Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority

Transcription

1 Finding facilities Published 18 April 2016 Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority CERA was set up in March 2011 to oversee the region s recovery after two devastating earthquakes and numerous aftershocks. One of the first tasks of the new, stand-alone government department was to find facilities for staff. This case study focuses on the unique challenges of accommodating more than 300 people at CERA s peak in a shattered city where most central city office space was damaged, unsafe or being demolished. It does not cover security issues associated with those facilities. 1 1 This in no way detracts from the critical importance of proactive security measures to keep staff safe, including dealing with threats from members of the public due to the sometimes controversial nature of their work. However, these issues are common to other government agencies, especially those who interact with the general public such as the NZ Police and Ministry of Social Development. 1

2 Operating from the Art Gallery After the February 2011 earthquake, the Christchurch Art Gallery in the central city, which had been turned into the headquarters for civil defence, became home to a demolitions team that formed the basis of CERA s operational arm. At first staff shared a small upstairs office with a single desk, raided hard hats and stationery from city council supplies, and piggy backed on the council s computer system. There was instant access to the engineers, planners, heritage staff, map experts and call centre operators crammed into every nook and cranny of the gallery. But CERA had to set up its own systems from scratch, starting with a post office box and bank account. As staff numbers multiplied, so did the challenge of finding desks, computers, and floor space. A base at Papanui Meanwhile, acting chief executive John Ombler found a base for CERA s corporate arm in a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) building in Papanui, northwest of the shattered city centre. This physical separation between the two teams hampered communication. The engineers had no idea what the policy wonks were up to and the policy wonks had no idea what the engineers and demolition crews were doing, and neither talked to each other, says lawyer Bronwyn Arthur. For the first six to eight weeks, Papanui staff used their own computers, personal accounts and phones at work. An MSD offer to provide information technology and back-office support took time. It was really, really hard to get a laptop, and then to get a log in took ages, and then to get the telephones, as in the mobile phones, administrator Therese Loney says. On 13 June 2011, Roger Sutton began his first day as CERA s new chief executive. Early that afternoon, two strong earthquakes rocked Christchurch, damaging the Papanui office beyond repair. Here I go, I ve got this new job, I ve got this new organisation and I got no building, Sutton recalls. I thought, oh, man, this is just typical of this thing. I remember saying to somebody, I can t remember who it was, Go find me some accommodation, go find me accommodation for a hundred people. The tallest building in town It took two weeks to secure alternative premises. I was chasing everybody I knew in town that had buildings available or not available as most buildings were damaged or compromised. In the end we managed to get ourselves into level two in the HSBC Tower. We negotiated that with the Colliers people about half past ten one night on a Thursday, and on the Saturday we moved in. On the Sunday, the guy that had the previous business turned up. He was not well-pleased, I can tell you, but never mind, we got through that. The 12-storey HSBC Tower was located in Worcester Boulevard, just outside the central city cordon. Some people objected to CERA occupying an expensive high-rise. But it was one of the few buildings still standing, had floors available and was structurally sound. Watching the demolition and rebuild every day focussed staff on the importance of their work, and sent a message that CERA was at the heart of the recovery effort. If we d been hiding in the safety of the suburbs, it would ve given a very bad impression. Roger Sutton agrees it was the right place to be. He called in an engineer friend to reassure staff nervous about working in the city s tallest occupied building while shakes continued. There were other hurdles: no streetlights, no neighbours, no food outlets until a café opened on the ground floor. 2

3 Everyone under one roof Still, for some the HSBC Tower felt like luxury. There was this whole building that functioned properly, it was amazing. We had rows of proper desks, we had space, we had computers that worked. Systems for contractors took longer to kick in. Everyone in the information services team brought in their own equipment and backed up their work in personal online storage services. I didn t operate a CERA account or address until probably more like October [2011]. We had one CERA desktop that we would log into if we needed access to various bits and pieces, and we were Dropboxing everything. Never mind security, we just needed to get the job done and we were the interim team and MSD s services just were not quite fit for purpose for what we needed to do. Contractors relied heavily on the council s public wi-fi until they negotiated a hidden contractors network. In the months that followed, CERA leased several other floors of HSBC, including two from the city council in return for moving the operations team out of the art gallery. Getting everyone under the same roof was a priority for Sutton. It s a new organisation, disparate people, disparate issues. One building. I d compromise pretty much everything else to have them in one building. 3

