The ACT Public Service (ACTPS) has partnered with the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) in a research project studying the future of flexible work in public services.
Announcing the partnership, ANZSOG said the joint research project would include input from the University of NSW’s Canberra-based Public Service Research Group (PSRG) to examine the ACTPS’s Future of Work strategy.
“How Public Services use flexible work will be a key issue as they adapt to a post-pandemic world,” ANZSOG said.
“The research will examine the impact of flexible working on productivity, wellbeing and effectiveness of ACTPS workers and examine factors that can lead to more effective flexible working including the built environment, and managerial and organisational support,” it said.
“The research team will gather evidence about how ACT Public Servants are interacting and engaging with technology and collaborating with each other across multiple locations, and will explore how the changing nature of work has impacted physical workforces, and examine options for reshaping and redefining the role of physical spaces.”
ANZSOG said the focus of the project would initially be on ACTPS workers in the Civic and Dickson offices.
Head of Service and Director-General of the ACT, PS Kathy Leigh said the research was expected to help public servants frame the ongoing debate about how they organised their work and workplaces into the future, and that ACTPS anticipated “uncovering patterns in the evidence that will help us to prepare for both transformation and disruption”.
ANZSOG said the final report to the ACTPS would include recommendations for practice, with shorter publications to be written to communicate the broader lessons learnt.
Details of the research project can be accessed on the ANZSOG website at this PS News link.
