workforce deployment process for change programme · 2010-01-12 · many benefits for the council,...

Argyll and Bute Council – Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme – Full Business Case

WORKFORCE DEPLOYMENT

Argyll and Bute Council Process for Change Programme

Full Business Case and Implementation Plan

Version 5.0

Author: Morag Brown

October 2009

Agenda Item 3bPage 9


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Introduction 3

1. Executive summary 4

2. The Strategic Case

2.1 Alignment with Key Strategies and Initiatives 6

2.2 Enabling Council Projects and Strategies 7

3. Workstyle Definitions 8

4. The Project Deliverables 15

5. The Main Benefits 25

6. The Main Risks 27

7. Business Case 28

8. Implementation Plan 33

9. Recommendations 43

Appendices

Appendix 1 ICT Report

Appendix 2 HR Report

Appendix 2A - Use of Space Policy

Appendix 2B - Agile Work Options Policy and Procedures

Part 1 Home, Mobile and Flexible Working

Appendix 2C - Job Roles, Year 1, Oban

Appendix 3 Property Report

Appendix 4 Day In The Life Of Survey Report

Appendix 5 Solution Design Workshop Report

Appendix 6 Risk Log

Appendix 7 Finance Report

Appendix 7A - Sensitivity Analysis

Appendix 7B - Cost Descriptions

Appendix 8 Equalities Impact Assessment

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Within the next five years we will be working differently from how we do today. We are transforming Argyll and Bute Council to one where work is what you do, not a place you go. Attracting and retaining skilled staff, reducing the costs of doing business, improving customer service and taking the lead in environmental issues are the key elements driving this change. The “old” way of getting the job done, in one place of work, will be replaced by more flexible and responsive methods. In particular, more of our staff will be working from outside the traditional office. Argyll and Bute Council has called this project Workforce Deployment, and we already operate this way, in varying degrees across some of our Services. However, there is now a need to introduce a formal arrangement.

We are still “going to work” today but times are changing. For many, work is still 9-to-5, Monday to Friday routine, but these work patterns are changing. We are living in a 24 hour society with far more in the way of flexible working arrangements required to meet its demands. Work will not be a place people go to, it will be something they do, wherever they are, any place, anytime.

Work won’t be a single location anymore. Increasingly, people are working on the move, at home and out in the community. Remote working technologies have made this possible, and prove that you don’t need to be in an office to communicate anymore.

Work will be tasks to be accomplished. People will be working when they need to as opposed to where they were traditionally supposed to. Flexible working will become the norm, rather than the exception. Many Argyll and Bute Council offices will offer touch down areas with wireless connections offering the ability to access files, respond to e-mails and make telephone calls. Management skills will shift from today’s input-driven approach to a focus on output and achievement, with a better integration between work and personal lives. But with this change it is important that managers become expert at remote team working, motivation and communication. We need to give employees the responsibility to organise their own work. Younger people are particularly looking for these principles, and will choose to work with an organisation whose management style reflects this.

We need to do all of this in a fair and equitable way, We will create staff policies in order that both managers and employees will know what is expected of them. We will transform our offices to provide the accommodation required and our ICT technology will support all of this. We have defined our new workstyles – flexible, mobile and home working.

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1.1 The initial business case for Workforce Deployment, produced during the Shared Services Diagnostic Project in September 2008 established the initial case for change and the need for further investigation.

1.2 On 2 October 2008 approval was given by the Council to carry out high level design for seven “top” opportunity themes. The programme was rebranded as Process for Change and managed by the Council’s Business Improvement Team. The outline business case produced for Workforce Deployment further refined the costs and benefits for Argyll and Bute Council whilst reviewing the benefits emerging from mobile and flexible working in other Local Authorities and organisations and those findings were used to validate the financial assumptions for Argyll and Bute Council.

1.3 On 15 April 2009 approval was given by the Executive to progress the Workforce Deployment theme to a detailed design stage and the production of a full business case and implementation plan.

1.4 The full business case projects savings of £1,461,633 NPV over 5 years through the implementation of mobile, flexible and home working across the Council. The gross benefits are £5,160,872 and the total costs are £3,352,605.

1.5 The main benefits from flexible working come from efficiency from staff adopting the new workstyles. It is recognised that it takes some time before an employee becomes fully used to a new workstyle. We have assumed that after 3 months of adopting a new workstyle, they achieve 25% of their future maximum efficiency gain. After 12 months, they achieve 80% of their efficiency target and by the end of the second year of working in the new style; they have achieved the maximum possible efficiency gain.

1.6 Not all of these efficiency gains can be realised as cashable savings. This is due in part because people may be working more than the standard 35/37 hour week and the efficiency gain may simply enable them to get closer to their contracted working hours. Other efficiencies may be difficult to realise because we still need parts of people. For these reasons, we have assumed that only 60% of the efficiency gains are realisable. This has been based on a review of the job roles in the first roll out for the Oban area. These assumptions will be refined for other locations during roll out. The total efficiency gains equate to savings of 66.2 FTE after 5 years, the efficiency gains for Oban equate to 9.9 FTE. It has been assumed that these savings will be calculated through natural turnover and a reduction in overtime, no provision has been made for redundancies.

1.7 The project deliverables were identified in the Project Initiation Document for Workforce Deployment approved by the HR Board on 12 June 2009. These being Job Role Matching and Evaluation exercise, Review of the Business Case including a productivity benefit assessment, Review of ICT, Review of Property, Review of HR and a detailed design and implementation plan.

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1.8 The deliverables within these key workstreams are attached in the appendices to this report these being:- ICT Report, HR Report, Property Report, Day In The life Of Survey Report, Solution Design Workshop Report and the Financial Report.

1.9 There are compelling drivers to change the way we work, ranging from environmental issues to the need to find solutions to tight financial pressures affecting our capacity to provide customer centered services. Workforce Deployment can contribute towards the change in a positive way, realizing many benefits for the Council, customers and employees.

1.10 The benefits of Workforce Deployment as outlined in this business case will not be easy to implement as they require a change in management style and culture. The benefits will only be realized if the necessary time and effort are made available. Workforce Deployment will also contribute towards the success of other corporate initiatives; however there are some areas where competition for scarce resource may cause conflict. Implementing Workforce Deployment will involve an initial resource investment which is estimated to be outweighed by cash and non-cash efficiency savings.

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2.1 Alignment with Key Strategies and Initiatives

2.1.1 Workforce deployment ties in with a framework of many other business strategies within the organisation. Some of these strategies are the main drivers for the adoption of new workstyles and some of these strategies such as ICT, HR and property enable the realisation of the project at this time.

2.1.2 Development of the Workforce Deployment project has assisted the Council in meeting the Scottish Government’s national outcome number 15: “Our public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people’s needs.” It also fits closely with the Organisation Development Strategic Objective of “improving, innovative, proactive and successful”

2.1.3 On 22 January 2009 the Council approved the Improvement Plan. Process for Change is a key action within this, IP08.

2.1.4 In 2008, the Council joined the Carbon Trust sponsored Local Authority Carbon Management Plan. The Council has set an initial target of a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by the end of 2014-15, and has an initial 3 year programme which has identified carbon savings of 10%. The workforce deployment project will assist in this by reducing :–

• Business and commuting mileage by providing “touch down” facilities in locally based offices

• Business mileage by enabling audio and video conferencing to be carried out from PCs, reducing the requirement to travel to meetings

• The amount of office equipment and furniture by sharing workspaces and meeting rooms

• The amount of energy used to heat and light underutilised office space and storage areas

2.1.5 The Council Executive approved on 15 April 2009 the Process for Change high level design report which recommended that the Property high level design report recommendations be approved. The Property theme will be taken forward as an integral part of existing programmes operating outwith the Process for Change programme but informed in particular by the workforce deployment theme.

2.2 Enabling Council Projects and Strategies

The implementation of the Workforce deployment project would not be able to be taken forward without the successful delivery of a number of existing Council projects and strategies.

2.2.1 within ICT:

• The completion of the broadband pathfinder has provided us with enough bandwidth to offer an increased number of facilities and services over the web.

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• The implementation of the VOIP phone programme will assist in providing the communications to support mobile and flexible workstyles.

• The introduction of Microsoft’s unified collaborative technologies will enhance the way we communicate and offer the ability to audio and video conference direct form our PC

• The review of the AUP policy will review our requirements for data security, mobile phone and PC use.

• Disk encryption for laptops and mobile devices will protect our data when not connected to the Council’s network.

2.2.2 within HR:

• The review of the PDR process to more SMART outcome focused measures

• The creation of policies to support the adoption of flexible, mobile and home working

• Workforce networking through forums, blogs and message rooms will help to maintain relationships between colleagues working more remotely. It will also offer the ability to cascade information and provide an informal support network.

2.2.3 within Property:

• The Helensburgh Office Rationalisation Project

• Office rationalisation in our other major centres

• The creation of Customer Service Points in all major centres, as detailed in the Customer Management Detailed Design Report

2.2.4 within the Council:

• The development of the Councils intranet site as a valuable means of communicating with our employees as detailed in the Customer Management Detailed Design report

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3.1 During the high level design stage 4 workstyle definitions were identified and adopted – these being fixed, flexible, mobile, and home.

3.2 A Fixed Worker has a permanently allocated work station / office at a given location. Typically they work in the same place most days and have a fixed desktop computer and dedicated telephone line. Whilst their work station / office is permanently allocated to them, visitor’s can use it if it is available but their desk is not bookable and is expected to be returned to the Fixed Worker on request. Fixed Workers offices are usually located adjacent to a team zone. Fixed Workers are included within the scope of the project as they are often provided with the same on-line tools, for example web conferencing tools, as agile workers and as such a moderate productivity gain has been assumed.

