Planning from then on focused on developing strategies to implement the Government's policies as they affected the Ministry, and as they were clarified over the following months. The drivers of strategic planning were the new Key Goals, issued to guide all departments on the Government's broad objectives, and the specific decisions made in respect of renaming and refocusing the Ministry of Economic Development. Four key priorities were developed, three reflecting the new directions and portfolios, and the fourth capturing the major tasks to be done in achieving the Government's requirements in the other portfolios administered by the Ministry.

Parallel to this activity all branches undertook planning exercises which resulted in business unit and branch business plans for the 2001 financial year. These too were guided by the new Key Goals and the requirements of the many acts and regulations administered by the Ministry. Both the overarching plans and the branch business plans fed into the Ministry's Departmental Forecast Report and its nine purchase agreements.

Human Resources

The Ministry continued its development of human resources tools and practices with the long-term focus on strengthening its overall staff capability for both quality policy advice and operational excellence. A specific objective was to lift managers' capability to manage more effectively.

Management Capability

The Ministry has developed a management capability plan that includes strategies for:

management skills training;
study awards and study assistance criteria;
rotations, secondments and mentoring;
a standardised selection process for managers; and
manager job sizing and remuneration processes.

A training and development programme for the Ministry, consistent with the management capability plan, has been developed and is currently being implemented.

During the year the Ministry ran three Centres for Individual Development programmes for senior managers. The programmes allow managers and potential managers to receive objective feedback about their capability and opportunities for development, and are designed to develop a cohort of senior management capability within the organisation.

Performance Management

During the year the Ministry reviewed its performance management system with the aim of making it simpler and easier to use. An internal reference group, with union involvement, was set up to advise on simplifying the system. Following the review the policy and processes were rewritten, and training on the revised system and the remuneration components was made available to all staff throughout the country.

In addition, the Ministry implemented a mid-year performance appraisal with an emphasis for managers on conducting a developmental review and identifying capability gaps.

Employee Relations

The Ministry's two collective agreements expire at the end of 2001. The Ministry continues to develop its relationship with the Public Service Association (PSA) and, within the Business and Registries Branch, with the National Union of Public Employees. With the transition of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to a Crown entity and preparing for staff to transfer to Industry New Zealand, the Ministry regularly met with the PSA, and representatives from the affected branches are assisting in the consultation process.

Health and Safety

Health and safety policy and procedures were reviewed during the year. A new Health and Safety Committee has been formed with representatives from across the organisation. All staff and managers were trained in health and safety, hazard registers were reviewed and an internal check of health and safety measures was carried out.

Structural Changes

During the year the Ministry has managed the transition of EECA to a separate Crown entity and the transfer of the Office of Tourism and Sport into the Ministry to take effect from 1 July 2000, and has begun a consultation process for the transfer of some functions to Industry New Zealand. The Ministry also began establishing a new Economic Development Policy Unit.

Employee Numbers

The total of staff in the Ministry has decreased slightly over the year to 798. The Ministry however has a number of new staff in temporary positions created to assist in the development of Industry New Zealand as well as new permanent staff in the recently formed Economic Development Policy Unit. Turnover of permanent staff remained relatively stable at 7.3% in the first six months declining to 6.9% in the second six months of the year. The Ministry currently employs 83 policy advisors and senior advisors, and this is expected to increase to 100 in response to the Ministry's expanded role.

Equal Employment Opportunities

The Ministry of Economic Development has an EEO policy that contains EEO objectives to 2010. The objectives set out in the EEO to 2010 programme continued to be progressed throughout the year with efforts to improve the quality of the EEO recruitment data showing positive results. During the year Treaty of Waitangi and Tikanga training was delivered to almost all policy staff, as well as to managers.

Scholarships Programme

The Ministry conducts a scholarship programme for targeted groups of students. Six Maori scholars are each currently receiving scholarships valued at $5,000 per annum while they complete their tertiary studies at universities throughout the country. Work is made available to the scholarship holders during the summer vacation.

