Ideas for the people leading local government through change.
Practical articles and videos on reform, workforce capability, skills and leadership across the sector.
What a skills-based council actually looks like
From role descriptions to skills matrices, the practical shifts councils are making first.
Released time is not a rates saving
Process improvement will be offered as part of the answer to the rates cap. It counts only once finance has validated the budget line that changes.
Before the boundaries are set: a shared service map is the transition work councils can do now
Nobody knows yet who will run the transition or with what powers. A shared map of services and dependencies is useful under any outcome.
The RMA's 46 percent estimate is not a council workforce forecast
A national estimate of applications, made before the settings are final, is not a staffing number. Estimate the local work first.
Can councils prepare leaders for integration before the structures are settled?
Some of the leadership of a merger can be practised before appointments are made. The conditions matter more than the programme.
AI is arriving in every council role. Readiness is a skills question.
Why AI adoption succeeds or fails on capability, not on tooling.
Succession planning when your critical roles are single points of failure
A practical approach to talent risk for councils with lean teams.
Water reform is changing your org chart. Is it changing your operating model?
Structure follows strategy. A short guide to redesigning around the work, not the boxes.
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