3.3 A Flexible Worker can work at any Council location that provides shareable work stations. Typically they have a laptop computer and a mobile telephone.

FIXEDFIXEDFLEXIBLE FLEXIBLE

HOMEHOME

q Works fulltime at single place of employment (i.e.

spends more than 90% of time in the office or

establishment) q Has a Desk and PC workstation allocated specifically

to them q Requires access to corporate systems to perform

role q No mobile requirement – e.g. to work from home/

out of the office q Fixed telephone extension, post point

q Requires access to corporate systems to perform

role in the office q Requires limited access to corporate systems to

perform role in the field (e.g. mail, calendar) q No requirement to have a fixed desk in a specific

office q Assigned a building as their ‘ base location ’ – post

point

q Office based for more 50% of their time,

q Requirement to work in multiple council offices,

q Occasionally works at home or remotely (1 or 2

days a week)

q Works fulltime at home (i.e. spends more than

90% of time at home) q Has a desk and PC workstation allocated specifically

to them q Requires access to corporate systems to perform

role q No mobile requirement – e.g. to work in the field q Fixed telephone extension, post point

MOBILEMOBILE

q Requires access to corporate systems to perform

role in the office q Requires full access to corporate systems and

business applications to perform role in the field (e.g.

mail, calendar, case work) q No requirement to have a fixed desk in a specific

office q Assigned a building as their ‘base location ’ – post

point

q Office based for less than 50% of their time,

q Requirement to work in multiple council offices,

q Predominately works remotely or out of the office

(e.g. 3 days a week)

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They can also ‘log on’ to a desktop telephone and have their incoming calls routed to them. A Flexible Worker does not have a permanently allocated desk – they use desks in drop-in centres or book shareable desks in advance. Desks cannot be booked for more than a few days at a time. Flexible Workers can work at a variety of Council locations, from home, client premises or ‘on the move’ from locations that provide wireless connections to the Internet.

3.4 A Mobile Worker is similar to a Flexible Worker but they spend a significant amount of their week ‘in the field’ or ‘on the move’. They may have a laptop computer or tablet or PDA type of device. They can work at any Council location that provides shareable work stations. They can also ‘log on’ to a desktop telephone and have their incoming calls routed to them. A Mobile Worker does not have a permanently allocated desk – they use desks in drop-in centres or book shareable desks in advance. Mobile Workers can work at a variety of Council locations, from home, client premises or ‘on the move’ from locations that provide wireless connections to the Internet.

3.5 A Home Worker is able to work permanently from home but may choose to work occasionally from a Council office. Home Workers typically have a desktop computer and a desktop telephone. They work remotely from their colleagues and managers. Home Workers do not have workstation in Council premises but can use a drop-in centre desk or book a shareable desk.

3.6 During the detailed design stage, after consultation with the Heads of Service it became apparent that there was a growing awareness of the benefits of flexible working. From these meetings a corporate approach to the adoption of flexible work styles across all the Council Services was developed. The Heads of Service suggested an approach whereby all staff could operate in a flexible manner and supported an approach whereby staff no longer required a fixed desk to work from, the exception being senior officers or staff whose job role involved a requirement for privacy. It was agreed that even with the most “fixed” of the Councils job roles, there was rarely the occasion whereby all staff were at their desks at the same time, staff could be on annual leave, flexi leave, absent due to ill health, or in a meeting. It was agreed that staff in those types of job roles which typically included finance, administrative and clerical staff could operate from a reduced number of desks, for example a 90% occupancy level. It was also acknowledged that these staff would benefit from working in close proximity with their colleagues, within a team zone. Other job roles were then identified as being suitable to adopt 75% and 60 % occupancy levels, depending on the requirements of the job.

3.7 Table 1 below breaks flexible working into 3 categories based on time spent at a desk, occupancy level, and requirement for staff to work from a team zone, with the support of colleagues working in the same Service around them, or in a general touch down area where staff from all Services may sit. The general touch down area would suit individuals who are part of small dispersed team or whose job roles are very specialist. The general touch down area will also be available to staff visiting from other locations who may wish to catch up on e-mails for a few hours. It is envisaged that for the team zones and general touch down areas there will be a re-organisation of desks to create a more pleasant working environment, break out areas will be added to allow for a quick get together and catch ups with colleagues and a variety

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of different sized meeting rooms fully equipped will also be available. All of which will be managed through an on-line booking system. In order to operate a hot desking system a clear desk policy will be required as detailed in the HR Report appendix 2 – Use of Space Policy.

3.8 Table 1 below gives an indication of the equipment available to support these new workstyles in relation to office furniture and ICT equipment.

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Table 1 - Flexible Workstyles

FLEXIBLE WORKSTYLE

90% Occupancy

11 persons : 10 desks

75% Occupancy

13.5 persons : 10 desks

60% Occupancy

16.5 persons : 10 desks

Team Zone

• Pooled printer

• Meeting Rooms

• Informal meeting spaces

• Booking Facility

• Clear Desk Policy

• Desktop PC

• Team Storage

• Pooled Printer

• Meeting Rooms




• Laptop

• Wireless network access

• Mobile phone

• Team Storage

• Business Broadband at home

• Pooled printer

• Meeting Rooms




• Laptop / Tablet


• Mobile phone / PDA

• Team Storage

• Business Broadband at home (if required)

• Mobile printers (if required)

• Personal Security Measures (if required)

Supports mobile workstyle

Touch Down General

• Pooled printer

• Meeting Rooms




• Desktop PC

• Access to Personal Storage

• Pooled printer

• Meeting Rooms




• Laptop / Tablet




• Business Broadband at home

• Pooled printer

• Meeting Rooms




• Laptop / Tablet




• Business Broadband at home (if required)

• Mobile printers (if required)

• Personal Security Measures (if required)

Supports mobile workstyle

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3.9 In considering the costs and resources associated with implementing the project a phased approach was recommended as this best made use of Council resources, made allowance for the interdependencies with existing Council projects within both ICT and property and also allowed the opportunity for any quick wins to be maximised. The phased approach also enables communications and training to be targeted and co-ordinated and benefits to be identified, tracked and realised more easily. It was agreed that the project phasing should be rolled out by location with Oban being considered in year 1. This would then move forward with Dunoon, Lochgilphead, Campbeltown, Rothesay and Helensburgh, these being the principle locations of Council offices. The Helensburgh phase should be considered in the latter part of the project as the timescales for the office rationalisation project and new build are interdependent on the Workforce Deployment project.

3.10 In 2007 the Council established the office rationalisation programme. Following the successful completion of the Burnett Building in Campbeltown in 2008, the focus has been on the procurement of one office/civic facility in the centre of Helensburgh. The Council approved the OBC to take this project in March 2009 which is due to complete in the summer of 2013, with the migration of staff to new office accommodation at the former Clyde Street School site. From the outset of the office rationalisation programme, it was evident that in affordability terms, it was unlikely that significant (if any) annual revenue savings could be achieved, unless the scale of accommodation requirements for staff could be reduced. The Workforce Deployment Theme therefore provides the enabling vehicle to maximise the property benefits which can be realised from the Council’s office rationalisation programme.

3.11 Table 2 – Project Phasing, shows the proposed programme of “Simple” office

moves generated by the Workforce Deployment business case. These Simple moves will free up office space and should allow the Council, on an opportunistic basis, to vacate some existing properties and to derive an associated property and utility revenue saving. The Workforce Deployment business case enables the size of the Council’s accommodation requirement to be reduced but it does not examine the most cost effective long term method of providing this requirement. The Council’s office rationalisation programme will undertake this analysis and will identify which is the most suitable and cost effective solution for the Council’s future accommodation needs in each of its main centres; as recognised within the Process for Change “Property” High Level Design Report approved by the Council in March 2009.

3.12 Facility Services has re-phased the office rationalisation programme to fully integrate with the Workforce Deployment programme as shown within Table 2, and will progress using the standards, specification and assumptions established in the development of the Workforce Deployment business case. Property savings will be included within the full 30 year property option appraisal business cases for each location.

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Table 2 – Project Phasing – Workforce Deployment & Office Rationalisation

Action Year One

2010/11

Year Two

2011/12

Year Three

2012/13

Year Four

2013/14

Year Five

2014/2015

Undertake

“Simple” Office Moves

Oban Dunoon

then Lochgilphead

Complete Lochgilphead

then

Campbeltown

Complete Helensburgh Offices (Clyde Street School Site) & Simple office move for Rothesay

Undertake 30 Year Life Property Options Appraisal & Rationalisation OBC

Complete Oban Property OBC

Complete Dunoon Property OBC

Complete Lochgilphead Property OBC

Complete Campbeltown & Rothesay Property OBCs

Consider Property OBC within Capital Budget Process

Oban Property OBC for Council consideration within Capital Budget for 2011/12 onwards

Dunoon Property OBC for Council consideration within Capital Budget for 2012/13 onwards

Submit Lochgilphead Property OBC for Council consideration within Capital Budget for 2013/14 onwards

Submit Campbeltown & Rothesay Property OBC for Council consideration within Capital Budget for 2014/15 onwards

Implementation of Council decision on Property OBC recommendation

Oban Dunoon Lochgilphead Campbeltown & Rothesay

3.13 The shift to a corporate approach for the adoption of the new workstyles has resulted in an increase in the number of FTE’s being considered within the scope of the project. From the information supplied by the Heads of Service during the detailed design phase there are now 1320 staff considered to be impacted by the project across all Council services. This can be broken down by location to:

Table 3 – staff in scope

Location Number of employees

Lochgilphead 481

Helensburgh 178

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Location Number of employees

Oban 188

Rothesay 71

Dunoon 249

Campbeltown 153

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On reviewing the business case produced during high level design an integrated approach to the detailed design phase was approved with key workstreams looking at the enablers from ICT, HR (including training) and Property. The reports from these workstreams are presented in full in the appendix to this business case.

