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To qualify for the SMG programme, Māori organisations must have government contracts in excess of $300,000 per annum. While this benchmark may be useful in managing expectations around access to the SMG programme and in targeting more prominent organisations with accountability for government contracts, assessors believe there is a large number of organisations that need governance and management support but fail to qualify under the existing criteria.
The SMG programme could be useful to more organisations if the qualifying criteria were broadened to allow non-government-funded organisations to qualify and if the contract threshold was lowered (or removed) to allow low income generating Māori organisations to participate in the programme. Any changes to the criteria should be balanced against the original intent of the SMG programme in order to maintain the integrity of the programme.
Organisations considered that the SMG programme could be improved by tailoring the programme as a complete package covering initial assessment, and remediation work, followed by a post-assessment monitoring and evaluation phase. Organisations commented that the current SMG programme was more effective when delivered in a structured package (i.e. with assessment and remediation).
Currently, some Te Puni Kōkiri regions actively promote the remedial phase, with other regions taking a less pro-active approach. Some organisations that participated in the assessment phase declined to carry on with the remediation phase, stating that they would undertake the work themselves, in line with their own resources and timeframes.
Some organisations were interested in having follow-up with their original assessors to share progress. In most cases it appeared there was no contact between assessors and organisations after the assessment phase. Some assessors also mentioned that they would be interested in checking in with organisations to see how their recommendations had been received and how the organisations had progressed in the intervening period.
A post-assessment monitoring and evaluation phase would be a valuable add-on to the programme, as it would enable organisations and Te Puni Kōkiri to track progress, ensure recommendations were implemented, and identify any new issues. It would also enable Te Puni Kōkiri to assess whether any improvements had been sustained over time.
One of the strengths of the SMG programme has been the standardised assessment process delivered by experienced assessors. The assessment framework and process have largely been a ‘one size fits all’ approach with some flexibility to tailor the approach to meet the specific needs of organisations. Some organisations suggested that, in addition to the standard SMG process, the programme could be enhanced by inclusion of a component that tailored specific advice and expertise to the explicit needs of the organisation, whether that be related to new business development, investment opportunities or sector-specific knowledge.
Some organisations expressed interest in receiving follow-up assistance in the form of coaching/ mentoring activities from experienced consultants. Rather than have consultants undertake all of the remedial work, organisations requested that they work alongside the consultants, where possible, to learn and retain the institutional knowledge and experience.
Some organisations would like access to the consultants over a longer period and for them to be available on an on-call basis to support and guide the organisation.
“It would be useful to have a mentor for six months or so who could attend meetings and help out with particular issues.” (SMG organisation)
Organisations considered there was value in being able to link up and share information with other similar organisations. While this already occurred on an ad hoc basis, largely with other organisations within the same sector, organisations expressed interest in establishing a more formal process. Such an initiative may be outside the parameters of the SMG programme; however, the evaluators included this issue as it was raised a number of times by organisations.
Assessors also commented that there could be value in assessors meeting to feed back on the SMG process and to share insights and experience to continuously improve the SMG programme.
Organisations commented that some assessors need to spend more time prior to the organisation visit to fully understand the organisation and the sector it operates in, so that during the visit less time is spent briefing the assessor on the background of the organisation.
In addition, the restriction on organisations working with their Phase 1 assessors during the remedial phase (Phase 2) meant that more time had to be spent bringing new consultants up to speed on the particular needs of the organisation. Time could have been reduced if the same assessors were used throughout both stages. However, organisations accepted the rationale behind this approach (i.e. independence and preventing self-generated work) although some still expressed frustration at what they regarded as lack of flexibility by Te Puni Kōkiri.
Most organisations accepted that they could not select their assessor (during Phase 1) and that there was value in the assessor coming into an organisation with a ‘clean slate’.
One organisation considered that the SMG programme could be enhanced if Te Puni Kōkiri were to match organisations with assessors who had background and knowledge related to the specific sector they were working in.
For example, one organisation was unhappy with what they perceived as the youth and inexperience of their assessors. They considered the assessors to be lacking an in-depth understanding of what is entailed in operating as a kaupapa Māori provider. Because of this perceived shortcoming, the organisation considered that the assessors’ questioning of board members as to their understanding of their roles and responsibilities failed to acknowledge the value placed by the organisation on the importance of cultural support and tikanga advice rather than on generic trustee skills.
