A nimble and mobile APS workforce

The ambition for a more responsive APS, which uses workforce mobility to deploy skills, expertise and talent to where it is most needed, is set out in Delivering for Tomorrow: the APS Workforce Strategy 2025. The ability for employees to move within and between roles, across APS agencies and sectors allows for the sharing of expertise, builds capability and brings a diversity of perspectives to public policy problems.

Permanent mobility across APS agencies over the last 3 years has remained relatively stable, with 3.1% of the workforce undertaking a permanent move during 2020–21. Temporary mobility, however, is far higher. One-fifth (20%) of respondents to the 2021 APS Employee Census undertook a temporary move during the past 12 months, mostly within their ‘home’ agency (85%). The variety of work on offer within agencies can enable employees to enjoy a high degree of mobility according to their interests and capabilities as new opportunities become available, without leaving their ‘home’ agency.

There are still some common perceived obstacles to seeking a temporary move that need to be overcome. Lack of communication and awareness of temporary mobility opportunities is one of the main barriers.¹⁴ A recent pilot program around mobility opportunities for digital professionals, called oneAPS Opportunities, included a temporary platform to advertise short- term flexible digital work opportunities, similar to platforms such as Freelancer or Airtasker.

Building on lessons learned from this pilot, the APSC is developing an APS-wide mobility platform (leveraging the APSJobs website) to broaden the pool of candidates available to managers and help make opportunities across the service more accessible to employees.

Optimal mobility reflects the needs, capabilities and problems faced by each APS agency.

If an organisation has too much mobility, particularly mobility that is not strategic or well-targeted, it is likely to negatively impact how that organisation operates and performs.¹⁵ Conversely, organisations with too little mobility are likely to miss out on the important benefits that stem from employee movement.¹⁶

Each agency must identify the most effective way to use mobility for their context. To facilitate increased internal and external mobility, the APSC released the APS Mobility Framework in April 2021.¹⁷ This sets out the principles for using mobility effectively, and provides guidance for employees, managers, executive and human resources (HR) practitioners to help maximise the benefits of a mobile workforce.

Figure 1.1: When mobility is most effective