Appendix 1 ICT Report

Appendix 2 HR Report

Appendix 3 Property Report

In addition a survey was carried out with all staff in scope to look at the potential for productivity gains with the adoption of new workstyles. This survey was called the “Day In The Life Of” (DILO) Survey and was carried out over a two week period in July 2009. Finally a series of workshops were carried out to look at a Solutions Design for Workforce Deployment and capture key benefits, risks and issues directly from staff. Both of these reports are presented in full in the appendix.

Appendix 4 DILO Report

Appendix 5 Solution Design Report

During the high level design phase a set of project outcome statements were produced to scope the project and define the outputs. These statements form part of the benefits realisation methodology, as it is in the realisation of these statements that the project will deliver the benefits identified. Table 4 below lists these outcomes and identifies whether they are in scope during the detailed design phase and where referenced within the report.

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Table 4 – project outcomes

Ref No Project outcome Included within scope during detailed design

Evidenced from Report

WD/ 1 I speak to a member of staff who tells me that the opportunity for flexible working and home working attracted them to work for A&BC

Yes Benefit gains from reduced staff turnover are included within the business case – appendix 7

WD/ 2 I speak to a member of staff who tells me that when they started a family, they would have had to leave the Council under the previous arrangements. They were delighted that the introduction of flexible and home working had made it possible for them to continue employment with the Council.

Yes Agile Work options Policy Part 1 – HR Report appendix 2

WD/ 3 I speak to a member of staff with a disability. They tell me that the introduction of home working had made it possible for him to gain employment with the Council.

Yes Work style definitions

Equalities Impact Assessment – appendix 8

WD /4 I speak to a member of staff by telephone. They tell me that he lives outside of Argyll and Bute. They are able to do their job effectively from home.

Yes Supported by recommendations within ICT report and HR report. Costs included within financial report

WD /5 I speak to a manager who tells me that staff are less likely to phone in sick since the introduction of flexible and home working.

Yes Benefit gains from reduced absenteeism are included within the business case – appendix 7

WD /6 I speak to a member of staff who tells me that they spend less time commuting to and from the office. Not only does this improve the staff member's work life balance, but it also reduces our overall carbon footprint.

Yes Reference to Council Carbon Management Plan within full business case and implementation plan

WD /7 I speak to a member of staff who works outside the traditional No The scope of the project looked at the benefits

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9 to 5 working arrangements. Not only does this suit their lifestyle, it enhances the service provided by the council and helps with extending the opening hours for council services.

associated with adopting new workstyles not working flexible hours.

WD /8 I speak to a manager who tells me that staff can now go from one client/customer visit to the next without returning to base in-between. They could access full information on each client's/customer's case remotely.

Yes Reference mobile technologies, ICT report - appendix 1

WD /9 I speak to a client/customer who tells me that the council officer was able to supply full information about their case during the visit. The officer did not need to return to base to get information. They did not have a paper case file but accessed the information via their mobile device.

Yes Reference mobile technologies, ICT report - appendix 1

WD /12 I speak to a manager who tells me that they no longer need so many desks since flexible and home working were introduced. .

Yes Property Opportunity Assessment report – appendix 3

WD /13 I speak to a member of staff who tells me that they can go to any council office and be confident of finding a workspace with full network access.

Yes ICT report - appendix 1

Property Opportunity Assessment report – appendix 3

WD /14 I can access any drive or application that I am authorised to access from any location


WD /15 I speak to an office cleaner who now tells me that desks can now be cleaned because, since the introduction of desk sharing, the desks are cleared at the end of the working day.

Yes A Clear Desk policy has been produced during detailed design – HR Report Appendix 2 – Use of Space Policy

WD /16 I speak to a member of staff who tells me they no longer have a permanent desk. They can use any available desk in the

Yes Property Opportunity Assessment report – appendix 3

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team area.

WD /17 I visit an office and see that as well as the desks for staff who are based in that office, there are "touchdown" areas with workspaces for visiting staff. There are docking stations connected to the network and print facilities.


Property Opportunity Assessment report – appendix 3

WD /18 I speak to a member of staff who tells me that since the new ways of working were introduced, they are happier in their work and feel more independent and empowered to carry out work tasks. They also tell me that they get all the support they need and discuss work related issues with their manager more frequently than they used to.

Yes HR Report – Training – appendix 2

WD /19 I speak to a manager who tells that since the introduction of mobile, flexible and home working they now make regular contact with staff members in a more structured way to discuss work in progress, agree priorities and set objectives. This contact is in the form of team meetings, one on one meetings, phone calls, web conferences etc.


WD /20 I speak to a manager who tells me that since the introduction of mobile, flexible and home working, they have had to adopt a more proactive management style. They tell me that he sees this as very positive.


WD /21 I speak to a member of staff who tells me that they now receive work instructions on a mobile device. This saves time in making phone calls and travelling to and from the office. They tell me that some of their electronic instructions come straight from the CSC and some direct from the back office.

Yes ICT Report – appendix 1

WD /22 I visit a member of staff who works at home. They have a Yes ICT Report – appendix 1

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dedicated work station, complete with full access to the Council's network and a printer. They can get other peripherals if they need them.

WD /23 I speak to a member of staff who tells me that they make more use of certain skills since the introduction of mobile, flexible and home working. These include personal organisation, time management and some new IT skills. They tell me that they feel more productive than when working in the traditional ways.

Yes HR Report – appendix 2

WD /24 I speak to a manager who tells me that staff are able to spend more time on productive work. The staff take more responsibility for their work and time management.


WD /25 I visit a council office and witness an environment free of paper work and clutter. A staff member tells me that this is a nice environment to work in.

Yes HR Report appendix 2 – Use of Space Policy

WD /26 I meet an HR professional who shows me a copy of the Council's Flexible and Home Working Policy.


WD /27 A member of staff working from home shows me a copy of the risk assessment carried out prior to commencing work.


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4.1 ICT Report – full report appendix 1

4.1.1 The ICT workstream examined ICT considerations and enabling ICT solutions that will support the implementation of the Workforce Deployment Theme. It has also identified and corroborated the costs and assumptions in the financial report appendix 7 and cost descriptions appendix 7B.

4.1.2 The ICT report recommends a consistent approach to desktop support and a standard build across all departments to ensure a consistent and reliable service is available across all desktops. This helps with security, audit requirements and software licensing and ensures the highest possible levels of support to all end users. Within the context of the workforce deployment theme it will also help with project implementation, control of costs and identification and delivery of benefits.

4.1.3 With the adoption of new workstyles where movement and flexibility is key the PC, laptop and telephony services are seen as the central service elements holding everything else together. When a user moves from one town to another, chooses to work in one of several available offices, accesses a PC they have never used before and may never use again and logs on to any one of several available desk phones, it is absolutely crucial that the systems are presented consistently, operate consistently and offer the highest possible user experience at all times. When these key facilities are also shared across all departments and services, where a desk and associated equipment might be used by a Planner one day and a Social Worker the next, questions arise over the Council’s ability to deliver and support such an integrated IT environment using the current distributed support arrangements. Consideration must therefore be given to options for a revised integrated desktop support service managed consistently across the organisation. The revised service should be tasked to deliver a consistently high experience for end users and to ensure the desktop presentation meets the requirements of the new working styles.

4.2 HR Report – full report appendix 2

4.2.1 The HR workstream examined the HR considerations that require to be addressed to support the implementation of the Workforce Deployment Theme across the Council. It addresses managerial, cultural, training and ICT requirements to support the new workstyles and sets out policies for “Use of Space” and “Agile Work Options”

4.2.2 The HR-related issues highlighted arising from the recent Mobile and Home working pilot within Building Standards and Environmental Health were also investigated, as far as possible.

4.2.3 Considerations such as the process by which staff apply for a new work style, contractual considerations and allowances, tax and national insurance implications, legal considerations, health and safety requirements and training are also included within the report

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4.2.4 The report details a blended learning approach to training to support implementation and the use of the new ICT systems, the costs for which are contained within the business case. Training for employees should include:

o Training on new technology o Health and Safety Training e.g. risk assessments, fire safety, safe

working practices and safe operation of equipment required in the course of the job

o Communication and time management skills o Council policies and procedures - accident and absence reporting,

data protection and information security, Guidelines – Conduct of Employees etc

o Departmental procedures

4.2.5 A draft Use of Space Policy has been developed to support the adoption of flexible working and the considerations of other employees, this includes the clear desk policy required to support hot desking.

4.2.6 The Agile Work Options Policy and Procedures (Part 1 - Home, Mobile and Flexible Working) has been written to support both the Workforce Deployment theme and any existing staff member requesting to transfer to a new workstyle as part of their statutory entitlement.