Responsiveness to Maori

During the year the Ministry produced four key documents:

A draft Treaty of Waitangi strategy;
Guidelines for the operational groups for Maori Responsiveness;
A Treaty of Waitangi policy framework; and
A Maori Responsiveness toolkit for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi Strategy

The Strategy recognises that the Ministry's involvement in Treaty settlements and the increasing level of involvement of Maori in business, together with our commitments to providing high quality policy advice and services, requires the Ministry to have the capability to respond on these issues.

Guidelines for Maori Responsiveness for the Ministry Operational Groups

The guidelines are designed to provide a framework within which the Ministry's operational groups can develop their own individual strategies on Maori Responsiveness. The guidelines include a set of consultation guidelines, lists of organisations who can assist in consultation and the training outline from the Treaty of Waitangi training and have been distributed to all managers in the Ministry's operational branches.

Treaty Policy Framework

The Ministry has designed a Treaty of Waitangi policy framework to assist in the development of high quality policy advice by providing an effective method of identifying and considering relevant Treaty issues in an informative and timely manner.

A Maori Responsiveness Toolkit for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs

The Responsiveness to Maori Manual for Staff supports the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Responsiveness to Maori Strategy. The purpose of the manual is to improve individual staff and overall Ministry responsiveness to Maori by:

educating staff about their obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi;
directing staff to include Maori responsiveness in their workplans, and highlighting where this can be done;
assisting staff to deliver products and services that meet the needs of Maori consumers; and
assisting staff in the production of high quality policy advice that addresses Maori perspectives and issues.

Information Management and Technology

A review of the management of information and technology in the Ministry has been undertaken, resulting in the formation of a new Information Management and Technology Group. The structural change recognises the importance of managing the Ministry's information resources effectively and how that resource can best be delivered to the organisation through the use of technology.

Major information management projects that were undertaken during the year are set out below.

Infrastructure Review Project

The Infrastructure Review Project which provided a standardised desktop environment across the Ministry was completed during the first quarter of the 2000 financial year.

Document Management System

The implementation of the Ministry's document management system (iManage) has been completed for Head Office. Planning for a web interface to this system for regional offices is currently under way for implementation during the next year.

Ministry Intranet

A Ministry Intranet has been implemented to provide a single point of access to Ministry internal information.

Ministry Internet Website

The Ministry's website has been reviewed and a new website format has been implemented to reflect the refocusing of the Ministry of Commerce to the Ministry of Economic Development.

Network Security

A number of projects have been implemented to strengthen the security of the Ministry's computer network. They include the implementation of virus scanning at both the server and desktop, internet use monitoring, email monitoring and blocking software and the implementation of secure identification dial-in access using digital number generating access cards.

Ministry Name Change in All Database Applications

A total of 74 database applications were checked and modified to reflect the Ministry's new name.

Electrical Workers Licensing Automatic Credit Card Transaction

This system has automated a manual process of obtaining bank authorisation for credit card payments, providing an electronic link between the Ministry and the bank allowing credit card payments and refunds to be processed within approximately five seconds.

PRISMs Project

A new Radio Spectrum Management database has been implemented, allowing the decommissioning of the previous system, which had been identified as high risk due to its age and the unsupported nature of the product.

Financial Management

Financial management processes have been continually updated during the year to integrate the new responsibilities of the Ministry and to accommodate an increase of 50% in the number of Votes for which the Ministry is responsible. This follows changes in ministerial portfolios after the election and the transfer of the Office of Tourism and Sport from the Department of Internal Affairs effective from 1 July 2000. Further work is being undertaken during the 2001 financial year on improving financial reporting frameworks as the new responsibilities are bedded down.

As part of the establishment of Industry New Zealand and the new Economic Development and Industry and Regional Development portfolios, the Ministry has been required to provide a significant amount of input into establishing the accountability documents and Vote structures.

