Future Ways of Working Terms of Reference

1. Programme summary

Our future ways of working will be driven by the needs of our customers and services, and will have implications for people, accommodation use and digital as we maximise the opportunities of a new work environment which has changed after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The target future operating model will ensure:

Ways of working that support a sustainable, well-run council that is fair, inclusive, and connected.

Making it easier to collaborate with colleagues and partners wherever we are working from to best serve the needs of our city.

As part of the modernisation portfolio this programme will increase the organisational capacity to deliver services and respond to changing needs and circumstances (strategic risk SR25 Organisational Capacity).

The programme will also maximise the effective use of resources and use of digital tools to support improvements in productivity, collaboration, and flexible working arrangements so the organisation can deliver its functions in a modern and efficient way and realise improvements in productivity (SR18 Investment in and exploitation of technology).

This programme will support the delivery of the council’s workforce strategy and help address recruitment and retention issues as well as supporting employee wellbeing and resilience. We will develop ways of working that ensures our employment offer remains competitive and we are able to offer the flexibility that many job seekers will now demand, along with a workplace that is well equipped and supports our staff to do their jobs in the most effective way possible.

2. Programme objectives

3.1 Organisational Development and Culture

To drive improvements in services, customer, and employee experience by embedding flexible working arrangements including hybrid working.

· to work with services where time and location are fixed to establish flexible arrangements that will drive service improvement and employee experience

· to provide support to services as needed to further develop models of hybrid working and support services in preparation for accommodation changes

· to support the implementation of the digital roadmap by (1) providing support to improve confidence of services in designing digital business models and services and developing a more mature approach to the use of data, and (2) increasing the confidence of staff in the use of digital technology and ensuring digital inclusion for all staff in line with the Digital Inclusion Strategic Framework

· to maximise the use of flexible working practices to address recruitment and retention issues and to support the council’s work to be a fair and inclusive employer of choice

· to review the employment policies that support ways of working, and consider the impact of new ways of working on employment contracts

· to review the processes for Performance Management to ensure it is fit-for-purpose in a flexible and hybrid work environment

3.2 Accommodation Strategy

To commission and deliver a strategy agreed by ELT based on flexible working arrangements including hybrid working.

· to update the corporate landlord operational estate, improve the effective use of property and furniture (cost, carbon, and material footprint) including how property also contributes to social value and sustainability

· to scope the strategy based on service-led approach and stakeholder needs, for example sustainability, activity-based, digital organisation, accessibility, and the customer

· to decrease our office accommodation and increase utilisation to approximately 70% (subject to occupancy data)

3.3 Improved workplaces offer

To deliver an improved workplace to support activity-based working across multiple sites across the city.

· to enable workplace change of use with a greater focus on purposeful in-person collaboration and use of technology

· Property & Design to publish a new workplace standard which defines the elements and is available for deployment across the city

· to deliver up to 100 hybrid meeting spaces across the city

· to set-up and run one or more Greater Brighton shared space pilot, which is accessible to and reciprocated by public sector partners in other locations

· to capture use feedback and data from officers and customers, and to inform the Accommodation Strategy

3.4 Customer Service hybrid interview room enhancements

To deliver 6 hybrid interview rooms for hybrid customer contact.

· to provide customer spaces which includes hybrid capability so other services and partner agencies can also support customers virtually

· to support more flexibility for services to deliver functions in a modern way including additional contact points as appropriate

· informed by current pilots and the Customer Experience operating model and the Customer Accessibility Review (2022)

· to capture use feedback and data from officers and customers, and to inform the Accommodation Strategy