Case Study 1

WCF Ltd has staff component of various age groups across different fields of experience which bridges the generation gap between workers. Its staff has a range of experience, from junior workers fresh from university to masters of the industry, who have more than five decades under their belt.

But the skills at all levels are being appreciated by each generation. WCF has over 30 architects practicing in a variety of corporate, commercial and hospitality as well as individual projects as well as approximately 40 professional and support staff.

Its most experienced architect, Max Bloom, in his eighties, is still practicing, keeping up a work load and making a point to help less experienced staff...

His willingness to pass on his knowledge proved an invaluable asset to solicitor Andrea Selwyn. She said the move from Otago University into working full-time in architecture had been a steep learning curve, but she was grateful for the support of the more experienced staff to help her move forward in her career, both personally and for the company.

The support included a strong working relationship with Mr Bloom, who made a point from day one to encourage her to seek his guidance if she needed it, she said.

She feels her skills and talents are valued by more experienced staff. '... It's a great place to work and I'm looking to stay here long-term. It's really going to benefit my career.'

General Manager Stephen Brown came to the firm with a few decades' experience from other fields. He said the people and culture of the firm attracted him to the position. ^’I’m impressed with the diversity of the group, the professionalism of the group and the can-do attitude.'

Case Study 2

Many Wellington City Council employees were recently given the option of a one-off redundancy package or redeployment when the newly elected Mayor’s administration carried out a promise to downsize the Council’s staff component. Council's staff salary costs grew 28 per cent to $4m over the past four years, with almost half the increase in staff last year in the areas of sanitation, parks, beaches, bicycle tracks, pedestrian walks and public education. Now, making sweeping changes to long-standing public service directives, the government created a centralised placement system through the Public Service Commission.

On a day that the union coined 'black Friday', with up to 500 contract staff potentially losing their positions, the Mayor countered by blaming the unions for being inflexible on redeployments for permanent employees saying, 'It's not unreasonable to move around the region to work in different places so we can actually protect these jobs... So far we've had an unwillingness to do that...'

With the new requirements, an employee whose position is deemed surplus is given two weeks to accept a one-time offer of a voluntary redundancy or be redeployed. The Public Sector Commission will provide a skills matching service and can move the employee anywhere within the lower North Island region.

Union officials have criticised the level of union consultation, while the published directive from the Council says, 'A flexible, mobile, right-sized public service workforce enables Council to respond to priorities and changing service delivery requirements'.

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