Workplace Productivity

Workplace productivity is the key to lifting New Zealand's living standards and wealth. We can increase the value of what we produce by working in different and better ways. For example, the Department of Labour draws on the expertise and drive of the Workplace Productivity Reference Group to focus its activities on awareness raising, development of diagnostic tools, implementation and research. This group is made up of people who have influence in New Zealand industry, including unions and business organisations. During 2006/07, this group was instrumental in delivering a range of awareness raising programmes, and demonstrating the gains from a tripartite approach to working on a mutually agreed programme.

Key achievements in 2006/07 include the following:

• The Department continued to publish case studies of workplaces that have changed their workplace practices, particularly in the service sector and in businesses with ethnic and gender diversity. These provide excellent examples and ideas for employers and business owners.
• Promoting awareness of productivity improvement through seminars. In conjunction with the Chambers of Commerce, a series of workshops have been held around New Zealand with employers and business owners.
• The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions has completed the pilot for a proposed two-year Workplace Productivity Education Programme (WPEP), funded by the Department of Labour, designed to reach employees (union and non-union). It arises from a joint exercise on productivity involving business, union representatives and the Government.
• A self-assessment Snapshot productivity toolkit (a diagnostic survey) has been developed to encourage employers to analyse their workplace practices. The tool was launched in April 2006, distributed through networks and is available online.
• The Department of Labour is working with the State Services Commission and the Public Service Association on public sector productivity.

Workplace Change Programme

As an example of public sector productivity, the Workplace Change Programme within the Department seeks to increase effectiveness and efficiency through the use of technology, more effective processes, and enhanced structures and practices. The Workplace Change Programme began as a pilot in April 2006. The major initiatives in 2006/07 were as follows:

• The Workplace Services structural realignment has resulted in a new regionally-focused approach to the delivery and management of services.
• A proof-of-concept test site was established in Christchurch to assess new intake, filtering, allocation and diagnostic processes as part of the Business Process Redesign project.
• Over 300 Workplace Group staff received information technology training. The increased capability will contribute to richer information about local operations and overall progress.
• The Workinfo mobility project has indicated that our effectiveness and efficiency will improve as the Department equips our field staff with a mobile device and applications supported by pertinent, accurate and timely information. This not only provides our clients with consistent and accurate information but also reduces our staff's rework time.

Small Business Information Unit

The Department's Small Business Information Unit promotes productivity and quality workplace practices to small to medium enterprises (SMEs) (employing 19 or fewer people) through industry, agency and business support networks.

SMEs are the backbone of the New Zealand economy. In February 2006, 96.4 per cent of enterprises were SMEs, accounting for 29.6 per cent of total employment and 39 per cent of the economy's total output.^[1]

During 2006/07, the Department engaged with over 4,200 SMEs at forums and engagement events. Engagements included developing an understanding of workplace productivity with the Nelson Business Mentors, and improving employment practice in the kiwifruit industry. In addition, 83 per cent of clients surveyed were satisfied with the services delivered by the Department, and 58 per cent stated that, as a result of interaction with the Department, they had changed their practice.

Social partnership

The ILO, the United Nations' employment-related agency, is the world body that oversees tripartite labour negotiations. It is from this basis that the Department has developed social partnerships with the most representative of the country's employer and worker organisations, namely the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and Business New Zealand, and the Department has been able to deepen our understanding of New Zealanders' interests and to deliver connected employer, worker and government labour market policies and programmes.

Two key mechanisms for delivering social partnership will continue to deliver advice on workplace productivity and quality participation. The Workplace Productivity Reference Group has been refreshed to provide strategic leadership for the Workplace Productivity Agenda, with additional employer and union representation. The Quality Participation Leadership Group, established in 2007, provides a similar mechanism for partnership activities to inspire high-quality workplace practices to attract and retain talent. Our intention now is to build on these and to extend them to a wider range of agencies.

Workplace Contact Centre

The Workplace Contact Centre is the front door for the Workplace Group in the Department. In the past, a person had the option of nearly 20 phone numbers to call if they wanted workplace-related assistance or information. Over the period 2006/07, the Department has built a more dynamic and innovative contact centre. The aim is to provide clients with consistent and accurate information, and resolve 75-80 per cent of calls without referring them on. Currently, the contact centre is resolving 90 per cent of calls without referring them on. For 2006/07, 240,000 calls were received, and 92 per cent of 521 contact centre customers surveyed considered overall satisfaction with the Department's service to be 'good,' 'very good' or 'excellent'.