The Ministry developed further its capital asset planning and approval processes to ensure that limited resources are being applied to those assets that best meet the objectives of the Ministry. This has resulted in greater scrutiny of proposals at senior management level and a clearer linkage of proposals to the strategic plan for the Ministry.

The Ministry took an active role in progressing generic Crown entity accountability issues and has over the past year provided input into the work of the central agencies (Treasury and the State Services Commission) on Crown entity governance issues.

In the latter part of 2000 a significant amount of work has gone into establishing Industry New Zealand. Work commenced on both the establishment of the entity and the legislative framework around it during the 2000 financial year. The early part of the 2001 financial year will see the new entity established and some functions of the Ministry move across to Industry New Zealand.

EECA also became a Crown entity effective from 1 July 2000, and during the latter part of the year the Ministry worked closely with the Ministry for the Environment and the State Services Commission to ensure the transition went smoothly and the associated financial management issues were dealt with in a timely manner.

The mix and responsibility for Crown entities continues to change for the Ministry. During the 2000 financial year, NZ on Air moved to Culture and Heritage following the Culture and Heritage review. Recent decisions also mean that Maori Broadcasting responsibilities will reside with Te Puni Kokiri from 1 July 2000. The Ministry has been heavily involved in both changes to ensure seamless transitions.

In addition to the establishment of Industry New Zealand, the other changes that will impact on the Ministry's Crown entity responsibilities in the coming year include the move of the Office of Tourism and Sport from the Department of Internal Affairs, and the Crown entity responsibilities that follow that.

Assets and Accommodation

The Ministry has an asset management approach centred on:

continuing to regularly review the type of assets used or required in relation to changing business needs;
(This has been especially critical over the past six months as the Ministry builds its capability under its new roles as the Ministry of Economic Development, and the resulting changes);
completion of an annual capital programme for the purchase of new and replacement assets;
evaluating the most effective way to enhance capability when considering the purchase of assets; and
maximising the return from all assets while minimising the associated operating costs.

Most of the Ministry's accommodation is leased. During the year the Ministry spent $8.2 million, approximately 9.2% of total expenditure, on accommodation.

Through good property management practices the following reductions were achieved:

The number of leased premises decreased by three, or 7% of leased properties.
Total area leased decreased by 1,628m² or 4%.
Annual occupancy costs decreased by $207,479.
Office space allocation per person decreased by 2.1m².
No vacant space existed.

During the period continued planning occurred in respect of infrastructure-related assets and operations to meet the requirements of the Ministry's business continuity planning for the Y2K period.

Resulting from a tender, significant savings will be achieved in use of telecommunications voicemail services over the next two years.

Risk Management

The Ministry continued its policy towards actively identifying and managing its risks. In the first half of the year the focus was on completing a Ministry-wide Business Continuity Plan and on preparing for Y2K issues; in the second half a review of the quality of the Ministry's policy advice was completed and adopted by senior management. The policy advice review resulted in the adoption of a new policy framework, revised policy advice standards and a series of courses for managers about improving policy advice.

Year 2000 Results

The Year 2000 project was successfully managed within the Ministry with no Business Continuity Plans having to be invoked as a result of a failure during or following the Y2K roll-over period.

This project was managed centrally by a Steering Committee, which met on a weekly basis to monitor progress across the Ministry. A full inventory of all Year 2000 risks was completed in 1997. This inventory was reviewed periodically to ensure new risks were identified and formed the basis of the Ministry's Year 2000 Risk Management Strategy. Sub-projects were managed across the Ministry by a programme manager with a single project manager managing the progress of all of the programmes across the Ministry. The sub-projects were classified as:

development of safety strategies;
establishing building and environment compliance;
determining legal exposure and risk;
establishing compliant business critical systems;
establishing risk management and continuity plans;
establishing compliant non-critical systems;
securing essential supplies and enabling customers; and
implementing a managed communications programme.

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Printed: 25/11/2009