Information released by the council to the Otago Daily Times shows there were 20 resignations by December 12, compared with 14 for all of last year.
These include the departure of three directors last month.
There were five redundancies this year, which is equal to the previous four years combined.
The organisation employs about 200 people in full or part-time roles.
Council chief executive Sarah Gardner said no organisation wanted to lose good staff.
"It's always something to think about.
"We try and understand people's reasons for leaving as much as possible."
The increase in resignations was partly because of a trend of people staying in jobs for shorter lengths of time, she said.
"People leave organisations for a number of reasons; they do tend to vary."
Many losses in the past year related to personal and family situations.
"And that's unfortunate because we lose good people."
The redundancies were due to changes to the organisation's structure, particularly in its policy, planning and resource consents and stakeholder engagement departments, she said.
"We also had new roles created, particularly in the communications space."
Forty-three staff joined the organisation this year compared with 47 last year and 39 in 2016.
Twenty of the staff who joined in the past year were on fixed-term appointments, up on 11 the previous year.
Temporary staff were used during transition periods in departments and when the council had temporary projects, Mrs Gardner said.
Regarding resignations, she said the council was working to "remain competitive in the marketplace".
This included changes to salary banding and leadership training. It was also creating more flexibility around location and hours.
The ORC was addressing the culture at the organisation, she said.
"I think culture is one of those things that we always need to work on. It can change quickly with different pressures and changes within the organisation."
Council chairman Stephen Woodhead said that when new chief executives arrived there were often changes occurring which could result in staff deciding to look for "other career opportunities".
"The changes that have come are not a surprise to me."
Mrs Gardner had "very strong" support among the councillors, he said.
"She's only in the role coming up to 12 months.
"It does take time for new CE to settle in the role and understand the region. They rarely make changes quickly," Mr Woodhead said.
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10% turnover in staff is low for a real employer- maybe not for a bunch of pandered technocrats.
Trouble is they are working in a broken outdated system. Local and regional councils all over this country are failing us. To many of our rivers and beaches are polluted, infrastructure lacking, natural ecosystems infected, biodiversity lost, city scapes ruined. To much money wasted on governance, administration, public relations and red tape. To much conflict of interest in the form of elected officials, council owned companies and investments. No one is held accountable, even if a scandle is uncovered the individual will just move on to another civil service job elsewhere. We need and deserve a better system.
Totally agree!
Unfortunately the councillors are as weak as ever. Ask Sarah Gardner any question and you get a fluffy veneer of information. She has no idea of the issues nor any leadership strength. Her rein will end within 12 months and be remembered as a disaster. The councillors are to blame here, they are there to warm seats and collect their salary. The dcc councillors and their skills and engagement in comparison show the orc councilors for the failure they are.
Yes. A "glowing" example of this leadership is when gave green light to "development" (destruction) of highly sensitive ecosystem with endangered Flora and fauna ... In order to extend a ski field a few hundred metres. And orc workers had been working to preserve the area. What could justify this decision,? Private profit of the very few trumped environment and public. Private profit for a few; public and *environment* pays the price. A weird decision from upper leadership indeed. Leadership out of synch with what the public (and environment!!) needs.
Hardly surprising that people are leaving the Otago Regional Council in droves.
The old boys network is weeding out the people that are trying to do what the draught annual plan States i e keeping infrastructure well maintained and up-to-date.
When they realise that they are unable to do a good job they get disillusioned and leave .
New roles created in the communication space , that is doublespeak for how to put people off until they get disillusioned and don't bother
Maybe a few more should be weeded out ie the old boys network and then they wouldn't need to spend millions and millions of dollars on trying to find a new Palace.
The sooner the whole useless organization is wound up the better,at least we would'nt have to play for their new club rooms that they don't need.
Trouble is they are working in a broken outdated system. Local and regional councils all over this country are failing us. To many of our rivers and beaches are polluted, infrastructure lacking, natural ecosystems infected, biodiversity lost, city and rural scapes ruined. To much money wasted on governance, administration, public relations and red tape. To much conflict of interest in the form of elected officials, council owned companies and investments. No one is held accountable, even if a scandle is uncovered the individual will just move on to another civil service job elsewhere. We need and deserve a better system.