The Time to Change survey told us many things that colleagues want to change across the council, from IT and communications, to reducing red tape and improving efficiencies. One theme that came up again and again referred to our working environments, and how many of them aren’t right for the way we work today.
So we need to change that, and make them right for the way we work today, and tomorrow. That’s why we’re launching the Future Workplace survey. We need your views on your current workplace – what's good and what’s not so good – so that we can look at the estate across the county.
The way we all work has changed dramatically over the last few years, and will continue to do so. We need to make sure that our future workplaces work for all of us and meet the goals of the Shropshire Plan.
We caught up with Steve Law, Head of Property and Development, to give us a bit more insight into the Future Workplace survey.
So Steve, what’s the council’s big vision for the workplace of the future?
A major step change occurred through the Covid pandemic with staff enabled and empowered to work in different ways. Technology has and continues to play a huge part in the way we work now. This has seen many benefits. However, both locally and nationally we have seen organisations and companies responding to hybrid working differently. It is likely the physical environment is always going to have a role to play in the future and its essential we have the best possible fit for Shropshire Council as an organisation and its partners. Our workplaces need to support effective communication, collaboration and innovation at all levels.
We’ve just had the Time to Change survey. Do we really need another questionnaire?
In part, the Future Workplace survey is born out of the earlier Time to Change survey. Many colleagues basically told us that we need better working environments. And we do. So we know that there’s a willingness to improve our workplaces; now we need to go into much more detail and find out what colleagues really want. And by that, I don’t just mean more bike racks, more ergonomic chairs, or whatever: we want to know how the workplace affects our physical and mental health, for example. We all know that we need to become more efficient so that we can better serve our residents, and the very place in which we work has an enormous impact upon that. We talk about wanting to transform the council and transform lives, but that also means transforming our physical space, so that we transform our working lives. So yes, we do need another survey!
Be honest, though: do we really need a survey to tell us what we already know?
Obviously, we have a good idea about how we need our workplaces to change. However, there’s always going to be much we don’t know. And it’s vital that we hear as many colleagues’ voices as we possibly can: the workplace of the future cannot be just ‘done’ to staff; it needs to be a properly joint venture. Whether you work mostly at home, off-site or in an office, you will still need to come to your hub at times. So it needs to reflect everyone’s views.
Isn’t the Future Workplace survey really just about staff who live and work in Shrewsbury?
No, not at all. Colleagues are probably aware of our plans to move away from Shirehall, but that’s only part of the story. Many of us have our main hubs across the county – offices, of course, but also meeting spaces, halls, etc – and we need to get those fit for future needs, too. I’d strongly urge you to complete the survey, wherever you work at the moment – even if you mostly work from home.
Why do we need a workplace strategy? Is this just wasting money and time when there are more important things to focus on now?
Becoming a ‘Healthy organisation’ is one the core ambitions of the Shropshire Plan. The findings from this survey will help us to ensure we provide workplaces that are fit for purpose and support and align to the transforming authority. So yes, this survey is critical to understanding what ‘healthy organisation’ means to our people, so that we can achieve the right working environment for staff and members in the future.
Since Covid, many of us have embraced hybrid working. How will new working patterns affect the workplaces of the future?
That’s the question we need to answer! All too often, we run ourselves down a little, but the council has actually been incredibly forward-thinking when it comes to things like hybrid working. So working patterns have changed, and will continue to do so.
Shirehall was designed and built in the 1960s when the demands placed upon the council were utterly different to what they are now. So do we still need a central workplace that can house pretty much all of our staff, all day, every day? Again, probably not and as we’ve said before we can expect future workspace to be smaller by comparison to Shirehall but to be much more flexible in how use that space.
The survey itself is fascinating. It includes questions on whether we want multi-faith rooms, etc. That’s not something we’d have even considered in the past...
A good workplace isn’t just about bricks and mortar, or having the right desks and more kitchen points – although it is that too. The design of our workplace must reflect the changing needs of our colleagues – now and in the future. And if we’re to become a more diverse organisation, we really need to think about how our workplace affects people in different ways. So it’s only right that we start thinking about things like faith rooms, or space for parents, or quiet spaces, or even just secure bike storage and changing rooms, so that staff can bike into work, for example. That’s why the Future Workplace survey is so important: it’s about who we are, and how we need to change. Once you start the survey, I think you’ll be surprised just how ‘human’ it is.
And finally, is there anything that you personally want to change?
I work remotely on a regular basis, but like many colleagues I have spoken to, I really value the opportunity to book space to meet with and collaborate with my colleagues. I also appreciate that the opportunity and space to socialise at work is vitally important for positive mental health. But that’s just my thoughts - the value of this survey is that it gives everyone the opportunity to put their workplace ideas forward.
So how do we access the Future Workplace survey?
Just check your inbox. You should have received an email – if you can’t find out, search for ‘Future Workplace’, and you’ll find it.
What happens next?
As we have done with the Time to Change survey, we commit to telling you what we’ve found out within a month of the survey closing, including how we compare to other councils.
We appreciate that different parts of the council need to work in different ways to deliver services to the people of Shropshire. The survey findings will help inform our future Estates strategy, but more importantly, it will help us understand different workplace needs across each Directorate and service. From this we can develop a prioritised plan for change.
Thanks again for completing the Future Workplace survey. This is just the start. As we develop our strategy and plans, we would like to continue to work with you to develop our places of work to better meet your needs and to enable us to deliver the Shropshire Plan.