Hybrid Workforce
Transition to a Hybrid Workforce: Public Safety Canada approach, status and next steps
Issue
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the landscape of work. The lessons learned from this experience have led to a new direction for People Management within the Public Service of Canada. This new direction, enabled through a hybrid public service workforce, introduces an ecosystem of employees working from home, in coworking spaces, and the office.
From where and how we work; to the technologies supporting us; how we communicate and engage with each other; and the need to perfect new management approaches; change required to support a transition to hybrid will be vast and constant across the workforce. The purpose of this note is to examine key considerations and clarify next steps in the management of change and the implementation of a hybrid workforce at Public Safety Canada (PS).
Key Considerations
Pandemic response
PS's safety and security mandate is enabled through a wide variety of policies, programs and operational priorities that reach across public and private sector partners and organizations. In response to the shift to remote work at the onset of the pandemic, PS moved most of its operations and employees outside of the workplace. During the pandemic, access to the workplace was limited to employees working in secure areas and emergency coordination or employees unable to perform their duties remotely. Temporary procedures allowing for the handling of cabinet confidence documents on the corporate network (Protected B) were put in place at PS to limit occupancy, mitigate workplace pandemic related risks and ensure continued delivery of services and government pandemic response priorities. To support employees working from home, IT equipment and low-value assets were removed from the workplace and shipped to employee's homes.
Physical and virtual work environment readiness
Prior to the pandemic, PS had seen a limited adoption of modern workplace standards and digital transformation. Workspace technologies, layouts and protocols are in the process of being updated to accommodate growth and better support employees and managers navigating a hybrid work environment. This includes changes to the physical workplace to increase the number of work points, improve access to shared collaborative spaces, support accessibility, introduce shared/unassigned seating as well as modernization of the virtual work environment with the introduction of more effective virtual team management tools, digital services and solutions.
Since fall 2021, PS has experienced significant supply chain delays and limited availability of service providers and contractors. At this time, issues related to connectivity, equipment, and tools continue to adversely affect employees' experience of the workplace and their ability to fulfil their duties and perform when working on-site both in the NCR and in the regions. Improving workplace readiness in the near future continues to be a priority for the department to facilitate expedited reintegration while mitigating risks related to loss of productivity, employee satisfaction and team performance while working on-site.
Governance and key stakeholders
The Workforce Planning Committee (WPC), chaired by the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), Corporate Management Branch (CMB), Chief Financial Officer and Chief Security Officer and the Workplace Champion, makes recommendations on departmental-wide approach, guidance and key priorities related to the readiness, investment priorities and operational plan required to implement a hybrid workforce model within Public Safety.
An Integration Secretariat has been created to support WPC. Housed within the ADM Office, CMB, the Secretariat has two resources that work closely with WPC, internal services and all branches and regions to set strategic direction, develop an integrated plan and monitor implementation of initiatives related to the HWF. The Secretariat also supports decision-making and represents the interests of PS employees and the department in government-wide policy setting and modernization initiatives. It also articulates and communicates the departmental vision, including short, medium and long-term changes; facilitates engagement and collects internal and external feedback and metrics to support senior management decision-making and transition to a hybrid workforce; makes recommendations and coordinates the implementation of initiatives related to pandemic management; and, enables department-wide planning and risk management by integrating people management, technology, workplace, and business planning with an overarching focus on strategic alignment, monitoring results and investment planning.
Departmental approach to hybrid
The hybrid work model can take different forms depending on the organization and the type of work being done. Public Safety Canada's (PS) Hybrid Workforce Framework (HWF) underpins the transition to the new workforce model. The HWF, developed in consultation with management and employees, outlines the approach for developing and implementing a hybrid workforce and ensures a systematic and fair approach to the adoption of flexible work arrangements across the PS workforce. The HWF outlines a 5-step process to be followed by managers and employees to establish the right balance between the use of telework and on-site work and determine an employee's telework agreement. This process balances the use of telework and on-site work against operational requirements, organizational, team and individual considerations. Step 1 and 2 of the HWF process were implemented in fiscal year 2021-2022.
An analysis and department-wide calibration of operational requirements for all positions and job descriptions conducted in Fall 2021 (step 1 of the HWF Process) confirmed that 59% of PS positions have a limited potential to telework or a potential to telework part-time. In line with the safety and security mandate of the department, handling of classified information is the most common operational requirement impacting flexibility at PS. A full revision of the Position Flexible Profile is currently undergoing to capture the departments growth since Fall 2021.