4.3 Property Report – full report appendix 3

4.3.1 The Property workstream examined the Council’s current property portfolio to identify opportunities that implementing the Workforce Deployment project could create. The Property Opportunity Assessment carried out a

o Space Utilisation Study o Provided Business Case Data o Calculated First Year Property Savings o Produced Property Utilisation Lists

4.3.2 Table 5 indicates the net usable area required for each workstation, this was based on usable space which was taken as the net internal floor area for each defined working area less an allowance for circulation. The workplace regulations identify the minimum volume per member of staff of 11m3 with a maximum ceiling height of 3.0m. This equates to a minimum area of 3.66 m2.

In any relocation of staff it would be prudent to allocate a net usable area of 6m2 per work station; this is corroborated by areas calculated within existing Council offices.

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Table 5 – flexible working occupancy standards

Occupancy

Standard

100% (10 people

for every 10

workstations)

90% (10 people

for every 9

workstations)

75% (10 people

for every 7.5

workstations)

60% (10 people

for every 6

workstations)

Net Usable

Area from

Property

Report

6 square meters 6 square meters 6 square meters 6 square meters

Job Roles Examples include

3rd

tier managers

requiring an office

or job roles that

employees with

special privacy

needs.

Examples include

administrators,

clerical staff and

financial officers.

Examples include

planning

technicians,

lawyers,

designers

Examples include

property officers,

environmental

officers, engineers

and social workers

4.3.3 For every 60 staff adopting a new workstyles BT consultancy has recommended that provision is made for access to 2 x 4 person meeting rooms and 1 x 8-10 person meeting room. This target is seen as aspirational and for the purposes of the property report it has been assumed that meeting space is based on current requirements, with the nature of the business driving the demand for meeting room numbers and size. As part of the Customer Management Detailed Design phase an analysis of Council meeting rooms was carried out. An average use of the Council’s meeting rooms was carried out through a detailed analysis of meeting rooms in Manse Brae, Lochgilphead and Argyll House, Dunoon. At present most of the existing Council meeting rooms are under utilised, with the meeting room in Manse Brae being used more often. It has also been noted that there is additional meeting space available to the Council from its Community Planning Partners, within schools and leisure facilities.

4.3.4 In order to encourage adoption of the new workstyles it has been recommended that the work area is transformed to create a new environment. This can be done by redecorating, new carpets, new desk arrangements, touch down zones and providing break out zones, creating a work environment which augments and supports the changing culture and encourages full use of the space, otherwise there is a real risk of reverting to “old” work patterns.

4.4 DILO Survey Report – full report appendix 4

4.4.1 The DILO Survey was carried out to provide an independent assessment and

understanding of current working practices within the Council. The study

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required participants to record online how they spend their time each day,

over five working days, against a number of different activity categories (e.g.

travel, customer meetings, internal meetings, administration, training etc).

4.4.2 The data gathered enabled an understanding how a move towards new work

styles will better meet the needs of individuals, the Council, and ultimately its

customers. It provided a view of potential process and property improvements

and insight into how the end customer experience may be improved through

new work styles within the Council.

4.4.3 In order to provide an insight and to inform the business case all 1767

employees with access to the Council’s IT network, received an invitation to

take part in a web based survey conducted over a 10 day period in July 2009.

Of this number, 516 were targeted based on their previous identification

during the high level design phase and were deemed to have the greatest

potential to benefit from new work styles. The survey asked staff to allocate

time spent on a number of key activities during their working day, these being

travel, contact with customers, colleagues and other agencies, administration

and training. In addition, information on commuting to work was captured.

4.4.4 From the survey the average time spent travelling during daily working hours

across all departments was 22 minutes. The study indicated that some

Departments (Operational Services, Development Services and Community

Services) and some specific job roles involved large amounts of travel. Some

of this travel time could potentially be saved by using audio/web/video

conferencing in lieu of face-to-face internal meetings which currently take an

average 83 minutes per day. This would reduce travel costs for the Council

and reduce carbon emissions.

4.4.5 The average time spent commuting to and from work was 48 minutes a day

across all Departments. This time could be better spent if employees were

given the opportunity to work from home or from an office closer to home. It

has been shown from work carried out by other organisations that a reduction

in commuting time increases productivity levels and improves the work/life

balance of employees.

4.4.6 The average time spent per day communicating with external customers /

service users is 56 minutes, around 14% of a 7 hour working day. The

adoption of new work styles should lead to an increase in time spent on

customer facing activity thereby improving the overall standard of customer

service.

4.5 Solution Design Report – full report appendix 5

4.5.1 The Solution Design workshops were designed to identify the number of

people who could potentially work in new ways. The workshops were a key

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activity in engaging and communicating with staff across the Council to allow

them to contribute to the design of the project and the business case.

4.5.2 In July and August 2009 7 Solution Design Workshops took place in which 85

staff participated. The primary objective is to validate the initial set of

requirements for the implementation of the project. The sessions also sought

to identify any individual requirements that each Service may have with the

proposed design and incorporate them into the overall implementation plan.

In addition the workshops validated the job role matching exercise undertaken

during high level design and assessed the appetite for adoption. Workshops

took place in Lochgilphead (3), Oban, Dunoon, Helensburgh and

Campbeltown. Staff from across all Services were individually selected to

attend. If the invitee could not attend they were actively encouraged to

nominate a colleague in their place. The workshops were facilitated by both

Council employees and the BT consultancy team. From the level of interest

and enthusiastic debate at the Solution Design Workshops it is clear that

many employees view the workforce deployment project as a potential and

significant benefit to them. The overwhelming majority of staff attending

rated themselves as being capable of working in a more flexible fashion and

stated a desire to ‘for some of the time’. It is clear from the DILO survey

analysis that a significant amount of day to day work can be done remotely

from any location providing there is access to the Council network, systems

and data records. Many employees felt that there is a cultural challenge in

the adoption of new workstyles and that both executive level and middle

management need to take a leadership role to successfully implement the

project Council wide.

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55.. MMaaiinn BBeenneeffiittss

There benefits and advantages for the Council, its employees and customers in implementing the workforce deployment project are:

5.1. The adoption of new workstyles drive efficiency – flexible working increases

efficiency. It frees up unproductive time such as travelling to meetings. It

makes systems, knowledge and data available from any location making it

easier and quicker to respond to requests for information from colleagues.

5.2. Office space reduction – The adoption of flexible workstyles can significantly

reduce the requirement for office space through the adoption of new working

practices. Workforce Deployment can potentially release significant office

space allowing the Council to consider the possibility of rationalising

properties and reducing its overall property costs.

5.3. Reduced absenteeism - Many other organisations in both the public and

commercial sectors have found that the adoption of new work styles and

working practices reduce absenteeism. They have discovered that flexible

and home working staff experience improved well being and reduced

absenteeism. Any reduction in absenteeism will also have the effect of less

stress on colleagues who cover for absence, less money to pay for

replacement employees and increased efficiency in providing services.

5.4. An empowered workforce – The adoption of new work styles can be daunting

for some staff, especially those who may be remote from colleagues for more

than a few days. However, if successful it can also provide a feeling of self

sufficiency and empowerment if it is combined with a move from ‘input

performance measures’ to ‘outcome performance measures’. Middle

managers could initially feel uncomfortable with the idea of not seeing their

employees every day. Objective based management techniques sit alongside

the adoption of new work styles and if combined with the implementation of

SMART outcome based measures at the team and individual level where

possible and can result in staff having an increased satisfaction with their job

resulting in enhanced motivation and productivity, better customer service

delivery and the ability to recruit and retain experienced trained and qualified

staff.

5.5. Operational Resilience - Flexible working on a large scale introduces many

opportunities for working in a different way and delivering operational benefits.

The ability to work from home or from any location means that the Council can

quickly adapt to unusual situations more effectively building upon current

arrangements the Council has in place to cope with adverse situations.

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5.6. Workforce Sustainability - There is strong evidence from European wide surveys that flexible working arrangements are attractive to potential employees. It can be an effective tool for recruitment and retention especially for employees with special needs such as home care arrangements. Also, it can be used as a way of providing highly flexible working hours to combat, for example, peaks in Customer Service Centre work load.

5.7. Environmental Benefits – The associated reduction in travel through the adoption of more flexible workstyles will reduce the amount of carbon emitted and the amount of fuel used. The potential reduction in the number of Council offices could also further reduce lighting and heating costs. There will also be a reduction in paper, print consumables, office equipment and furniture, and therefore a reduction in carbon emissions through manufacturing and delivery.

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66.. MMaaiinn RRiisskkss

6.1 Risk management is an integral part of the project management of Workforce Deployment, the following major risks have been identified during the detailed design phase and during implementation there will be a further requirement to closely monitor them and take any corrective action.

6.2 Transformation and successful integrated service delivery are not easy, there are a number of challenges. Critical success factors associated with this project includes strong leadership, accountability, a can-do culture, effective communication, good project management, ability to demonstrate value and a customer-centred approach. All of these will help to ensure that risks are managed and the project successfully delivered.

6.3 Appendix 6 details the risks identified during the detailed design phase which will also require monitoring and management throughout implementation.

6.4 The main risks associated with the implementation of Workforce Deployment are associated with the delivery of the project and the associated enabling projects on time so as to allow the project benefits to be realised. The implementation plan for year 1 details these projects and it is important that these plans are revisited prior to implementation and closely monitored throughout to mitigate against these risks.

6.5 The risks associated with the difficulties of realising the benefits of the project are also highlighted. During the detailed design phase the Council’s Business Improvement Team also developed a Benefits Realisation Methodology. This methodology has been tested and will be used to identify and track the benefits from the workforce deployment project during implementation and beyond this into business as usual. It is important to note that even with the existence of a benefits realisation methodology in order to realise the benefits of this project there will be a requirement to drive the project corporately by senior management.

