Strategic direction

In response to our complex operating environment, the Ministry is focused on becoming a single, cohesive organisation, with intelligent service delivery, centred on the public we serve and support.

Our operating environment is complex

The Ministry is faced with delivering services within an increasingly complex and challenging environment.

While there are macro and micro environmental factors impacting on all agencies, the current operating environment provides particular challenges to the Ministry’s operations and ability to focus and implement its strategic direction.

The economy continues to face challenges as the country recovers from the global financial crisis. The fiscal context has been one of restraint, to allow the Government to focus on reducing the accumulation of debt and returning to surplus. The Government has required the public sector to look for opportunities for innovation in how services are delivered to achieve results. The Ministry is required to operate in a more effective and efficient way with the money it has.

Demand for our services has changed in response to demographic and socio-economic trends. Vulnerable population groups are coming under increasing financial pressure, especially in relation to housing affordability.

New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, continues to grow in population, becoming younger and more ethnically diverse. This will challenge its social cohesion, services and infrastructure. Thirty-four percent of New Zealanders live in Auckland, so success for New Zealand necessitates success in Auckland. To meet our Better Public Services targets, the Ministry will focus on vulnerable populations located in the most deprived areas of Auckland and work with economic agencies to identify sustainable employment opportunities.

The Ministry is aware that there has been persistent over-representation of Māori among those who require its services. Demographic changes have the potential to exacerbate this challenging situation. New Zealand’s population is ageing, and also becoming more diverse, although Māori have a much younger profile than the rest of New Zealand.

Māori make up 25 percent of the population under 25 and this proportion is expected to rise. If the poor outcomes for this cohort persist, and feature in the next generation, there may be a diminishing level of taxable earnings expected to support an increasing demand for government assistance.

The move in the population away from rural areas to large urban centres has also increased the vulnerability of some rural communities. Many of these communities are disproportionately or predominantly Māori, which in turn means that the prevailing attitudes, values and beliefs will be strongly influenced by the Māori people in them. As well as working with others in the sector, Māori NGOs, community leaders and iwi will have an important role in helping the Ministry shape and deliver its services to these communities and supporting its strategic direction.

These factors place significant emphasis on ensuring the Ministry’s service design assumptions and service delivery approaches are capable of delivering on its desired outcomes for Māori. If our vision for independent, safe and successful people is an aspiration for all New Zealanders, then we need a more specific focus on our approach to working with Māori communities and iwi.

Adding to the complexity of our environment is the accelerating pace of the labour market change with the rapid infusion of new technology and the impact of globalisation. Jobseekers need to be equipped for this changing labour market.

Alongside this, people’s expectations of how they interact with government, and the sorts of services they can get, have changed. New Zealanders are expecting the Ministry to provide services that are more tailored and responsive and to use technology to make services more accessible and convenient. We are shifting to an environment in which data and more sophisticated techniques are available and the Ministry expects that in the future these tools will improve the effectiveness of its services.

The tragedy at our Ashburton Office on 1 September 2014 highlights the often difficult work we face. The Ministry is committed to ensuring the safety of all staff and clients. We are reviewing and implementing enhanced safety and security arrangements for staff over the next four years.

The Government has challenged the social sector to achieve better results by providing more joined-up responses and co-ordinated services. Government rightly expects a high level of collaboration among sector agencies, both to enable a focus on results and to identify efficiencies.

The Ministry is adapting to new challenges

The strategic direction adopted by the Ministry will allow it to respond to the changes in the environment in which we operates. Rising costs, limited resources, increased expectations and ongoing changes in technology and public needs have created a new landscape to which the Ministry must respond. The Ministry recognises that it needs need to be centred around the people who depend on it and on what they need in their lives.

This requires connected services, streamlined systems and better tools and technology. We also need better knowledge and the ability to use quality data to drive our decisions and services to prove that we’re doing the right things for the right people.

To support this work the Ministry will make sure that as an organisation it is constructive, collaborative and focused on making a real difference in people’s lives.

The Ministry has identified two themes that will ensure it continues to deliver results for New Zealanders into the future:

• client-focused and intelligent service delivery
• teaming up as one Ministry.

Client-focused approach and intelligent service delivery

Putting the client at the centre of everything we do will deliver better outcomes and make it easier for people to interact with us. The Ministry’s systems and processes have historically been based more on what works for the organisation (or parts of the organisation) than starting from the client’s perspective in policy, design, and delivery, whether they are a child, student, beneficiary, family in need or senior citizen.

Being client-focused means connecting the different parts of our own organisation as well as with government, providers and community partners – the people we work with don’t interact with the Ministry in isolation.

The Ministry is moving toward a new organisational approach that sees client analytics, policy and delivery of services as an active partnership in driving organisational decision-making and investment. Elevating the role of client analytics and insight supports a client-focused approach by ensuring we see our clients’ interactions in totality and can prioritise our resources and effort to have the best long-term impact. The investment approach in welfare is an evolving example of how we are using analytics as a critical component in a broader system. The Ministry will build on this thinking and approach throughout the organisation and in the wider social sector.

Team up as one Ministry

Over the next four years, the Ministry will continue to move away from its traditional service line-centred approach towards an integrated organisation, in which critical functions are co-located.

Last year we brought together almost 5,500 FTEs within Senior Services, StudyLink, fraud investigation services and Work and Income into a single service delivery unit. Grouping these services together will allow us to plan, develop and respond much more strategically and consistently than ever before.

The Ministry will continue to build a collaborative and constructive internal culture. This will support an integrated way of working and strengthen our corporate and governance capability to better manage risks and harness opportunities.

Delivering on our strategic intentions requires strong and effective corporate functions and leadership. A strong corporate cluster will provide the necessary support for the Ministry into the future.

What will influence our achievement of this strategic direction?

The Ministry is changing the way it works to provide better services for its clients. The operating model needs to support the Ministry to deliver systems tailored to what people need. It also needs to support us to provide a safe and secure working environment.

Decisions on the Ministry’s operating model will be influenced by the:

• Independent Security Review
• Child, Youth and Family Expert Advisory Panel
• Productivity Commission.

The recommendations from the Independent Security Review and the outcome of the WorkSafe prosecution will influence the way the Ministry configures and delivers services and the types of interactions it has with clients in the future. The Ministry will likely experience an increase in security costs as a result of implementing the recommendations of the security review.

The Minister has appointed an independent Expert Advisory Panel to provide advice on a future operating model for Child, Youth and Family. Since it is clear that the current operating model for Child, Youth and Family is not sustainable into the future, the Panel will develop a client-centred service delivery and investment approach model for Child, Youth and Family.

A significant amount of resource within the Ministry will be directed to support the Expert Advisory Panel as we move towards improving our service delivery for vulnerable children.

The Productivity Commission is conducting an Inquiry into how to improve outcomes for New Zealanders from social services funded or otherwise supported by government.

The goal of the Inquiry is to identify and recommend measures that would lead to improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the social services system.

The findings of the Commission’s report will influence what the Ministry chooses as key priorities for the future.