Central Coast Council

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With 2300 staff, ‘Supercouncil’ Central Coast Council is a product of the merger between the former Wyong and Gosford Councils.

Central Coast Council took a proactive approach to the merger. Both councils had formed transition teams to work on integrating rewards and recognition, HR information, and performance management systems prior to the merger. An administrator was brought in as an interim CEO, and it was apparent there was a strong cultural divide despite both councils agreeing to the merger.

Voice Project administered a tailored employee feedback survey looking at a broad range of staff experiences and overall engagement. Additionally, we explored staff’s perceptions regarding the way change was handled, and its impact on staff. Voice Project followed up with a pulse survey and then another survey in 2018. We helped them build a new collective identity that is independent of references to the former Councils. We provided a holistic service, from scoping and design of survey content, through to administration/analysis/reporting of results, through to post survey Executive level debriefs, Directorate level debriefs, and union delegation debriefs. Additionally, we facilitated Executive action planning sessions to assist in developing and prioritising actions moving forward.

The support was well received. One example of an effective outcome was the implementation of an open-door policy for the Directors in order to break down the communication gap that exists in many councils.