Our organisation | Tō mātou whakahaere

On 30 June 2024, MSD had 8,934 employees, with 8,808 permanent and fixed-term FTEs. The organisation is arranged into an Office of the Chief Executive and seven business groups:

• Service Delivery
• Māori, Communities and Partnerships
• Transformation
• Policy
• People and Capability
• Organisational Assurance and Communication
• Strategy and Insights.

Each business group is led by a Deputy Chief Executive (DCE), who is a member of our Leadership Team.

We have offices and service centres throughout New Zealand. Some services are also provided by phone and digital channels (such as our MyMSD online self-service portal).

We also provide our services through Heartland sites in rural and isolated communities.

Governance and risk management

Governance

Our primary governance body is the Leadership Team, comprising our Chief Executive and DCEs. The Leadership Team is responsible for setting our strategic direction, driving organisational performance, overseeing organisational risk and assurance, managing finances and leading a positive culture.

The Leadership Team is supported by three governance committees (see Figure 5). These are led by members of the Leadership Team and include senior leaders from across the organisation.

• The Organisational Health Committee ensures the high-level design and health of key corporate services, systems, capabilities and infrastructure are aligned and support optimal functioning and performance.
• The Transformation and Investment Committee ensures that MSD’s investments are robust, strategic and effective, and that our organisational performance supports delivery to our purpose and outcomes.
• Te Pae Tawhiti Transformation and Investment Committee took effect on 1 January 2024 and provides programme governance to MSD’s organisational transformation programme, Te Pae Tawhiti. The six internal members are complemented by four independent external advisors who bring experience in significant transformation programmes from the public and private sector. Governance of the programme was previously provided by the Transformation and Investment Committee.

Our Chief Executive is also supported by three independent advisory groups (see Figure 5) consisting of external members:

• the Risk and Audit Committee, which provides advice to the Chief Executive on risk, assurance and auditing requirements
• the Māori Reference Group, which provides advice on the design and implementation of strategies and policies that impact the social outcomes of Māori, whānau, families and communities
• the Pacific Reference Group, which provides advice on the design and implementation of strategies and policies that impact the social outcomes of Pacific peoples, families and communities.

Figure 5: MSD governance framework

MSD Business Risk Management Policy

MSD’s Business Risk Management Policy outlines the expectations, accountabilities and responsibilities of MSD staff. It is supported by a risk framework that provides tools, templates and guidance that ensure a consistent approach.

The policy ensures that:

• staff have a proactive approach to business risk management in their day-to-day work
• business risk management is considered in design, development and delivery decisions across all levels of MSD.

Our people

He Korowai Manaaki (Our People Strategy)

He Korowai Manaaki sets out the people-related actions we will take to achieve our key organisational strategies: Te Pae Tawhiti – Our Future, Te Pae Tata and Pacific Prosperity. The four components of He Korowai Manaaki outline what we need to do to be successful in an ever-changing environment, how we can work in new and different ways, and how we want our people to experience working and leading others at MSD.

These components are:

• client and whānau-centred – we design our work, roles and organisation to deliver for our clients and whānau
• capability building – we have the capability to perform to our potential, now and in the future
• leading for performance – our leaders develop and nurture people and teams to deliver high levels of performance
• positive experience – our people have an experience at work that enables them to reach their potential and feel included, safe and well.

Workplace relations

Our relationship with our union partners continues to be positive and constructive at both operational and strategic levels. The Public Service Association (PSA) is the main union that represents our employees. We engage with PSA delegates at local and national levels, including Ngā Kaitūhono representatives and PSA convenors. We also work constructively with the Work and Income Northland Staff (WINS) union, which has members based in Northland.

Adapting to our new environment

As part of MSD’s fiscal sustainability programme (see page 34), MSD offered employees in some parts of the organisation the choice of voluntary redundancy to reduce workforce numbers and associated costs. MSD accepted an initial 218 voluntary redundancy applications from employees in mainly non-client-facing roles.

Following this, a further targeted change process to achieve fiscal sustainability measures commenced in May 2024 in the following non-client-facing business areas:

• People and Capability (People, Commercial Operations, Finance)
• Organisational Assurance and Communications (Information, Legal)
• Transformation (Improvement, Systems and Technology; Transformation Office)
• Strategy and Insights.

These change processes ranged from changes to reporting lines to the disestablishment of positions. Decisions were confirmed on 26 June 2024 and will result in workforce reductions of a further 86 FTEs. This change process is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2024/25.