Metal manufacturing project in Rotorua

The metal manufacturing project started as a Department of Labour initiative and developed into a joint exercise with ACC, to ensure compliance and reduction in the number of ACC claims in the metal manufacturing sector. The final project report achieved outstanding results. The project was first run in 2005/06, with 38 companies in the metal manufacturing sector involved. Follow-up was completed in 2006/07, with 31 companies involved. A preliminary comparison suggests an increase in overall compliance and a reduction in both the number and cost of ACC claims in the metal manufacturing sector over the two years.

The Department has worked with ACC and industry to develop guidelines and share best practice across other sites and regions.

Labour market reports

The Department continued its programme of reporting on the dynamics of the labour market and what this might mean to policy delivery and service delivery changes. Key reports covered the latest labour market statistics, employment and unemployment, wage growth and work-related injury claims received by ACC.

Workplace Health and Safety Council

The Workplace Health and Safety Council was set up to advise government on making workplaces healthier and safer. This is a key action in the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy. The Council includes government, employer and employee representatives, and held its first meeting on 22 May 2007. The Council will provide leadership and coordination, and advice on relevant legislation, standards and policies.

Other achievements

For the year to June 2007, the Department:

• received over 400,000 hits on the health and safety website, more than two and a half times the estimate for the year
• found that 90 per cent of workplaces satisfactorily completed the health and safety compliance or enforcement actions required of them in a six-month period - well above the target of 75 per cent
• completed 240 investigations related to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act, including 65 emergencies.
• delivered 2,800 forums and information visits, and 3,300 workplace assessments related to the HSNO Act
• produced two case study DVDs on the link between workplace health and safety and productivity
• developed legislation to support a merged Work Account. The merger ensures that ACC levies paid by businesses are fairer, based on injury risk rather than business structure. The merger also ensures that the levies are more stable, for both self-employed and employers.

Decent work - charting our progress

The Department of Labour, in conjunction with our social partners, launched a decent work project, establishing New Zealand as a leader in promoting valuable working lives for our workforce. This stems from the ILO decent work initiatives, which aim to encourage productive work that delivers a fair income in an environment of freedom, equity and security.

Through the development of a website, the project provides a snapshot of activities carried out by the Department of Labour, other government agencies, and the social partners that contribute to decent work in New Zealand. In the current environment of labour and skills shortages, it is important that New Zealand workplaces are attractive to workers, and the decent work initiative strongly supports this goal.

Flexicurity

In June 2007, a delegation including the Minister of Labour, an official from the Department and social partners undertook a study tour to Denmark. They focused on the Danish system of employment (Flexicurity), which combines a flexible labour market with generous social security provision and active labour market policies. Denmark is widely recognised as being an exemplar of this approach, and the study team assessed the Flexicurity system and examined the processes used to generate it.

Development of Work-life Balance guide and the Workplace Project

40% of New Zealand workers say they need and want more flexible work options. The Government has been consulting with employers, employees, and unions to develop practical ways to introduce Work-life Balance in workplaces.

The Department has been running the Workplace Project over the last two years. The Department is working with 14 large organisations to help them develop tailored Work-life Balance initiatives for their workplaces. Learnings to date from the workplace project have been incorporated into a guide - Work-life Balance: making it work for your business, which was released in August 2007 with the small business tool.

Development of the small business tool

The Department has developed a tool for small to medium business around managing flexible work - Managing flexibility: practical ideas for small businesses, which was released in August 2007. Employers told the Department that they were interested in doing more around Work-life Balance initiatives but that they wanted simple tools to help them do it.

The tool is based on real life experiences of workplaces and businesses and delivered in a way that is based on advice from businesses about what will work for them. This should help small businesses introduce and manage flexible work arrangements that work for them and their employees. It will enable businesses to be more productive, while allowing their employees to experience high-quality work that allows them to meet other needs in their lives.

Online tool

In March 2007 the holiday online tool was launched to provide guidance on whether an employee is entitled to a paid public holiday. Between its launch and the end of May 2007, this tool had 23,524 hits. In its first week, the tool received over 1,000 hits, which coincided with its launch during Easter.

Partnership Resource Centre

The Department of Labour's Partnership Resource Centre was established in 2004 to promote positive workplace relations between unions and employers.

Toll Owens, a stevedoring company based at the Port of Tauranga, was formed by the merger of two existing firms. The company and its unions approached the Partnership Resource Centre to assist in the creation of a new company culture for the organisation that had benefits for everyone.

The Partnership Resource Centre established a project to diagnose the current state of workplace relations. It involved establishing some agreed principles to guide the work, developing new skills for improved engagement across the company and negotiating a formal heads of agreement outlining the new relationship and the parties' mutual obligations and undertakings.

With the support of the Partnership Resource Centre, the development of a new relationship has progressed very well and the parties have now agreed to tackle the significant issue of casualisation in the company using a problem solving approach.