It’s a people-oriented organisation with a large amount of individual and geographical differences, challenges and specificity. This more bureaucratic, less personal, regionalised approach risks a lot of damage to interpersonal relationships and personnel management.
Certain processes may become more efficient, but are they more effective at achieving positive outcomes?
Considering the number of complaints about decisions and lack of logic, response, efficacy, or transparency from “ivory towers” or “powers that be”, it baffles me that the organisation would be looking at increasing the distance between the front line and decision makers.
If this happens, and I know SWR is looking at it, I will be incredibly sceptical and preparing for worse outcomes. UNLESS a very good, data and feedback-driven, impartial report out of LASER suggests otherwise and I might soften. However, this is SWR. Proof of concept in LASER is not enough to prove that it will work as well elsewhere, because personalities, egos, and competency are variables that cannot be controlled or assessed.
However, I don’t see this directly as a budget issue at least in the short term as I’m not aware that staffing is to be directly reduced through this move.