Background:
Rockhampton Regional Council had been experiencing rising volumes of complaints about wandering and aggressive dogs. Increasing numbers of impoundings and infringement notices did not seem to be addressing the problem.
Similar circumstances occurred at Fraser Coast with the added community concern at the increasing numbers of euthanised animals – both dogs and cats.
Both councils were experiencing high staff turnover in the animal management area and finding it difficult to recruit experienced staff.
In both cases Reinforcements was asked to review the operational arrangements for animal management and identify improvement opportunities.
What we did
The approach to both reviews was similar – examining policies, processes and procedures and interviewing staff at all levels to obtain practical input.
Examination of operational statistics for both the local law and administrative support areas revealed managerial, procedural, supervisory and systems shortcomings that were contributing to the inability of the units to deal with the growing workload. Using data analytical techniques, interviews of managers and staff, process review and benchmark data across a number of similar sized local governments we established areas where issues were in need of attention.
Results
Our reports not only identified structural and procedural improvement options but included recommendations for specific actions to address strategic and operational alignment of policies and work allocation and reporting practices. These recommendations were adopted by the Councils or their management. In the Rockhampton case the findings were approved for inclusion in a subsequent project facilitated by Reinforcements to implement the improvements.
What The Client Said
“We have had reviews in the past, but this is the first time we have seen real action. It’s great” – Melanie Dansie (Local Law Supervisor, Rockhampton Regional Council)
