We manage change.

Organisation Review, Redesign and Development

In 2022, Edward River Council embarked on an improvement program aimed at stabilising and strengthening the organisation. The program commenced with the Your Voice employee engagement survey, facilitated through Xref.  The priorities from the engagement survey included leadership, cross-department collaboration, process improvement, and attracting, developing and retaining employees.

In response to the survey results, Edward River Council partnered with Winton to facilitate an organisational review. The primary goal was to identify opportunities for better alignment across strategy, people, systems, and processes, ultimately enhancing service delivery to the community.

Winton’s approach to the organisational review was iterative and based on human-centered design principles. The process involved:

Data Collection and Current State Analysis: Winton reviewed corporate documentation and conducted information gathering sessions with key stakeholders, including the Executive Team, Managers, the Consultative Committee and a cross-section of the workforce. 

Strategic Planning Workshops: Winton facilitated workshops with the Executive Team to envision a desired future state for the organisation. The focus was on mission critical drivers that would address priorities from the Your Voice employee engagement survey and enhance alignment between the Council’s strategy, people, systems, and processes.

Organisational Roadmap: Synthesising information from the current state analysis and strategic planning workshops, Winton presented an organisational roadmap, outlining key steps towards achieving the desired future state. This roadmap served as a guide for strategic decision making.

Alternate Functional Structure: Working in partnership with the Executive Team and People and Culture Manager, Winton proposed an alternative functional structure to support progress toward the desired state.

Restructure Program Oversight: Drawing on their understanding of the organisation and the local government context, Winton supported the planning and implementation of the subsequent restructure program. This involved creating a restructure guide, devising a communication and consultation plan and providing necessary documentation.  In addition, Winton also guided engagement with employees and unions, ensuring compliance with legislative and award requirements.

Following the successful implementation of the organisational review, Winton continued collaborating with Edward River Council on several fronts:

People and Culture Framework: Winton reviewed, updated, and supported the implementation of the Council’s framework in priority areas such as recruitment, induction, and performance reviews.

Salary System and Job Evaluation: Winton provided recommendations for a contemporary, fit-for-purpose salary system and job evaluation process, including draft policies and procedures.

Leadership Development Program: Winton developed a Capability Framework and subsequent leadership development program to support the leaders of Edward River Council continue to develop and to provide a toolkit for leaders to use to influence the organisational culture.

Winton’s comprehensive approach has contributed to Edward River Council’s journey toward organisational excellence and efficient service delivery for its community.

Strategic Planning

Maitland Community Preschool is a not-for-profit early childhood education service that has been run by a voluntary management committee since 1948. Maitland Community Preschool prides itself on its high-quality educational program, delivered by a team of qualified and experienced early childhood educators. 

Like many organisations, Maitland Community Preschool had worked tireless to continue to deliver quality services to its children and families despite the many and varied challenges posed the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Emerging from this period, it was identified there was merit in the Management Committee, Educators and Administrative staff spending time reflecting on recent challenges and learnings, and clearly articulating a vision for the future. 

Maitland Community Preschool engaged Winton to facilitate and lead the develop of the strategic plan, comprising:

Current state analysis: This sought to understand the internal and external factors affecting Maitland Community Preschool’s current state, and included a desktop assessment of relevant corporate information complemented by listening sessions with the Management Committee, Educators and Administrative staff.

Strategic planning: Working with the Management Committee, Winton articulated a desired future state for Maitland Community Preschool and subsequently identified strategic objectives and key initiatives grounded in the organisation’s current state. 

The development of the strategic plan assisted Maitland Community Preschool navigate organisational changes whilst continuing to deliver an outstanding service to its families and community, culminating in a rating of “Exceeding” in their industry audit and review.

Organisation Review, Redesign and Development

Snowy Valleys Council (SVC) initiated a series of improvement projects in 2019 to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness for long-term financial sustainability. As part of this initiative, SVC engaged Winton to conduct an organisation review that would support the strategic objective of generating sufficient funds to provide agreed-upon service levels and infrastructure to the community in the long term.

Winton analysed approximately 120 documents and gathered information from 20 individual and group sessions with leaders and employees to better understand organisation design, leadership, planning, support, performance evaluation, and improvement. Winton also facilitated sessions with the Executive Leadership Team to establish strategic direction and priorities. Winton presented their review findings, including an organisational model that highlighted critical customer touchpoints and an implementation plan for the cultural transition from the current state to the desired future state.

Subsequently, SVC engaged Winton to support the Executive Leadership Team in its restructure process. Winton provided support in developing an organisational structure, position descriptions, restructure guideline, communication frameworks, and templates for the restructure process, and oversaw the restructure to ensure compliance with legislative obligations.

With an in-depth understanding of SVC’s strategic direction, operations, and people, Winton was invited to support SVC in implementing a leadership development program as a part of the effort to achieve long-term sustainability. Commencing in 2020, this program included strategic planning sessions with the Executive Leadership Team and a series of intensive workshops over several months with the Greater Leadership Team and People Leaders to address areas of leadership and culture, levels of work, team processes, task assignments, and the conversations of a leader.

Organisation Redesign and Restructure

In 2019, Burwood Council commenced a high-level review to ensure its organisational structure was contemporary and supportive of one of the most vibrant and multicultural communities in Australia.

The journey continued through 2021, when Council engaged Winton to lead the implementation of the restructure program, focusing on the managerial levels and below.

Winton facilitated a series of sessions with the Executive Team to confirm the organisational design. Subsequently Winton was tasked with developing the restructure guidelines, draft position descriptions, communication and consultation plan, and recruitment plan for new positions.

Throughout the implementation phase, Winton provided oversight of the restructure process and also guided workforce and union communication and consultation, ensuring compliance with legislative obligations. Consequently, there was no industrial unrest or impact on service delivery.

Strategic Planning

YWCA Hunter Region is a women-led organisation that aims to achieve positive change by providing advocacy, programs, and services to support, empower, and connect women and families for a stronger community.

To ensure that the organisation can continue to meet the emerging needs of the community, the newly refreshed and expanded Board of Directors decided to develop a new strategic plan.

The Board engaged Winton to facilitate and lead the development of the strategic plan. This involved a series of one-on-one and group workshops with the Board and employees, using an iterative process of discovery, ideation, and refinement.

In October 2022, the organisation celebrated its centenary and formally presented and adopted the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. This plan will guide YWCA Hunter Region's future efforts to support and empower women and families in the community.