The set up for success

Today marks 64 days since we entered full lockdown at level four.

There’s no doubt the last few months have been a crazy ride and there has been a significant amount of learnings and areas of adaptation along the way.

We’ve had to learn how to work virtually, we’ve had to learn how to work in isolation and we’ve had to learn how to maintain morale levels with our people with the absence of face to face interaction.

It has been challenging, but it was made easier by having a clear strategy in place before we were anywhere near being hit with COVID-19.

It’s times like this that highlight the importance of having a clear strategy and behaviours in place.

Our strategy and behaviours underpin everything that we do. They guide our actions, they guide our priorities and they guide our decisions. It is these strong foundations of our high-performance organisation which have resulted in Hamilton City Council leading the way in COVID-19 response and recovery.

Our purpose is clear – to improve the wellbeing of Hamiltonians. Since COVID-19 that has remained front of mind Council’s priority was, and continues to be, helping those who need it the most.

Hamilton City Council is also driven by four key behaviors:

• Make things happen
• Work together
• Think differently
•  Act with integrity.

After reflecting on how our organisation has responded to COVID-19, it’s how we have demonstrated our behaviours that has impressed me the most.

Make things happen

On 26 March, the first day of the Alert Level 4 lockdown, we were one of the first, if not the first, council in New Zealand to launch a recovery plan.

Our comprehensive 12-point plan was created to provide immediate benefit to those individuals, businesses and community groups hit hardest by COVID-19.

We were the first in the country to do this. Our plan covered a suite of short-term and long-term initiatives ranging from providing social service funding support, offering consent relief and refunds, offering rent relief for commercial and community tenants plus much more.

And it’s making a difference. So far, we have granted $370,000 of Council funding to social services alone. 

Working together

Alongside our Waikato partners, we submitted 23 shovel-ready project proposals to the government. Our sub-regional proposal is ambitious and transformational. By working together, we were able to present a suite of proposals that represent a comprehensive and bold suite of initiatives that meet and, in many instances, exceed the central Government criteria.

The projects presented in the proposal will provide the stimulus needed to support the region and the country as we recover from COVID-19.

They will modernise the economy and enhance productivity. Most importantly, the proposals will deliver sustainable jobs. Win-win situations.

It’s clear central Government are interested in what we have to say. Of the 23 projects put forward, 22 have successfully made the first cut. Four projects have also been sent to the Provincial Development Unit for consideration.

No commitment has been made by central Government or any party to proceed with any of these 'shovel ready' projects but we are in an exciting position which wouldn’t have been possible if we had worked in isolation.

Thinking differently

The move between alert levels has had a significant impact on our business. The closure and then partial reopening of our facilities and visitor destinations such as our libraries, pools, Hamilton Zoo, Waikato Museum and Hamilton Gardens has meant our staff have had to think differently, and quickly, in regard to how we can best continue to deliver these services that our community love so much.

At level 4, Waikato Museum set up a virtual community museum. Using the hashtag #MyWaikatoMuseum, the team put a call out for the community to share an image of their taonga they value most.

At level 2, our libraries started a click and collect service and as of yesterday have had a total of 1447 click and collect orders picked up. Our education team at Hamilton Zoo took students of Tatuanui School on a zoom tour to meet the animals, providing a virtual encounter.

Thinking differently is what we do. It’s in our DNA at Council and because of this, we have been able to continue connecting with our community – in the most difficult and craziest of times. 

Act with integrity

Council has definitely not slowed down over the past 10 weeks – in fact, quite the opposite. Elected Members and staff have been working some incredible hours to make sure they are doing whatever they can to support our city. 

With all the hardship we are seeing in our community, with the struggles of working in different environments, with the stresses of attempting to pull off professional, teacher, parent all at once … it’s been tough. But despite all of this, I am incredibly proud of the way our team at Hamilton City Council have acted with integrity no matter what has been thrown at them.

Our people are not only continuing with their day jobs that keep our city running. They have stepped into our Civil Defence response team, they’ve stepped into our internal response team, they’ve gone above and beyond to pull together world class shovel ready project proposals and they have pulled together insane amounts of information and data to help our Elected Members make informed decisions in these uncertain times.

As well as this, our people have always been making the time to check in on one another. While some people are loving the peace and quiet, others have struggled. It’s been amazing to see us finding new ways to come together, to share our stories, celebrate our successes and to try and create some form of normality. From weekly all-staff webinars where myself and our senior leadership team give updates and answer questions, to daily team zoom catch ups, and even virtual Friday 5pm drinks – it’s clear that our culture and our people are pretty darn cool.

The passion, commitment and energy I am continuing to see every day is at times, beyond words. I am incredibly proud to lead and be part of this organisation and this city and I am grateful that as an organisation we have a strong high-performance programme ingrained in our culture to help us lead our great river city through recovery.