It is our people who make the vision real and who achieve our outcomes. A strong people culture aligned to our values motivates staff to make the best decisions by approaching their work with the Department's outcomes in mind. We will equip our people with systems, tools and working environments that enable them to work at their best.
Our work will stand up to public, political and media scrutiny.
We will retain and develop strong leaders who understand the fundamental purpose of the Department and motivate staff to fulfill that purpose.
Our people capability will be backed up by good infrastructure - fit for purpose buildings and facilities, good systems for information technology, business information and quality assurance, human resources, policy and operational development.
This infrastructure will be based on strong governance and organisational foundations to ensure work is well coordinated and operational staff are supported to be more effective in their roles. Strong governance will also provide oversight that risks are being proactively identified and managed, and ensure that our staff are exhibiting the highest levels of ethical behaviour.
What progress will look like
We know we are successful when we see:
Progress to date
With the past rapid expansion of the offender population being managed by the Department, the workforce has grown quickly over a short period of time.
This has placed significant pressure on the Department's capacity to recruit, provide initial training and induct new staff. A tight labour market exacerbates this pressure.
The growth in staff numbers and the need to recruit new staff means that inevitably a third of our frontline staff at the beginning of 2007/08 had less than two years' service. New staff bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm. However, many of the skills required to manage offenders well are learnt through experience.
Large numbers of new staff means that we need to ensure staff knowledge of, and compliance with core systems, that we have strategies to identify and manage risks associated with dealing with offenders, and that we strengthen the management pool for succession planning and promotion. These risks are managed through ensuring that we recruit talented people, and a focus on supporting them to quickly develop the required skills to be highly effective on the job.
We have been successful in recruiting and retaining a high proportion of Māori staff, which should assist in our goal to reduce Māori re-offending.
An extensive training programme for staff supported the introduction of the range of new community-based sentences as part of the Government's Effective Interventions package.
The Department provides its people with a range of training and development opportunities on an ongoing basis. In particular, it provides opportunities to build core skills of staff, develop leadership capability and improve responsiveness to Māori.
Between 2006 and 2008 the Department undertook large scale reorganisation as a result of several major reviews. Key themes of these changes are the introduction of a shared support services model and a strong commitment to speaking and acting as one organisation. These new structures and philosophies support this Strategic Business Plan and the anticipated benefits will become evident during the course of the plan.
Looking forward
Together, we will define the organisational culture that we need to build to deliver on our vision and outcomes. The Corrections' culture will be understood and lived by our staff, and will be recognised as the core driver of our success.
The culture will be a key element in attracting new people to work for Corrections and the basis for our 'employer brand'. We will support staff who are aquiring on-the-job experience to quickly gain the required skills and become effective team members.
It is vital that staff understand the critical tasks that they must get right, each and every time they do them. We will review systems to ensure that they meet the real needs of the organisation. We will improve staff understanding of the core systems and processes through stronger training and induction processes. And we will maintain staff motivation and innovation in the times that the Department is subject to public criticism.
Our relationships with our unions will be characterised by an attitude of partnership, cooperation and honesty.
We will continue to improve the information systems that support good decision making across the Department. This will sit alongside continual maintenance of facilities to ensure that the Department can meet demands for its services.
We will work in a more integrated way to achieve our outcomes. This means being more aware of what others are doing, and working with them collaboratively towards shared goals.
The development of leadership and organisational culture will be a major focus. We will 'grow' leaders who will lead by example and motivate high levels of commitment and performance by our staff.
We will ensure we strengthen our emerging Māori leaders, and improve the capability of all our staff to reduce Māori re-offending.