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77.. BBuussiinneessss CCaassee - full report appendix 7

77..11.. The financial summary based on 1,320 employees adopting a new workstyle is shown in table 6 below. It is BT’s experience that a Return on Investment (RoI) in excess of 15% is considered acceptable by government agencies; the Council’s Return on Investment is 54% over 5 years.

Table 6: Financial Summary

Summary Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Total

Gross Benefit £57,765 £402,055 £1,126,555 £1,643,092 £1,931,405 £5,160,872

Total Costs £743,295 £710,121 £711,858 £706,518 £480,813 £3,352,605

Net Benefit -£685,530 -£308,066 £414,697 £936,574 £1,450,593 £1,808,268

RoI -92.23% -43.38% 58.26% 132.56% 301.70% 53.94%

NPV £1,461,633

7.2. The business case has identified 7 areas that provide cashable benefits in addition to the strategic benefits described in section 5 above. Chart 1 below illustrates that the majority of cashable benefit results from increased efficiency gains as employees transfer from being fixed workers to one of the new work styles.

88% of the gross benefit is produced by increased efficiency gains, 6% from reduced absenteeism, 4% from property closure and 2% from reduced recruitment costs.

Chart 1 – Cashable Benefits

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7.3 There are many factors that will impact the amount of efficiency gain the Council can deliver through the adoption of new workstyles. These include the effective deployment of technology, property changes and the degree of commitment from operational line management and staff to adopt new ways of working. It is essential that throughout implementation change management and benefits realisation must be managed using appropriate approaches.

7.4 The benefits to the Council will be in two forms: cashable (hard) benefits that can be directly translated into either reduced costs or increased revenue to the Council, and strategic (soft) benefits that improve the Council’s overall performance, position, skills, knowledge or general capability.

7.5 The efficiency targets for staff adopting new workstyles are shown in Table 7 below

Table 7: Efficiency Targets

Efficiency Target %

Fixed Workers 3%

Home Workers 20%

Mobile Workers 15%

Flexible Worker @ 90% Occupancy 5%



Note 1: For all employees new to agile working we have assumed they will achieve one third of the target efficiency in their 1

st year of adoption – this applies for all workers adopting a new work style

irrespective of which year they start.

Note 2: For the second year of adoption onwards we have assumed that 100% of the efficiency target is achievable.

Note3: The Council recognizes that there are significant operational, cultural and employee issues associated with efficiency gains. For these reasons the efficiency targets were reduced as shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Realizable Targets

Efficiency Target

Fixed Workers Home Workers Mobile Workers Flexible Worker @ 90% Occupancy

Flexible Worker @ 75% Occupancy


Y1 (20%)

0.60% 4.00% 3.00% 1.00% 2.00% 3.00%

Y2 (60%)

1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

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Y3 (60%) 1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

Y4 (60%) 1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

Y5 (60%) 1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

Note 4: Each work style has a 5 year efficiency target. For planning purposes, the projected CASHABLE Efficiency Gains at the end of the 5 years is calculated at 60% of the potential. For example, a Home Worker has a 5 year efficiency target of 20%. This business case is indicating that 60% (i.e. 12% efficiency increase) is cashable and contained in the benefits calculation.

Table 9: Realizable Efficiency Targets in Minutes per 7.00 Hour Day

Efficiency Target

Fixed Workers Home Workers Mobile Workers Flexible Worker @ 90% Occupancy



Y1

2.52 16.8 12.6 4.2 8.4 12.6

Y2 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

Y3 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

Y4 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

Y5 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

7.6 Table 10 below breaks down the efficiency savings into FTE savings over the 5 years for each location

Table 10 – Efficiencies - FTE savings (Year on Year)

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

Oban 0.4 0.5 9.4 9.4 9.4

Dunoon 0.0 1.5 11.3 11.3 11.3

Lochgilphead 0.0 1.5 13.3 22.8 22.8

Campbeltown 0.0 0.0 1.2 7.3 7.3

Rothesay 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 3.4

Helensburgh 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.4 8.4

0.4 3.5 35.2 52.7 62.6

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Absenteeism

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

Oban 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

Dunoon 0.0 0.2 0.7 0.7 0.7

Lochgilphead 0.0 0.2 0.9 1.3 1.3

Campbletown 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.4

Rothesay 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2

Helensburgh 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.5

Totals 0.2 0.9 2.2 3.2 3.6

Grand Totals 0.6 4.4 37.4 55.9 66.2

7.7 The savings projected as part of this business case can be attributed to staff and property. As each stage of the project is implemented it will be possible to identify prior to the implementation phase the projected savings attributed to staff and property for that stage of the project. This includes the amount of saving and also the timing of savings. Staff and service can be identified. Based on the match of staff and service and the forecast amount and timing of savings a profile of savings for each service for each stage of the project can be created. This savings profile will be used to identify the budget to be removed from each service. Actual levels of savings will be monitored to ensure assumptions around projected savings are being achieved and to adjust the savings profile if higher levels of savings become apparent. The onus will be on Services to at least achieve the minimum savings on which the business case is based.

Step 1 – Analyse savings between staff and property.

Step 2 – Analyse staff and property savings (step 1) down to individual staff members and properties.

Step 3 – Analyse individual staff and property savings (step 2) over the timescale they are realised.

Step 4 – Match individual staff and properties (Step 3) to the services that hold their budgets.

Step 5 – Create profile of savings based on individual staff and properties (step 2), amount of savings and timing of savings (step 3) and services (step 4).

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Step 6 – Remove savings from budgets based on savings profile from step 5.

Step 7 – Monitor actual levels of savings achieved.

Step 8 - Update future savings profiles to reflect any increase in savings being achieved.

7.8 The costs calculated are summarised in table 11 below

Table 11: Costs

Description Cost

Business Broadband - Cost 9 £1,235,305

Client Programme Staff - Cost 25 £588,156

Workstation Changes - Cost 7 £483,914

Infrastructure & Applications - Cost 23 £223,169

Laptop Computers - Cost 2 £189,689

Printers - Cost 15 £184,052

Authentication Tokens - Cost 27 £103,791

Wireless Network Installations - Cost 11 £100,100

External Specialist Staff - Cost 26 £65,000

Audio Conferencing Service - Cost 19 £52,638

Fixed Line or IP Telephony at Home - Cost 17 £34,841

Laptop Encryption - Cost 3 £33,711

Tablet Computers- Cost 4 £28,444

Fast Business Broadband - Cost 28 £23,543

Furniture Packs - Cost 12 £3,873

Employee Utility Bills - Cost 13 £2,380

£3,352,605

7.9 The top 8 costs represent 93% of the overall estimated costs: 66% of costs are for technology, 20% for people and 14% for property

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7.10 In the Workforce Deployment outline business case costs were stated as £1,124,379. The significant increase in costs between the design phases are due in the most part to the numbers of staff increasing form 474 to 1320, as detailed in para 3.13 p13. A more detailed analysis of all costs was also undertaken during the production of the full business case.

7.11 It should be noted that many of the costs are variable depending on the level of adoption of Council employees for the new work styles. Any changes to the level of adoption or any changes to the assumption used to determine estimates will have a significant impact on the overall costs.

88.. IImmpplleemmeennttaattiioonn PPllaann

8.1 The key principles in the successful delivery of a major transformation project like Workforce Deployment are:

• Empowered and timeous decision-making

• Visible commitment, authority and communication

• Relevant skills and experience – particularly in introducing change and coordinating projects

• Active risk management

8.2 A high level project milestone plan has been produced to show the project phasing, key activities, resource requirements and dependencies over the 5 years life cycle of the project.

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Project Milestone Plan

TRANCHES AS IS

Tranche 1

Tranche 2

Tranche 3

Tranche 4

Tranche 5

Contingency Year 5 - contingency

Ref Project Owner Outcomes Status

WD0 Programme Set-up xxxxx

Programme defined, inc Projects Portfolio and Dependencies ♦

Business case baselined ♦

Programme authorised ♦

WD1 WD Enablement xxxxx

Project set-up ♦

Workstyles Defined, Refined ♦

Business changes in place ♦

Application Process ready ♦

Training in place ♦

Alpha test successful ♦

Pathfinder successful - Oban users transitioned ♦

Ready for Roll-out ♦

WD2 WD Roll-out 1 - OBAN xxxxx

188 users transitioned ♦

WD3 WD Roll-out 2 - DUNOON xxxxx


WD4

WD Roll-out 3 -

LOCHGILPHEAD xxxxx


WD5

WD Roll-out 4 -

CAMPBELTOWN & ROTHESEA

xxxxx 224 users transitioned ♦

WD6

WD Roll-out 5 -

HELENSBURGH xxxxx


WD7 Benefits Baselining xxxxx

Benefits identified ♦

Benefits profiled ♦

Measurement process established ♦

Benefits baselined ♦

WD8 WD Benefits Reviews xxxxx

Benefits Realisation Plan in place ♦

Training ready ♦

Staff trained for benefits measurement and reporting ♦

Benefits measurement and reporting ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

WD9

WD Objective-based

Management - Dependencies xxxxx

Assessment ♦

Implementation approach ♦

Training in place ♦

Rolled out, ready for each WD phasing ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

WD10 WD HR Dependencies xxxxx

No other items - See Workforce Deployment Phase 1 plan for HR deliverables.

