Trans Tasman Rankings: Hughes Top State Sector CEO Again

8 June 2011

Departing Ministry of Social Development boss Peter Hughes has been named top Government Department CEO of the year by a panel of 22 high profile opinion shapers.* The accolade comes in Trans Tasman's 2011 New Zealand Government Department's Briefing Report released this week.

Hughes, who has just been named as the new head of Victoria University's School of Government, also picked up the top honour in the inaugural report last year. The panelists were again impressed with the work Hughes has done as head of the ministry and comment he will be sorely missed.

Hughes began his working career 30 years ago in the benefits section of the old Social Welfare Department and worked his way up through the ranks with some very good results when he delved into the academic world.

One of his characteristics is like his political masters he hates bad news and surprises, and does everything possible in planning and management to avoid them. It's this sort of attention to detail while keeping an eye on the big picture which has led Hughes to win the top CEO accolade.

Alistair Morrison of the Department Of Conservation gets the second highest score, a result which surprised even the panelists, who worked independently of each other and who didn't know the result until this week. Morrison came nowhere in last year's rankings, but it is a measure of his abilities that he was able to make such an impression this year.

This is perhaps a reflection Morrison’s attempts to find a meaningful role for the department, whittling out costs and better engagement with those outside the department has not always been matched with equal relish from within.

In the scoring Hughes was well ahead of Morrison, with Maarten Wevers of the Department Of Prime Minister And Cabinet in third place, followed by John Whitehead of Treasury and Wayne McNee of The Ministry Of Agriculture And Forestry.

The panelists voted The Ministry Of Social Development as the Government Department of The Year. The Treasury, which last year took the top accolade, came in second, with the Department Of Prime Minister And Cabinet third. The Inland Revenue Department was voted fourth best.

The report says it is a measure of the the Ministry Of Social Development's performance which enabled it to take top honors even while things it is meant to be keeping under control are not going well.

The report notes MSD flew threw a performance review which found little to criticise, though it did note long-term beneficiary numbers still seem to be a problem too big or difficult for the ministry to solve. It may find itself having some hard times ahead if National wins re-election and pushes on with more radical welfare reform.

The State Services Commission led-review described MSD as big, but nimble. This was in evidence when the ministry flew into action on the ground following the Canterbury earthquakes to support those in need and put the policy together which kept many businesses and families from going under in the initial aftermath of the tragedy.

Much credit can be laid at the feet of our CEO of the Year Peter Hughes. He steadied a rocking ship and guided it safely through very choppy waters, but a CEO can only lead and it is the new culture of adaptability amongst staff which has taken it to the top. It is no small achievement and no-one would have picked MSD becoming the organisation it is today when it was set up 10 years ago.

All four top ranking departments will be getting new leadership over the next 12 months. The new CEOs will start with good platforms to work from, but are likely to face more pressure on budgets and policy work than their predecessors ever did.

*The 22 panelists who ranked the CEO Of The Year and The Government Department Of The Year also looked at each Department individually ranking them on 5 criteria: Performance of the CEO; Ease of doing business with the department; Budget performance and value for money; The department's quality of service delivery and the overall performance of the department. Their rankings for CEO Of The Year and Government Department Of The Year were arrived at independently of the individual department rankings. All of the panelists worked independently of each other, and none saw the others rankings in advance. The full list of the panelists is included in the Briefing Report.

ENDS

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