Stewardship is a proactive duty of care for something that belongs to or exists for the benefit of others, now and into the future.

Te paerewa The standard

21.  We manage and care for the Public Sector, so that it may continue to meet the needs of New Zealanders now and into the future. 

Our stewardship role

Stewardship helps to protect the Public Sector now and into the future. Where relevant to our role, we must adopt forward-thinking planning and management practices in our work to:

  • preserve and protect institutional knowledge and information, and use our assets and resources wisely
  • help meet our organisation’s stewardship responsibilities, including financial management, policy and regulatory stewardship, performance and sustainability
  • support our organisations to have established plans that safeguard the continuity of critical services, and
  • support Ministers to act as good stewards under the Act.

Long-term workforce planning and capability

Where relevant to our role, we need to anticipate, manage and plan for our future workforce so we can meet future challenges. This includes:

  • encouraging knowledge sharing and retention of expertise, and supporting skills acquisition and career progression across the Public Sector
  • supporting our chief executives or governance boards to develop and maintain the capability to engage with Māori and understand Māori perspectives, and
  • developing long-term capability and ensuring this is embedded in our teams and processes.