Adapt to Skills Shortages Through Location Independence: Distributed Teams

1. Adapt to Skills Shortages Through Location Independence: Distributed Teams Nina sochon flexible, distributed and remote teams expert

2. could distributed teams contribute to your organisation’s effectiveness and adaptability? Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

3. The question is how, not if, you’ll offer remote and distributed work Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

4. “VUCA has become a catchall for ‘Hey it’s crazy out there!’” • –Nathan Bennett & G James Lemoine, Harvard Business Review Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

5. What role will AI play n our futures? Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

6. There is a need for Business transformation in order to survive Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

7. Lifestyle control Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

8. Leading example: microsoft Best of the Best Employer 2012 Australia and NZ Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

9. Leading example: microsoft /2 “We treat people as adults. We assume that they get up in the morning to do a good job, not a bad one.” Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

10. Flexibility is in high demand by jobseekers Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

11. 93% of managers and 91% of employees believe that flexibility improves the ability to attract and retain talented employees Work-Life Balance is one of the top three attraction factors for education professionals Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

12. Why now? Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

13. Drivers – employee demand • Open plan vs. home office – i.e. Distractions vs. Concentration • Ease of communication outside the office via technology – raised expectation of having the same options at work • High stress levels amongst working families • Long commute times in the major cities • Work-life quality (not balance) is valued highly by Gen Y, Milennials, Gen Zero • Experienced Board candidates want flexibility to live in their tree-change or sea-change location while making a meaningful contribution Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

14. Flexibility is often a make or break issue In a recent Australian study, where people had their request for flexible working rejected, 4 in 10 resigned from their job Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

15. Remote work is most preferred 63 per cent of today’s candidates do not believe they need to be sitting at their desk to get their work done The biggest advantage of remote working is not having to spend time and money on commuting For around 60-73%, it could be a welcome opportunity to re-enter the workforce (e.g. those with caring responsibilities) Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

16. Richard branson-australia’sfavourite boss Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

17. Many employers are not tapping into the opportunity Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

18. Genuine flexibility? • Part-time is not seen as genuine flexibility • Six in 10 people have experienced ‘flexism’ and felt discrimination for working flexibly Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

19. People suss out genuine flexibility Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

20. Adaptability through an engaged, productive workforce Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

21. Genuine Flexibility – a lever to achieve adaptability Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

22. CASE EXAMPLE: AECOM Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

23. Aecom: established guiding principles Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

24. AECOM: abolished standard hours Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

25. AECOM: individuals negotiate arrangements Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

26. Aecom: mobilised workforce through technology Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

27. AECOM: A CLEAR MESSAGE FROM LEADERS ‘Flexibility works’ Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

28. Case example: commonwealth bank Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

29. Commonwealth bank: reason-neutral flex Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

30. Commonwealth bank: aiming for employer of choice Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

31. Commonwealth bank: recognised individuality Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

32. Commonwealth bank: trust rewarded with productivity Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

33. Commonwealth bank: realised these benefits • Retention rate of staff • Capacity to adapt to customer needs outside of usual business hours • Ability to adapt to business demands • Reputation as an employer of choice • Productivity improved • Engagement score on the staff survey was higher for staff who work flexibly • Talent pool widened • Absenteeism decreased Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

34. Case exampleS: NFP • One NFP attracted over 30 high quality candidates to the CEO role • Another is at risk of losing their highly skilled staff members & wants to achieve two outcomes: • Become more competitive for staff attraction • Attract a broader client base, including NDIS-funded clients Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

35. objections How can we serve our community if we’re remote from them? We won’t be able to maintain our valued culture The NBN is years away We can’t trust our staff We don’t have the money to run an expensive change program Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

36. A lesson learned about trusting staff Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

37. Remote work management requires specific management skills Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

38. So does an effective board member vote ‘no’ or ‘yes’? Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

39. Two Threshold issues • Does the work involve working from a desk or computer? Or seeing clients who are away from the main office? • Is the work not extremely collaborative? Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

40. One important consideration Do you have a workplace culture focused on results? Do you already rely on KPIs, goals, objectives or similar? Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

41. Three common pitfalls Do you recognise that it is not enough to change your policy or introduce a new technology? Do you recognise that you need to design a flexibility solution that works for you? Do you appreciate that genuine flexibility, the kind employees want, can require a mindset shift? Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

42. The flexibility capability framework Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

43. The flexibility capability framework • Australia’s leading framework, was endorsed by Industry leaders including KPMG and the University of Melbourne. • It is promoted by the Australian Government on the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website. • Captures cutting-edge research and the wisdom of organisations that have led the way: e.g. Microsoft, CISCO and Westpac • Key breakthroughs: • Moves beyond the manager-employee locus • Shows us where to focus within the whole organisational system Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

44. All ten elements are critical Leadership – Modelling, resourcing, accountability, inspiration and direction Business Case –Establish ROI and rationale Management Capability – Create a new manager mindset, develop skills Vision, Strategy and Policy –Envisage possibilities, remove obstacles and implement a plan Employee Experience – Ensure flexibility is genuine Technology and Infrastructure – Enable communication and collaboration Client and Supplier Experience – Keep your customers happy Results Management – Managers and teams need to be confident in outcomes and output Learning Cycle – Innovate through active learning Change Management – Fail to prepare and prepare to fail Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

45. Leave less to chance Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

46. Address culture Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

47. Achieve Transformation through mindset & culture Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

48. One thing managers learn Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

49. They learn a new leadership style REACH (Graham Scrivener, Training Journal) Responsiveness Empathy Accountability Connectedness Help Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages

50. Prepare to succeed • Step 1: envision the end point • Step 2: establish leadership commitment • Step 3: develop specific goals and actions for each capability area. How do you know whether your organisation will struggle with remote teams or flexibility in general? Conduct the Readiness Assessment. • Step 4: create an implementation plan • Step 5: evaluate through an established learning cycle Better Boards – Adapt to Skills Shortages