Y E A R 2 Y E A R 3 Y E A R 4 Y E A R 5

224 transitioned - CAMPBELTOWN & ROTHESEA

178 transitioned - HELENSBURGH

tranche 1

Descriptions

188 users transitioned - OBAN - and Enablement complete

249 transitioned - DUNOON

481 transitioned - LOCHGILPHEAD

Y E A R 1

Pa

ge 4

2


WD11 WD ICT Dependencies xxxxx

Video Conferencing Enhancement ♦

Booking System ♦

Extend access to info sharing systems to all corporate users (Oct 11) ♦

Malware precautions in place for PDA's and Smartphones ♦

VOIP & WIRELESS

VOIP & Wireless ready in relevant buildings - OBAN ♦

VOIP & Wireless ready in relevant buildings - DUNOON ♦

VOIP & Wireless ready in relevant buildings - LOCHGILPHEAD ♦

VOIP & Wireless ready in relevant buildings - CAMPBELTOWN & ROTHESEA ♦

VOIP & Wireless ready in relevant buildings - HELENSBURGH ♦

Necessary application virtualisation in place (inc Citrix or Terminal Server; eForms; VPN as necessary)

Application Virtualisation - OBAN ♦

Application Virtualisation - DUNOON ♦

Application Virtualisation - LOCHGILPHEAD ♦

Application Virtualisation - CAMPBELTOWN & ROTHESEA ♦

Application Virtualisation - HELENSBURGH ♦

High-Capacity Internet Access ready for each area from Year 2 onwards

High Capacity Internet Access - OBAN (not required)

High Capacity Internet Access - DUNOON (not required)

High Capacity Internet Access - LOCHGILPHEAD ♦

High Capacity Internet Access - CAMPBELTOWN & ROTHESEA ♦

High Capacity Internet Access - HELENSBURGH ♦

Fleet Management System - assumed not required for Workforce Deployment

Data Centre Consolidation (2012) - assumed not required for Workforce Deployment

WD12 WD PROPERTY Dependencies xxxxx

Oban - office & workspace arrangements ready to support Agile Working ♦

Dunoon - office & workspace arrangements ready to support Agile Working ♦

Lochgilphead - office & workspace arrangements ready to support Agile Working ♦

Campbeltown & Rothesea - office & workspace arrangements ready to support Agile Working ♦

Helensburgh - office & workspace arrangements ready to support Agile Working ♦

WD13 WD BPR Dependencies xxxxx

ICT/Finance - ♦

Benefits Legislative Team Review ♦

Payroll self-service review ♦

Payroll Sickness Handling review ♦

Revenues & Benefits NOSLA review ♦

Children & Families ♦

Children Affected By Disability, Early Years, and Trauma Recovery ♦

Some processes in Social Work ♦

Adult Services ♦

Review of Older People's Services ♦

Review of Learning Disability Services ♦

Mental Health redesign ♦

Reconfirm with Managers/depts re new plans and potential impacts - including ♦

Strategic Finance - unlikely impacts at time of Detailed Design ♦

Planning Services - unlikely impacts at time of Detailed Design ♦

Community Regeneration - unlikely impacts at time of Detailed Design ♦

Carbon Management Plan ♦

Government's Asset Management Strategy ♦

Travel Plan ♦

WD14 Communications xxxxx

Launch event ♦

Updates to key stakeholders ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

WD15 Governance

CM/WD Interdependencies Meetings ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Milestone Review points - projects ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Quality Reviews ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

SMT Fortnightly updates ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Org Dev PPG - Monthly updates ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Council Budget Meeting = Feb 2010 ♦

Business Case/Programme Reviews ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

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36

8.3 Table 12 below provides a high level description of the key activities for each role envisaged within the Workforce Deployment project during the implementation phase.

Role Resource Key Responsibilities and Activities

Programme

Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)

Jane Fowler,

Head of Improvement and HR

§ To be accountable for successful delivery of the programme – the driving force behind the programme

o Successful achievement of desired outcomes o Realisation of expected benefits

§ Is empowered to direct and lead the programme overall, to take decisions and resolve escalated issues

§ To own the vision for the programme § To secure the investment § To be the programme champion, actively promoting it within the organisation

and managing communications with key stakeholders § To manage key strategic risks § To manage and support the Programme Manager

Project Sponsor

Douglas Hendry,

Director of Community services

§ To be accountable for successful delivery of the project – o Successful achievement of desired outcomes o Realisation of expected benefits

§ Chairing Board meetings § Ensuring Project Board meets its remit § Providing progress reports to Council, Executive, SMOG and SMT § - Internal and external promotion of project § - Liaison with Programme SRO/Manager and Project Manager

Project Board HR Board § To provide the Project mandate and investment decision § To provide visible leadership and commitment to the Project § To endorse and support the Senior Responsible Owner on an ongoing basis § Attendance at board meetings as scheduled; § Agreement on project managers responsibilities and objectives; § Agreement of project plan, project PID’s and ongoing update of plans;

Pa

ge 4

4


37


§ Acceptance of all project products; § Provision of all resources and facilities required by the project; § Agreement of milestone achievements; § Review of scope.

Project Manager

Agnes Fleming

Business Improvement Officer

§ Overall Management and first point of contact. § To operationally manage the project, delivering to the business case,

coordinating and final delivery of all project products § To actively manage risks and issues § Ongoing project planning and management § Reporting progress to SRO and project board as appropriate § To represent the project to the Council management forums § To tactically and operationally co-ordinate the project with other Council

initiatives, including management of interdependencies § To manage resources and budget § To manage the provision and quality of all resources, sub-projects and

services delivered § To define the governance framework, including management of benefits,

stakeholders, risks and issues, resources, quality, planning and control. § To carry out regular reviews of the Business Case and Workforce

Deployment project, to ensure their continued alignment

Represenative from each Service

Lead TBA

Per service

§ To define the scale and scope of benefit to be realised across the Council § To be responsible for measuring and tracking benefits § To manage benefits realisation § To monitor project outcomes and ensure these are appropriate to achieve

desired benefits § To work with business areas in the change transition, maintaining ‘business

as usual’

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HR Support TBA § To provide HR support and advice to the project § To coordinate and report on all HR sub-projects § To represent the project on all HR issues § To coordinate the project with the Council’s HR policies, stratagems and

plans § Develop and Implement Outcome based measures § Health & Safety § To input into the training programme to support the project

Legal Support TBA § To provide support and advice to the project § Review and provide guidance on any amendments to Council’s terms of

employment or statutory obligations

ICT Support TBA § To provide ICT support and advice to the project § To co-ordinate, deliver and report on all ICT sub-projects § To represent the project on all ICT related workforce deployment issues § To co-ordinate the project with the Councils ICT policies, stratagems and

plans

Property Support

TBA § To provide property support and advise the project § To co-ordinate, deliver and report on all property sub-projects § To represent the project on all Property related workforce deployment issues § To co-ordinate the project with the Council’s project policies, stratagems and

plans

Communications Support

TBA § To provide Communications support and advise to the project § Develop and implement Communications plan § Deliver communications to all stakeholders as appropriate.

Procurement Support

TBA § To provide Procurement support and advise to the project § Set up and manage the Council’s supply chain for the Workforce

Deployment project

PMO Support Project Admin § To provide a dedicated administration support to the project § To provide active support in the tracking and analysing of risks and issues § To assist the Project Manager in budget control and status reporting

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Sustainability Support

TBA § To provide sustainability support and advice to the project § To co-ordinate and report on all Sustainability sub-projects § To represent the project on all property related workforce deployment issues § To co-ordinate the project with the Council’s sustainability policies,

stratagems and plans

Project Management Support (Assistant Project Manager)

TBA § To manage project resources, projects and budget as defined projects within

the Project § Management of specified project(s) and first point of contact for those § To develop and deliver to the project plan § To actively manage risks and issues § Ongoing project planning and management § Reporting progress to Project Manager § To manage the provision and quality of all resources, sub-projects and

services

Finance Support

TBA § To provide financial support and advise the project § To monitor and report on financial spend, including budget v actual

accounting § To monitor cash benefits realised against plan

8.4 The implementation plan detailing all the activities and resources to be carried out during year 1 (2010-11) is shown on the the next 2 pages. The preparation time shown is 9 months which includes time to resource and mobilise the project team, manage communications, manage enabler projects, baseline business case and confirm adoption profiles. Office moves within the Oban properties will commence in month 10

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8.5 The Project Manager will develop the Implementation Plan for each town using the standards and methodology developed within this Business Case. The Implementation Plan must identify specific requirements, actions and outcomes on a departmental and service basis to ensure that there is clarity of purpose and commitment to deliver the Implementation Plan. The Implementation Plan for each town will be approved by the HR Board. The Project Manager will develop a performance reporting structure within the Implementation Plan which meets the HR Board’s requirements for robust project governance and delivery.

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99.. RReeccoommmmeennddaattiioonnss

The Council is asked to approve the following recommendations in respect of the detailed design phase of the Process for Change, Workforce Deployment theme.

9.1 To approve the detailed design report, full business case and implementation plan for Workforce Deployment as a basis for proceeding to implementation

9.2 To approve that the Council’s Business Improvement Team continues to lead the project through implementation

9.3 To approve that the Head of Improvement and HR takes over as programme Senior Responsible Officer from the Head of ICT and Financial Services.

9.4 The governance arrangements as detailed in the Project Initiation Document continue in place throughout implementation with the HR Board continuing as the Project Board and the Director of Community Services continuing as project sponsor.

9.5 The approval of the Agile Work Options Policy part 1 and the Use of Space Policy as detailed in Appendix 2 – HR Report, as the basis of discussions with the Trade Unions.

