Case study from the ABS
Departments and agencies across the APS are at different points in their journey when it comes to future workspaces. While one approach might not suit another, there are lessons we can learn from each other.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the leader in data among the APS and with the demand for data skills increasing year on year, they are building a strong reputation for being forward thinking. You may know of them for their witty social media posts, but what you might not have heard about is their unique approach to workspaces.
We recently sat down with Lane Masterton, General Manager ABS, to uncover their story.
Why did you consider new options for your workspaces?
We started the process of redesigning our workspaces back in 2015. Our Adelaide office was due for a refurbishment, so we decided to trial something new. Little did we know that the work we put in back in 2015 would be so beneficial 5 years later when the pandemic hit, and our workforce had to shift to work from home (WFH) full time. We had put in the work early on to provide our people the flexibility required, which meant the shift wasn’t such a major task.
Our Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the time was progressive in his thinking and had worked in a number of private sector IT organisations who had successfully implemented future forward workspaces. He was a big supporter of us trialling a new approach.
We knew we were paying for space that we weren’t using. In any workplace, you have around 10-20% of the workforce not at work because they are on leave or travelling. Our IT systems were also moving over to a virtual desktop environment, which meant everything aligned for us to make it work.
Tell us about the considerations
We met with some private sector organisations that had implemented different approaches to unallocated workspaces to discuss what had worked for them. Then our HR, Property and IT teams worked together to identify the workspace considerations unique to our organisation, particularly around ensuring our staff would have the right environment and tools for their current and future roles.
We developed a working group made up of staff across all levels – primarily APS level rather than EL and SES. They very much shaped the fit-out of the office including what it looked like, what mix was required of unallocated desk space, collaborative space and even the type of furniture that would suit them.
With the changes to our IT system, we decided to give our people laptops. We didn’t require the laptops to be encrypted or hold any data because they were just an access point into the IT environment.
We also decided to provide staff more flexibility with options to work from home so they could better manage their work-life balance. In return they got an unallocated desk so that we could reduce the unused office space.
How long did the trial go for and what were the next steps?
The trial went for 6 months and within that time our people around the country heard what we were doing in Adelaide and said, “This sounds great, when is it our turn?!”.
Once we got the WFH and the workspace guidelines and policies right for Adelaide, we rolled it out across the country. We didn’t wait for an office refurb to allow people to work from home, but when the workspace did change, we found people saw flexibility and the new workspaces as a package deal. They accepted that “okay, for more flexibility I’m giving up my allocated desk.”
As we rolled out the office refurbishments, we worked with each office on what would work for them. Every office was different, some offices wanted more desk space than collaboration space, others had security concerns that needed to be addressed.
We heard the same concerns as all organisations do when going down this path, and we worked with staff in each of the offices to address them. Setting up working groups in each office was a really effective way of ensuring we were providing a workspace that fit their needs.
Staff had different workspace options depending on how they felt that day or what work they had on, and we have a great organisational culture, so we encouraged people to work together when it came to desk preferences.
How did you decide on the right IT set-up to suit your workspaces?
Originally, we were going to have desktop computers on each of the desks that people would log in to each day. But one of the private sector organisations we spoke to had great success with rolling out personally allocated laptops to all their staff.
We decided to follow suit and we’re really glad we did, because it offered even more flexibility. Our people could take their laptops to a meeting and work off it in the meeting, or work on it from home. It removed any issues around people being tied to a particular machine. If a laptop breaks it’s very easy to replace. There isn’t any personalisation besides the initial log-on to the laptop. After that it’s all generic.
How did you manage staff with special requirements or equipment?
We worked with our people who have particular requirements, for example people who have low vision and need special technology. We allocated them a desk.
We made every desk sit-stand electrically adjustable and gave every desk multiple monitors. For most people, this meant what became ‘standard equipment’ was actually better than what they had previously.
What does your workspace footprint look like?
We have around 3,000 staff across Australia. We have 9 offices with one located in every capital city and 2 in Geelong. In many of our offices we share the space with other departments and agencies, so we might have a floor or a few floors in each office.
What results have you found with the new workspaces?
We’ve seen a range of fantastic results from our work in this space including:
- We have reduced our floor print and gave back space in every office refurbishment we have done in the past 10 years. We estimate that we’ve saved approximately $2.5m a year in rent costs plus additional savings in power and cleaning.
- We are sharing the same office space with other organisations in some locations. In Brisbane we’re sharing the floor space with staff from the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) and the Treasury and we share services like Wi-Fi, breakout rooms and kitchens. In addition, we have arrangements in other offices where we have subleased freed-up space to other agencies. It’s been great for our agency to connect with staff from across the service and it’s achieving cross-government efficiencies.
- We’ve improved our environmental impact as we use less power for running the office and we do less cleaning.
- Our productivity has remained high.
- Our wellbeing index has increased – our wellbeing scores are at least 10 points ahead of the APS average. Our people see that value of a work-life balance on their wellbeing, and they see that we as an organisation actually care about their wellbeing.
- When we spoke to people who joined the ABS from other departments, over half of them said one of the reasons they joined the ABS was because of our access to flexible work. We’ve seen that it’s a major attractor for us.
- In the most recent census, 91% of ABS staff said they are satisfied with the non-monetary conditions provided. And 93% of staff say that if they requested to work flexibly then that would be positively received.
Overall, we have some of the highest Census results in the APS – so we know we must be doing something right when it comes to our approach with workspaces, organisational culture and our IT environment.
What recommendations do you have for HR professionals who are considering options to trial future workspaces?
Changing the workspace model can’t be done with one area alone. It must be a partnership and you have to work with teams from across the business, like Property and IT.
You also need to involve staff in the process so they come along for the ride and you design workspaces that meet their needs. If we just rolled it out and said it’s done now, and not consulted with staff, then we would have got people offside.
What’s next for ABS?
We are working with other agencies to see if we can co-locate in even more locations. We are also looking at our location strategy. We’ve previously had work clustered in different locations, but we are now moving away from this model because it doesn’t make sense for most roles.
Talent is the most important driver. If the best person to do the job is in Brisbane but traditionally the role was done in Melbourne, why wouldn’t we give them the job rather than saying No, you have to move to Melbourne if you want the role. We have the technology to match these things up.
This is an ongoing journey, and we are really committed to ensuring our HR, Property and IT teams continue to work together to create workspaces that meet the needs of our staff. We are also looking at how we can better use the time in the office to ensure we maximise the in-person connection and continue to foster our great staff culture.
If you’d like to find out more about the ABS journey, email the APS HR Professional Stream at APSHRProfessionalStream@ato.gov.au