Water & Ports

HUNTER WATER CULTURE

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Published on Wednesday, 21 May, 2008

CHANGE OR MYTH?

Management at Hunter Water are proposing a so-called culture change among staff by restructuring the corporation, yet the situation seems to be seriously spiralling into chaos as staff feel over worked and stressed to the max.

The following article is an expression from one ASU member about the situation for current employees at Hunter Water:

Hunter Waters recent attempt at culture change and a proposed 'One Team Approach' is all but dead in the water, despite showing early promise. Once again the corporation 'talks the talk' but does not 'walk the walk'.

Managers, intent on reaching their stretch targets to line their pockets with tax payer funded bonuses, continue to under resource their departments to the extent that employees are at breaking point. This is particularly evident in the Customer Services Division. Employees constantly endure peak workloads, late or reduced lunch breaks, changes in working hours, additional working hours and have leave applications declined in management's attempt to operate using a bare minimum of resources.

Don't bother to complain to management, they do not want to know. At the same time, however they preach the virtues of providing 'stellar customer services' and talk of the need to be 'customer focused'.

The situation becomes even more bewildering when the corporation continues to downsize its frontline customer centre staff yet are forced to close customer centres on days when one or two staff call in sick. At the same time, we have several customer services staff in the redeployment pool facing the prospect of having redundancy forced upon them.

Meanwhile management ranks continues to thrive with new management positions being created at will.

So much for 'blue culture', 'culture change', a 'one team approach' and all the other rhetoric. If management is serious about rebuilding the bridges they have so recklessly burnt, they need to actually do something to reduce workloads and stress levels in the workplace not just talk about it. Culture change? It is a myth!