16 December 2019 - Future Workplace - final confirmation of 2020 Sydney office moves
Hi everyone,
I’m writing to update you on the Future Workplace program which, over time, will provide workplaces across the state that are more consistent, support flexibility and enable us to work in more collaborative ways.
You will recall that we released a draft proposal on 20 November regarding team locations for the Sydney office moves in 2020. My thanks to all of you who provided feedback – we’ve reviewed all of your suggestions and have now made a final decision on where teams will be based.
An information pack showing all confirmed moves is now available for everyone to view.
What you told us
We received more than 600 responses from you, which can be broadly categorised into the following themes:
- Team location
- Travel time/cost
- Facilities/amenities
- Flexible work arrangements
- Activity Based Working
As a result of your feedback, changes have been made to team locations for around 300 people out of the more than 5,200 people who will be moving office locations in 2020. Today, leaders have been briefing Sydney based teams on any changes to the original proposal and their confirmed locations for next year.
As well as direct feedback on team locations, people sought information and guidance about working flexibly, asked questions about the facilities and amenities in our new and existing offices, and shared thoughts and queries about activity based working.
We’ll be using this feedback to guide the way we support you in the lead up to the moves. This includes providing more information and Q&As, informing the change and engagement planning, providing training and guidance, as well as opportunities to visit and learn more about our new workplaces and new ways of working.
Flexible working
Something I noticed in the feedback is that not everyone feels supported to discuss or practice flexible working arrangements, and some people are concerned that flexible working arrangements won’t be available for them while they transition to a new work location.
I’d like to remind everyone that Transport is building a culture where working flexibly is part of how we operate. Many teams have great flexible working practices in place and this has proven to help us attract and keep high performing people who reflect NSW’s diversity.
But there is no one size fits all for flexibility. It’s about being flexible.
I encourage you to have a conversation and explore flexible working arrangements with your leader and I expect all leaders to seek to understand the personal circumstances of their people, to be open to new ways of working and to consider what arrangements can work best for each person, the team and the organisation.
There is lots of information on flexible working arrangements on the intranet to support you to have a good conversation today.
Next steps
A comprehensive information and support program will roll out from January next year so that those people moving are well prepared in advanced. Timeframes for the moves will also be shared with you in February and the moves will take place from May, starting with teams who are moving to Macquarie Park.
Our moves to new workplaces in Sydney are an exciting step forward in our transformation journey and will really enable us to work in new ways across the Transport cluster. But I also know that these changes can be unsettling and will affect people in different ways, so please talk to your leader, discuss your personal situation and what it means for you, and use the range of support options that are available for you.
My thanks once again to everyone for having their say. We believe that a more collaborative workplace with a better mix of co-located teams will help us get our operating model working to its full potential, which in turn will enable us to deliver better customer and community outcomes together.
Rodd
Secretary