9.6 That the Council adopts a corporate ICT desktop build and support service managed consistently across the organisation as detailed in Appendix 1 – ICT Report.

9.7 The approval of the training approach to support staff adopting new workstyles as detailed in Appendix 2 – HR Report.

9.8 That the Council approves the re-location of staff within Kilbowie House, Oban during 2010/2011 and the subsequent sale of Kilbowie House.

9.9 That the Council approves the Property Standards detailed in Appendix 3.

9.10 That the Council continues to consult with the Trade Unions during implementation.

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Argyll and Bute Council – Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme – ICT Report

Page 1


Argyll and Bute Council Process for Change

Appendix 1 - ICT Report

Authors: Gerry Wilson, Gavin Boyd

October 2009

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Distribution:

Title Workforce Deployment - ICT Report

Author

Owner (Responsible for Approval of Issued Versions)

Name Role

Gavin Boyd ICT Applications Manager, Argyll and Bute Council

Review Panel

Name Role / Company Review requirement

Change History

Issue Date Author/ Editor Details of Change

V0.1 09/07/2009 BT Original template provided by BT.

V0.2 20/07/2009 Gavin Boyd First pass completion of report.

V0.3 24/07/2009 Keith Turnbull Initial review comments.

V0.4 10/08/2009 Keith Turnbull Updated document after workshop.

V0.5 19/08/200 G.Boyd/G.Wilson Update on version circulated by

C.Turnbull 17/08/2009

V0.6 02/10/2009 G WIlson Update with figures from property

workshop and review by HOS of

Oban and Dunoon occupancy

rates.

V0.7 5/10/2009 G Wilson Updated using revised breakdown

of 1320 participants.

V0.8 9/10/09 M Brown Amendments following HR board

V0.9 25/10/09 G Wilson Updated following changes to

business case

V1.0 18/11/09 G Wilson Updated following changes

highlighted in T. Millar review

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1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................4

2 APPROACH..........................................................................................................5

2.1 Principles ................................................................................................ 5

2.2 A layered architecture ............................................................................. 5

2.3 Assumptions and input metrics ............................................................... 6 2.3.1 Existing IT users...................................................................................... 6 2.3.2 Workstyles.............................................................................................. 7

3 KEY FINDINGS.....................................................................................................7

4 THICK CLIENTS .................................................................................................14

5 BASIC APPLICATIONS......................................................................................16

6 DEVICES.............................................................................................................19

7 CONNECTIVITY SERVICES...............................................................................21

8 SECURITY ..........................................................................................................24

9 VIRTUALISATION SERVERS ............................................................................25

10 COMMON BUSINESS TOOLS...........................................................................26

11 LINE OF BUSINESS APPLICATIONS ...............................................................28

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1 Introduction Argyll & Bute Council is developing a business case for the implementation of new work-styles across the Council. The project is called the Argyll & Bute Council, Process for Change, Workforce Deployment Theme. The transformation envisaged impacts the Council’s ICT strategy, infrastructure and operations. This paper, based on a Council Work Style ICT Review, is one of several specialist reports that inform the overall business case. The purpose of this paper is to describe the enabling ICT solutions that will support the proposed Workforce Deployment Theme. This report includes an ICT Solution Overview setting out the layers of technology enablers; a review of existing technology capability in the Council for each of those layers, noting what extra would be needed, if anything, to support workstyles.

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2 Approach

2.1 Principles Our approach to the ICT Review was based on a number of important principles that we have found valuable in other similar studies. These are...

Principle

Use a proven and comprehensive reference model to identify the types of technology required based on the business requirements.

Identify initiatives which are necessary for the modernisation of a department and are essential enablers for work styles.

Conform as far as possible to the Council’s IT service and technology principles and enterprise architecture framework.

Use and build upon existing technologies deployed in the Council.

Perform a sensitivity analysis to identify the most significant costs for further investigation

2.2 A layered architecture The technology required to enable and support Workforce Deployment is modelled as a layered architecture as follows:

Thick clients: software that runs directly on the PC (rather than in a browser) and communicates with a server-based application. Basic applications: these tools keep everything working and provide the software infrastructure for the business tools and line of business applications to work. This category also includes basic productivity software. Devices: personal computing, digital assistants, phone devices and other hardware provided to the users. Connectivity services: networks and communications to link the devices to the central servers and services. Security: authentication and authorisation services, providing access to those who need it, and protecting against unauthorised access. Virtualised Servers: these are central servers which run applications, middle ware, sub-systems and operating systems. They deliver a consistent user experience regardless of the devices at the user end.

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Common Business Tools: these are programs that help perform a business function, and which are used by (or available to) everyone in the organisation. Line of Business Applications: these are programs which are specialised to support the work of the various departments within the Council. A reference model for the types of technology components commonly found in each layer and required to support Work Style Transformation is presented below. This forms the structure for this report. The structure has been modified and annotated to reflect the environment at Argyll & Bute Council.

Workstyle application

Remote access

server

Single sign on/

authentication

service

FirewallsBroadband and router

at home

High capacity internet

access

Private fixed LAN/

WAN

Private Wifi

Public Wifi

GPRS/3G

Web conferencing

service

Audio conferencing

service

Corporate telephony

infrastructure

Mobile voice service

Virtual business

numbers

PCs and printers at

home

Flexidesk kit and

shared printers

Laptops and

netbooks

PDAs

Authentication tokens

Desk phones

Mobile phones

Roving profiles

Updatable standard

software builds

Malware precautions

Online backup

Hard disk encryption

Remote network

access client

software

Application

virtualisation client

Corporate directory

Online self-service

help

Discussion forum for

inter-user self-help

Corporate directory in

mobile phone

Whereabouts

visibility

Electronic diary

Click to call

Presence information

Instant messaging

Corporate social

networking

Shared folders

Document

management

Wiki, blogs etc

Intranet content

management

Licensing

Social care

Estates

Email

Personnel

ePayments

Intranet

Case management

CRM

Revs and bens

Housing

Building control

Land charges &

planning

Financials

Education admin

GIS

Libraries

management

Timesheet

Public protection

Expenses

Support

Remote access for IT

support

Application

virtualisation servers

Forms server

Line of

business

applications

Common

business

tools

Basic

applications

Devices Connectivity

services

Security Virtualisation

servers

Browser

Endpoint security

Office suite

Email client

Virtual desktop

integration

Token server

Asset management

Highways

Leisure centres

Thick clients

Social care

Each layer of the architecture is analysed in subsequent major sections of this document.

2.3 Assumptions and input metrics

2.3.1 Existing IT users

Existing PCs 1455 Existing laptops 360 And therefore:

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Total workstation users: 1815

2.3.2 Workstyles

Four defined work-styles have been used throughout the business and technical analyses.

FIXEDFIXEDFLEXIBLEFLEXIBLE

HOMEHOME

qWorks fulltime at single place of employment (i.e.

spends more than 90% of time in the office or

establishment)

qHas a Desk and PC workstation allocated specifically

to them

qRequires access to corporate systems to perform

role

qNo mobile requirement – e.g. to work from home/

out of the office

qFixed telephone extension, post point


role in the office

qRequires limited access to corporate systems to

perform role in the field (e.g. mail, calendar)

qNo requirement to have a fixed desk in a specific

office

qAssigned a building as their ‘base location’ – post

point

qOffice based for more 50% of their time,

qRequirement to works in multiple council offices,

qOccasionally works at home or remotely (1 or 2

days a week)

qWorks fulltime at home (i.e. spends more than

90% of time at home)

qHas a Desk and PC workstation allocated specifically

to them


role

qNo mobile requirement – e.g. to work in the field

qFixed telephone extension, post point

MOBILEMOBILE


role in the office

qRequires full access to corporate systems and

business applications to perform role in the field (e.g.

mail, calendar, case work)

qNo requirement to have a fixed desk in a specific

office

qAssigned a building as their ‘base location’ – post

point

qOffice based for less than 50% of their time,

qRequirement to works in multiple council offices,

qPredominately works remotely or out of the office

(e.g. 3 days a week)

Some of the current non-IT users may be part of the potential for mobile working, and for efficiencies in their working and travel patterns. Often this would involve a significant rework of the processes and business systems used in that area as well as the provision of mobile devices. These ‘mobilisation’ projects would be driven through the lines of business, and justified in their own right and therefore neither the costs nor the benefits will be included in this business case. However the standard infrastructure proposed here will make the implementation of such mobilisation projects much easier.

3 Key Findings

3.1 Current IT Infrastructure

Recent investment in broadband infrastructure has ensured the council has the platform

to deliver major bandwidth intensive projects. The new IP network has allowed the

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council to develop plans for major new services and systems such as Voice over IP,

Unified Communications, Consolidated and Virtualised Applications, Voice and Video

Conferencing, GIS, GLOW and the distributed contact centre. Many of these projects are

already delivering improvements for council services but several are in the process of

implementation and rely on the completion of the Pathfinder Network in December 2009

before full benefits can be realised.

In the context of current work-styles the infrastructure has been planned around the

containment of applications and systems within the secure network and is based on

delivering services to fixed desktops and phones, hard wired to single network points.

Facilities exist to support limited access to systems from outside the network and limited

wireless access within. The network is well placed to cope with many of the changes

proposed under workforce deployment but additional systems and investments are

required to accommodate the flexibility and movement offered by the introduction of the

new work-styles. The recent review by Heads of Service increased the number of

employees included in the flexible work-style and presents a number of challenges to

ensure the infrastructure remains as secure as it should be, whilst adapting the

necessary changes to support the flexibility of working from various locations – inside

and outside the existing network. In short, with almost 80% of all participating

employees working within the flexible work-style, the network and the services it carries

need to become less physical and more virtual, relying more on secure, wireless and

virtual technologies to extend reach and services to employee homes, touchdown and

team zones as well as existing hard wired desk locations.

