It is the province’s main concern to make sure that everything runs smoothly within the province of Groningen. This is done by 800 civil servants of the Provincial Authorities.

Behind the desk and on location

Not all province employees work from behind their desks. A lot of them work on location in the province. For example, they work on roads and make sure  that bridges and sluices function properly.

The provincial administration comprises four department types:

• staff departments, such as general and facility services services or P&O;
• management departments, for example, to maintain roads and canals;
• policy departments for traffic and transport and spational development planning;
• matrix units that are prevalent in the entire organisation, such as Programmes and Projectmanagement.

Flat organisation structure

The province has a flat organisation structure with 2 management layers: the management team (MT) and the head managers. The MT is comprised of 4 directors and the provincial secretary. The Provincial secretary is chairman of the MT. They are responsible for the implementation of the policy of the Provincial Executive. The head managers direct their departments on the basis of integral management. That means that they are responsible  for the products and services their departments deliver and the effectiveness of the efforts made by their staff and of means employed.