within this change, both reconfirmation and reassignment processes were contestable in situations where
there were more suitable employees than there were available positions.
Where an employee was unable to be reconfirmed or reassigned, they were able to apply for any new
positions available as part of the change process or any other vacancy within MBIE.
Where affected employees were reconfirmed or reassigned, or if they applied for a new position as part of the
change process, 22 employees went up a salary band and three employees moved to a lower salary band.
Question F
List of roles that went up by a paygrade
When a role is no longer required at a salary band, it is disestablished as opposed to being moved up or down
salary band. As such, I am refusing this question under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the requested information
does not exist.
Question G
Vacant positions as at 14 September 2023
The closest date to your request with available data is 31 August 2023, at which time MBIE had 276 vacant
positions under active recruitment.
This is the number of positions being actively recruited for at the time and excludes roles that are no longer
intended to be filled or positions no longer required pending manual deletion from our payroll system.
Question H
Assessing the effectiveness of the restructure
Changes made under the restructure are focused towards making sure MBIE is well set up to deliver on our
organisational strategy. Consistent design principles have been applied across the changes undertaken by all
MBIE groups, focused towards specific benefits, which are:
•
To be people-centred with a strong focus on our people and customers, so that—
o Development opportunities are provided across MBIE
o Our partnership with Māori is strengthened, alongside our efforts to build Māori capability
o The people of Aotearoa New Zealand are placed at the heart of the work we do.
•
To focus on operational excellence, so that—
o Duplication is removed
o Operational consistency is achieved across MBIE groups
o Operations are effective and efficient.
•
To create centres of expertise by grouping similar functions and teams together, so that—
o Decisions are made more quickly and effectively
o Collaborative and coordinated work is encouraged
o The skills, capabilities, and experience of our people is better utilised.
Additionally, specific benefits were outlined for each change programme at a group-level, as outlined in the
table below:
Group
Benefits
Corporate Services, Finance
•
Integrate operational corporate services, to—
and Enablement
o Standardise, simplify, and automate key services across
MBIE
(formerly Ngā Pou o te
o Increase support for large-scale operational services and
Taumaru and Finance and
strategic advice across MBIE
Performance)
o Consolidate operational activity to provide greater value for
money to customers
•
Group similar functions, services, and ways of working into
specialist portfolios, to—
o Support stronger collaboration
o Create equitable spans of control for leaders
o Increase attention on strategic and future-focused thinking
o Improve the timeliness, specialisation, and quality of
operational and strategic advice
Immigration New Zealand
•
Build centres of expertise across MBIE, to—
o Better integrate the parts of MBIE that operate the
(incorporating changes to Te
immigration system, clarify their accountabilities, and
Whakatairanga Service
remove duplication
Delivery)
o Improve capacity and consistency in practice for
compliance, enforcement, and investigations functions.
•
Create a strong and capable central function, to—
o Improve our ability to respond to change
o Maximise visa processing efficiency
o Place customers at the centre of design and delivery of
immigration services.
•
Relieve pressure from operational leaders, to—
o Strengthen their focus on the growth and wellbeing of their
teams
o Support the progression of new ways of working and
continuous improvement capability.
Buildings, Resources and
•
Realign functions within the New Zealand Government
Markets
Procurement1 (NZGP) group, to—
o Create equitable scope and spans of control
o Group functional relationships to create the best
experience for our customers
o Reposition roles for greater mobility between teams and
career progression.
•
Meet current demands of the procurement system, including—
o Making improvements to the data system
o Strengthening leadership in key sectors, supplier
relationships, contract management, and cross-agency
collaboration
o Increasing activity to improve practice and develop supplier
capability.
1 NZGP provides functional leadership to government agencies to support them to purchase value for money
services, improve their overall effectiveness and reduce overall costs to the government. You can read more about
them on their website, at
https://www.procurement.govt.nz/.
These benefits were outlined in briefings to both MBIE Ministers and the Public Service Association (PSA) with
a commitment to reviewing achievement 12 months after implementation of MBIE’s new structure.
More information about these success criteria for two of our groups is also contained in the appendices to this
letter:
•
Appendix A, which refers to Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement
•
Appendix B, which refers to Immigration New Zealand
Thank you again for writing to MBIE. Under section 28(3) of the OIA, you have the right to refer my response
to an Ombudsman for review. You can find more about how to do this by calling 0800 802 602 or by emailing
[email address] Nāku noa, nā
Jennifer Nathan
Chief People Officer
People and Culture
Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement
Appendix A
Success criteria: Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement
Appendix B
Success criteria: Immigration New Zealand
