Merepeka Raukawa Tait: Make axe quick

Seems most countries are already imposing austerity measures to try to pay for and counter the impacts of the global economic crisis.

Our Prime Minister indicated earlier this year that asset sales and cutting government spending was a priority if we wanted to see the Government's accounts in surplus by 2014-2015. Government employees will not escape the cuts. This year through work commitments I have reconnected with many former colleagues still working in Government departments in Wellington. The majority remain committed to the public service ethos.

I have always respected these loyal people, many of whom have been with the public service for 20 years or more. They know the business of government and continue to be reliable and dependable to their ministers and departments. I believe they work incredibly hard. They have to as the departments have become lean and trim over the years. There has been a tendency to slag off those who work in government departments but I have always found the senior staff in particular to be very professional, highly skilled and they appear to enjoy their work. I presume this applies to the majority of the workforce otherwise why would you stay.

Government employees play an important role in ensuring the government's direction and wishes are developed into workable policy. They provide the necessary support for regional offices to then implement the changes with hopefully the desired outcomes. The Government relies on these dedicated, impartial public servants for advise. They have had to learn to be flexible over the past three decades as governments have driven their agendas, policies and changes at rapid speed.

Policies have been tried, tipped out when found not satisfactory and it starts all over again. Government employees are the one constant in the sea of change that has taken place in almost all government departments. Ministers come and go too. They get shuffled around, in some portfolios, annually. Public servants talk amongst themselves. They know who are the hard working ministers and as one said to me recently "there are those we respect and those we have to tolerate".

A number of Government departments have recently signalled they will be making the necessary staff cuts in line with the Government's reduced spending. Without doubt some services will be effected. It never hurts to review your staffing levels, even annually, but in the past we have seen that shedding Government staff often results in moving the salary content, albeit now much reduced, from one Government department to another, namely WINZ. Surely that can't be what the Government intends.

Knowing your department will be undergoing staff cuts means staff are now marking time waiting to see if they are the ones no longer required.

This can be a harrowing experience, waiting for the axe to fall. And as you sit there wading through all the work that needs attention staff must think "you must be joking, who's going to pick up this lot when I'm gone"? Good question. Because the work that person is doing right now just doesn't stop. Someone has to complete it and ensures it gets actioned.

From experience I know that staff working in departments identified as needing to cut numbers, want to know as soon as possible if it's them.

There is the usual fall off in productivity while they wait. So the waiting time should be as short as possible. If the axe is going to fall, then make it quick. People need to be able to plan for the future and uncertainly doesn't help them do this.