Above and beyond operational requirements, team considerations conducted in Fall 2021 (step 2 of the HWF Process) have been developed by each team within the department to clarify what activities the team agrees to undertake on-site, ensuring meaningful work, demonstrated need and clear expectations to come into the office (focus on the 3 Cs: collaborate, create, celebrate). Team considerations consider organizational guidance on flexibility and the impact of the hybrid environment on partnerships, performance and team cohesion. The documented team considerations at Public Safety indicate that 58% of PS teams plan to meet on-site as a team at least once a week to build and nurture collaborative relationships within the team and with partners who work mostly in the office. The remaining teams planned to gather as a team in-person once a month for brainstorming, networking, coaching and onboarding activities and to facilitate learning and cohesion.
The remaining steps of the HWF process are expected to be implemented and fully integrated within departmental human resources policies and processes in fiscal year 2022-2023 (step 3 – individual considerations; step 4 – development of telework agreements; and step 5 – periodic review).
Communications and engagement
System-wide change requires empowerment and participation at all levels. Lack of clarity or understanding of change can be a barrier to driving ownership, participation and commitment. A multilevel approach to HWF communications and engagement is in place to empower managers and employees to lead through change at all levels.
In addition to an extensive repository of information, tools, feedback forms and guidance available on the InfoCentral, the Integration Secretariat facilitates discussions with employees and management on hybrid related issues and plans every month at the Workplace Consultative Committee (WCC). Change agents represent management and employee interests, make recommendations to management on space planning and transition, act as liaisons between employees and internal services, as well as provide input into departmental transition plans and modernization initiatives.
The Integration Secretariat is also working with departmental champions and networks to explore and seek feedback on common issues and concerns stemming from or being impacted by the transition to hybrid : onboarding, effective administrative support and coordination, accessibility in shared seating environments, value proposition of working on-site, physical and virtual etiquette, wellness and balance, etc.
Transition to hybrid
In light of the complex and varied operational environments and the limited workplace readiness, a progressive and gradual transition to hybrid was envisioned at PS to mitigate the impacts of workplace readiness on change adoption, allow for a period of experimentation to take place, and optimize opportunities to learn and continue to adjust based on feedback and lessons learned. Branches continue to work with internal services to prioritize the deployment of equipment and the return to a regular and consistent presence in the office for teams with operational requirements to work on site.
Over the summer, as we continued to mitigate workplace readiness risks and delays, several accomplishments were made to allow for an increase in occupancy:
- completed the full depersonalization of all PS buildings nationwide,
- completed network/LAN reset on identified floors at 269L and 340L,
- deployment of MS Team capabilities in identified boardrooms at 269L,
- deployment of ergonomic furniture and IT equipment to branch neighborhoods,
- implementation of a PS space booking tool (Buro), and
- launched of the experimentation phase during which teams were encouraged to come into the workplace for team meetings and collaborative work with partners.
Additional activities have been put in place to facilitate the transition period to the Hybrid Workforce Model. A series of Transition Management Workshops are providing managers with the necessary information and tools needed to lead change through the next phases of HWF transition. They are supporting teams and managers in developing and revising their team charters and provide information on workplace protocols and more opportunities to experience the workplace.
Next steps
- Completion of the telework agreements for all PS employees by December 2022.
- Full calibration of the position flexibility profiles, team charters and telework agreements planned to be completed by March 2023.
- Continue the workplace readiness to be able to accommodate up to 40% of PS workforce at any given time in the workplace before the end of fiscal year 2022/2023.
- Integration Secretariat, with the support of Communications, will continue to engage with all PS employees and managers across the nation.
- Continue monitoring the on-site presence to better understand the use of the workplace in this hybrid model.
Ambiguity of GC vision, inconsistent approaches across the GC and concerns related to fair and equitable distribution of telework and flexible work arrangements within the organization remain. The development of an experimentation model and techniques is being accelerated to provide a consistent approach to experimentation across the organization, enabling more teams to run more experiments, collect data and deliver value. The feedback and data collected through experimentations will be used to inform senior management discussions and decisions related to equity, departmental norms and protocols, modernization priorities and assess the impact of the change on organizational culture and performance.
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