THE Bass Coast Shire Council has slimmed down its executive structure, from four general manager positions to three, adding Irishman Patrick Dillon to the key role in charge of ‘Innovation and Engagement’ in recent weeks.
But employee costs are still on target to pass $50 million within five years.
The structure was the subject of a community question at the council meeting last week with Gina Rosamilia wanting some details on the new structure and the reasons for the change.
“The change from four to three divisions supports a stable, sustainable structure and enhances collaboration between and within divisions,” said CEO Greg Box last week.
“The organisational structure offers Council improved efficiency and service delivery, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and greater financial sustainability.”
Speaking to the Sentinel-Times last week, Mr Box said that while Patrick Dillon was only added in recent weeks, the structure has been in place since last October.
He said it was more about efficiency and better service delivery than it was about cutting wages and salary costs, with total expenditure on wages and salaries expected to increase by $1.5M-$2M annually from $40.93M this financial year, until it exceeds $51.5M in little more than five years’ time.
A native of the Galway in Ireland, Mr Dillon is quite at home on the green rolling hills of South Gippsland and plans to give our golf courses a try when time permits.
He has responsibility for the portfolios of financial services, governance & communications, people & culture, and customer & digital experience.
Understanding financial services, he says, goes hand-in-hand with communications and addressing customer expectations.
Here are a few points about the Bass Coast Shire Council’s commitment to employment:
• Annual employee development and recruitment $878,000 up six per cent
• Wages and salaries $29.968 million up $2M or 7.1 per cent
• Total employee costs $39.068 million up $1.9M or 5.0 per cent
• Total employee numbers: 351.4
• HR Expenditure (Community & Culture): $15.325M
• HR Expenditure (Future Places): $12.379M
• HR Expenditure (Innovation & Engagement): $11.409M
• Total employee costs (including capitalised labour): $40.936M
