retirement.org.nz

The Commission is based in a small office in Wellington with nine staff and the Retirement Commissioner. We ensure an efficient and effective operation that delivers value for money, by maintaining a small core staff and contracting out various specialist functions. By doing this the Commission can remain adaptive and responsive to achieving its outcomes.

Our capability comprises our skilled people, resources, systems and relationships with stakeholders. We need the right mix of these to achieve the results we seek.

People: We must ensure that staff are skilled in a broad range of competencies with an emphasis on communications and marketing, relationship management and knowledge of the machinery of government. Additionally, staff need to develop a good knowledge of retirement and personal financial issues.

The specific skills required are:

• Marketing and related areas – promotion, public relations and web management.
• Education curriculum design and delivery.
• Relationship management with government and private sector stakeholders.
• Research – market, economic and policy-related.

Good employer practices and Equal Opportunities statement: The Commission encourages the achievement of work life balance and is a family-friendly work place. It takes a flexible approach to part-time work. Technology allows staff to work remotely from home when necessary. Staff turnover is low. The Commission has an Equal Opportunity plan.

Training and development: Staff are encouraged to identify required competencies and future training needs and to undertake relevant training. The Commission has a dedicated staff training budget. A personal development policy has been developed and provided to staff. All staff have a personal development plan which is reviewed annually. The Commission also runs some team training sessions over the year.

Organisational design: The Commission is a small organisation. The Retirement Commissioner is a 'corporation sole' and is 'the board' for the purposes of parts of the Crown Entities Act 2004. The Executive Director manages the operations (see Appendix – Organisation chart for details). The intention is to keep the organisation small, adaptive and nimble. Certain functions are contracted out in full or part such as: information technology; web design, research; public relations and advertising; and some project and programme management. We have a stable staff and thereby retain core institutional knowledge within the Commission.

Systems:Information technology is critical to the success of the Commission because of the high strategic value of its Sorted website. Apart from basic computing hardware, all technology functions are outsourced to ensure our organisation can make use of the best resources available at an appropriate cost, e.g. extra server capacity required during television advertising periods.

Resourcing: The Commission works in a cost effective manner within its current resources. Sorted is an example of achieving a major impact within available resources.

Relationships: The Commission must work with many stakeholders and its relationships have to be built on good, active communication and the development of mutual trust. The Commissioner meets and speaks with many organisations, groups and individuals from the government, private and community sectors.

Accommodation: The present leased accommodation provides value for money and is reviewed regularly.