4 Moves within moves What was initially envisaged as a 50-person organisation expanded over time to more than 300, with contractors and consultants adding to the pressure on space. The task of finding somewhere for everyone to sit in HSBC was likened to fitting a size twelve foot into a size six shoe. Meetings spilled over into the Language School across the road, while internal reorganising was constant and disruptive. We ve tended to be a bit like a slide puzzle where you have to move one tile to move the three over here to then move them back, so it was really quite complex. One staff member counted they had shifted 18 times in four years. Outliers Some days it s pretty tense because they don t want to move. They do not want to move. It s really hard because I take it personally too. I feel sorry for them. In addition to the HSBC Tower, CERA set up several small offices at Marian College close to the Port Hills residential red zone, in Barbadoes Street, and in Ferrymead. It was useful to have staff on the spot to deal with local issues in hard-hit areas, and it made sense to diversify infrastructure in case of another major earthquake. However, these outlying offices reinforced the separation between the organisation s operational and policy arms. A Wellington presence Although its head office was in Christchurch, CERA also needed a presence in the capital to access other government departments, Ministers and Parliament. Once again, MSD provided accommodation in the form of shared space for a dozen Wellington-based staff on level two of the Charles Fergusson West Block in Bowen Street, close to Parliament. Contractors and Christchurch staff arriving to meet with officials had to compete for facilities. We had a hot-desk booking system where people would have to book desks and it was always a bit contentious, on a Monday in particular, trying to find an available desk. At the end of 2013, when Wellington staff numbers had expanded to around 20, the office negotiated its first dedicated space on level fourteen of the Charles Fergusson Building. In the next two years, Wellington numbers more than doubled again reflecting CERA s growing responsibilities as a public sector organisation. Travel costs increased, as did the challenges of managing policy, legacy and ministerial services teams that were split between Wellington and Christchurch. Some believe CERA could have used technology more to its advantage. If there had been reliable videoconference facilities within the organisation s offices and ministers offices, staff might have had to travel less and more people could have been based in either Wellington or Christchurch, giving access to a wider recruitment pool. 4

5 Better coordination CERA s July 2013 restructure brought responsibility for security and facilities management into the HR area. This arrangement was unusual but improved coordination of people and resources. It meant the facilities team were completely au fait with our employment numbers and who was who and where they needed to be and our projections and forecasting for the next six months. It wasn t dropped on them from a great height when somebody suddenly said, I ve got six new people starting next week, can you find them somewhere to sit? A final split By 2013, overcrowding at HSBC had come to a head. It took a year to find a solution: staff resisted moving outside the central city, leases on new buildings were too expensive and required a long-term commitment, and most old buildings failed to meet strict new engineering standards. As a government organisation, CERA was also under pressure to lease crown properties, regardless of their location. Finally, in June 2014, CERA s corporate services took over one floor of a vacant Ministry of Health building in Hazeldean, a 10-minute drive from HSBC. Staff appreciated the spacious new premises but missed easy contact with workmates. HSBC and Hazeldean feel quite adrift from each other. I like talking to people face-to-face and to do that, you have to jump in a car. With its corporate services in one building, policy and communications people in another, operational teams spread around Christchurch and Wellington, CERA ended its days as it had begun, coordinating its activities from different locations and cities. Lessons identified Use the region s civil defence base as a springboard for early efforts. Tap into other government departments for help with accommodation and equipment. Set up your head office near badly affected communities to show leadership and support Aim to house all staff together to build organisational cohesion Use outlying offices to provide on-the-spot local support and diversify infrastructure Bring responsibility for security and facilities management under the human resources umbrella as a way to better coordinate staff and resources Use technology such as videoconferencing to unite teams in different locations. NOTE: This report includes quotes from some of the more than 130 CERA staff interviewed as part of CERA s recovery lessons and legacy project. Quotes are intended to capture personal perspectives and insights. However, they have been chosen because they reflect the views of a number of staff or provide specialist knowledge about different aspects of the agency. All individuals named and quoted have given their approval. 5