Uralla Shire Council staff turnover rates: councillor Robert Bell concerned about keeping staff in areas like engineering and project management

The council has had issues keeping staff in areas like engineering and project management, which Cr Robert Bell puts down to a lack of development programs that inevitably costs ratepayers.

"The issue around the staff turnover is around providing a good, supportive culture and I'm keen to see that happen," he said.

"We have a 17 per cent turnover rate and in my view that doesn't match industry standards, small councils should be around eight or nine percent and that needs to be something we review and ask ourselves, 'why is it that high?'

"The cost of a new staff member is around $20,000 to $30,000 by the time you recruit them, train them up, get them familiar with the area and that's a serious concern."

The council employs more than 160 staff across 32 service areas.

It denies the cost of a new staff member is as high as $30,000 and general manager Kate Jessep said COVID-19 has added pressure in areas like aged care with restrictions on staff working across multiple facilities.

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"When an organisation is on a proactive continuous improvement journey, a certain level of staff turnover is healthy and necessary, under 10 per cent could be an insufficient turnover rate for an organisation taking planned improvement measures," she said.

"We do want new people coming into the organisation, and bringing their skills and experience."

"There are widely recognised skill shortages in areas such as engineering and project management, and given the large body of work USC manage in this area, we can find ourselves with regular vacancies, or having to recruit staff from out of area.

"And we know that staff who have long commutes are often not able to sustain that long term."

The council runs services with higher turnovers such as aged care, in-home care and waste.

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