Helping the SPCA protect New Zealand’s animals
The SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is the nation’s largest animal welfare charity and a cornerstone of animal welfare in Aotearoa.
Founded in the UK in 1824, the SPCA movement has worked to protect New Zealand animals since 1872. Today, the organisation safeguards animals under the Animal Welfare Act, works to prevent abuse, and cares for animals in need.
Every year, the charity cares for approximately 33,000 sick, injured, abandoned, or abused animals.
But this large, historic organisation recognised that bigger wasn’t delivering better results or care. Over time, the number of animals that need the SPCA’s assistance has increased, as have operational costs. To do more with its limited resources, processes needed to be streamlined.
“We had 27 different animal centres. We had 360 different job descriptions for animal attendants within those centres and then every centre had a different process, a different system and a different way of doing things. We were scattergun,” explains the SPCA CEO Todd Westwood.
“We knew we needed to change, but we didn’t have that expertise in-house to understand how.”
Deloitte New Zealand’s Good Thinking initiative stepped in to bring structure to the heart of the SPCA’s work. Good Thinking projects dedicate Deloitte’s time, skills and capabilities to address complex social challenges.
Deloitte New Zealand’s organisation and workforce transformation team worked closely with the SPCA to identify the core skills the organisation would need to continue to provide its vital services into the future. The team also looked at streamlining processes and identified where savings could be made – because when you are caring for the animals of New Zealand, every cent needs to work hard.
The organisation needed to unite its many parts to deliver a singular vision: to give every animal a loving, happy home.
The big idea? One SPCA.
Our vision with One SPCA was to become highly efficient, to get smarter with our processes and systems.
Deloitte Director Daniel Chee explains that a deeply collaborative approach enabled Deloitte to truly understand the complex issues involved and how they might be solved.
“We worked very much as one team with SPCA. We brought the thinking, the methodologies, the benchmarks. Then, together, we were able to balance best practice and the theory with the operational realities.”
“It was interesting to see the adoption process from start to finish, and how complex that was, which meant that pets were sitting on site for longer than they needed to be. Being able to redesign that whole approach and get pets out of care and into people’s homes was really rewarding.”
Together, the SPCA and Deloitte New Zealand identified around $5 million worth of savings – a substantial step toward long-term financial sustainability. The adoption process was streamlined and rigour was added to resource management. The team also looked at how commercialised services could be expanded and how to strengthen the value of the SPCA brand.
“We had this vision that we could be more efficient, that we could be smarter and achieve more,” explains Todd. “I think we’ve stuck to our guns. We’ve had some hard yards through this and, you know, with change does come challenge. But when you think about pride in our brand, it’s about animal outcomes. And we’re getting better outcomes for animals.”
Good Thinking and smart collaboration have delivered much-needed cost savings, strategic insights, and operational efficiency for this important New Zealand charity. Now that’s got to get tails wagging and fluffy friends purring across Aotearoa. Paws up for Good Thinking!