3.2 Infrastructure Challenges

Heads of Service have reviewed the proposed work-style arrangements for staff working

in Oban and Dunoon and placed each post in one of the four work styles. They then

identified a total of 1320 employees across the Council who could adopt agile work styles

over a 5 year period and allocated employees as follows:

Fixed Workers: 5% or 66 staff

Home Workers: 1% or 7 staff

Mobile Workers: 15% or 191 staff

Flexible Workers: 80% or 1056 staff

Flexible workers were allocated into one of three workstation occupancy rates (60%,

75%, and 90%). Definitions for the three rates are available in section 3 of the

Workforce Deployment full business case. Under the HOS proposals, only those identified

as Fixed Workers will work from their own fixed desk using their own desktop PC and

VOIP phone. All Flexible Workers will work from a shared location when in the office -

from shared desks in touchdown or team zones using a shared PC and phone or, from

other shared desks using the laptop and software based phone they will carry to enable

full flexibility. The model suggests those in the lower two rates (60% and 75%) will be

supplied with their own laptop but the Council has assumed 50% of flexible workers

already have a laptop and are part of a departmental PC replacement program. Based on

this information and the numbers available from section 3 of BT’s Workforce Deployment

Financial Report, the following conclusions have been made in relation to the percentage

of the 1056 flexible workers likely to fall within each occupancy rate :

60% occupancy: 22% or 232 employees



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which subsequently allows for the following observations in respect of the 1320

employees;

• Over 60% (814) of all users fall in to the lower two occupancy rates or are

mobile users (232 + 391 + 191) and require a laptop or tablet PC with

wireless access, mobile phone and broadband at home. Assume only 50%

of the 75% occupancy rate will need business broadband and revised total

619.

• Although 360 laptops are in use across the Council, further analysis is

required to determine whether those users are included in the lower two

occupancy rates. For business case purposes it has been assumed that

40% of all mobile users (191 x 40%= 76) plus 50% of all flexible workers

in the lower two occupancy rates (623 x 50%=312) will require new

laptops (Total=388). Laptops may need to be removed from some users

and assigned to those in the lower two rates.

• Similarly, 1100 mobile phones are in use across the Council and further

analysis is required to determine how many of those users are included in

the lower occupancy rates.

• Only 5% (66 employees) require a fixed desktop PC while 41% of flexible

workers (433) require access to a shared desktop PC in a team/touchdown

zone.

• Wireless network coverage is required to cover all touchdown and team

zones used by those with a laptop or tablet from the lower occupancy

rates. If these zones are occupied to capacity they will provide desks for:

60% of 232 users (139) and 75% of 391 users (293). Total 432 users.

• 433 employees (all in 90% occupancy) will work in a shared desk/shared

PC environment where they can occupy a different desk on any day. They

require a consistent presentation of their desktop environment from any

PC in any allocated touchdown/team zone.

• Email, departmental applications, unified communications and

collaborative technologies may be required for all users from all locations

across the network.

• Security software, malware protection and disk encryption will be required

on all mobile/laptop devices.

• Employees at sites outside the six main towns (Oban, Dunoon,

Lochgilphead, Campbeltown, Rothesay and Helensburgh) have not been

included in this project.

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3.3 Current Infrastructure Projects

ICT staff currently manage a substantial work program of enhancement and

improvement. Two projects in particular are already included in this program but have

direct relevance and are key contributors to a successful workforce deployment:

Voice Over IP (VOIP)

The Council has a CISCO Call Manager VOIP deployment underway with capital and

revenue funding in place to provide VOIP to 1400 users by March 2011. Agreement has

recently been reached to accelerate this project to deliver VOIP to 1700 users by April

2010 (better value procurement has increased the purchasing capability of the original

funding). VOIP is recognised as a core fundamental element of a flexible workstyle and

unlike traditional hard wired telephony where the phone rings on a desk or diverts to pre

determined locations, users retain a standard extension number which can follow them

across the network to any working location. The system offers a logon facility to allow

simple pin based access to any extension number and therefore any user to be connected

to any phone. In addition the system can provide complete portability via software based

desktop telephony where the phone is accessed through an on-screen phone template

and a USB headset. Current funded plans to reach 1700 users by March 2010 do not

include full reach to all of the Council’s smaller offices and not all of the 1320

participating employees and their associated properties were included in the revised VOIP

plan. In Oban and Dunoon 144 staff across 11 sites are based in offices not scheduled for

VOIP in the original plans. An additional allocation has therefore been included in the

business case to ensure 100% VOIP coverage across the network with rollout occurring

prior to the rollout of the workforce deployment project.

Unified Communications

Work has started on the implementation of a new Unified Communications service which

will enable a variety of new communication options across the network. Based on

Microsoft Office Communicator and telephony links to the CISCO VOIP system, the

service will provide other essential elements in support of the new flexible workstyles;

• desktop based video/web conferencing,

• collaboration via desktop and document sharing,

• audio conferencing,

• integration with fixed and mobile devices,

• software based telephones

The system will allow Council teams to work collectively on documents, spreadsheets and

presentations from any remote location as if they were sitting side by side in the same

room. At the heart of the UC system is a new concept called “Presence” where users can

see whether a person is available, in a meeting, on a call or out on the road and

determine the best way to communicate with them. The service is designed to operate

across the entire corporate network with all of the above facilities also available over

fixed home and mobile broadband network connections. The system therefore ensures

these new methods of communication will be available for those working away from the

office. ICT and Financial Services are working with both Microsoft and Cisco and the main

installation is due to complete through October. The system will link directly to the new

Voice over IP telephone system and will allow the Council to take best advantage of the

new Pathfinder Broadband network via an integrated communications suite.

3.4 Current Infrastructure and PC Support Arrangements

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Core systems including corporate telephony, data networking, security, email &

collaboration, storage, internet, remote access, software licensing, database

management, and mobile phones are all managed centrally by the ICT service. In

addition procurement contracts are in place to ensure end user devices (PCs, laptops,

PDAs, tablets, software and printers) are all bought centrally. ICT and Financial Services

have also developed a standard desktop build to ensure a consistent and reliable service

is available across all desktops. This helps with security, audit requirements and software

licensing and ensures the highest possible levels of support to all end users. Previous

recommendations to provide a central desktop support service have been considered by

the Council but a decentralised approach still exists with front-line departments

employing their own teams to look after the PC estate.

As a result, there is an inconsistent approach to desktop support and the standard build

is not deployed across all departments.

Under new arrangements proposed for agile working where movement and flexibility is

supported by a consistently high end user experience, the PC, laptop and telephony

services are seen as the central service elements holding everything else together. When

a user moves from one town to another, chooses to work in one of several available

offices, accesses a PC they have never used before and may never use again, and logs

on to any one of several available desk phones, it is absolutely crucial that the systems

are presented consistently, operate consistently and offer the highest possible user

experience at all times. When these key facilities are also shared across all departments

and services, where a desk and associated equipment might be used by a Planner one

day and a Social Worker the next, questions arise over the Council’s ability to deliver and

support such an integrated IT environment using the current distributed support

arrangements. Consideration must therefore be given to a revised integrated desktop

support service managed consistently across the organisation. The revised service should

be tasked to deliver a consistently high experience for end users and to ensure the

desktop presentation meets the requirements of the new working styles.

3.5 Technology Layer Summary

Full details covering all layers are listed in section 4 of this report but the following

highlights those areas where additional services/devices/technology is required:

Thick Clients

The Council currently uses Microsoft Terminal Server to deliver a thin client solution for

key thick client based systems. There are no plans to replace this system in the short

term but the service will be enhanced with the introduction of the virtual desktop

technology in the Virtualisation layer proposals below. The small number of thick clients

used across the IKEN legal and NDR systems will be deployed using the new Citrix

XENDesktop virtual desktop suite.

Basic Applications

Malware precautions are required for Smartphone/PDA mobile devices as well as laptops.

The Council’s Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft includes protection for PCs and laptops

via MS Forefront. PDA protect is required for all Smartphones and PDAs

A new CISCO ASA VPN service will support 814 remote users. Secure access can be

granted via a remote access token for each user.

The Council purchased BeCrypt disk encryption software for the current 360 laptop PCs.

Additional software required for the extra 388 laptop and 19 tablet users.

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Devices

The number of laptop users will increase by 388. Additional laptops will be required by

40% of mobile workers (76) plus 50% of Flexible workers in the 60% or 75% occupancy

rates (312) Total (388). Laptops should be purchased with on-board wireless connectivity

and integrated video cameras where possible

The number of tablet PC users will be estimated at 10% of mobile workers - 19 staff.

Shared printers will be required in team/touchdown zones with existing printers

redeployed.

Printers will be included for those working from home, all mobile workers and all flexible

workers in the 60% occupancy rate (7 + 191 + 232). Total 430

The revised VOIP rollout includes delivery of 1700 devices across the entire network but

this includes significant delivery to many sites not included within Workforce Deployment

scope (island sites and other sites out with the main 6 towns). An additional 134 desk or

soft phones will be required to meet the VOIP requirements of all participating sites

within the six towns. This figure includes devices for the 6 home based workers.

Connectivity Services

Business broadband services are essential for anyone working from home (full time or

part time). Significant security risks exist when allowing access over a standard home

broadband service. Council policy is to deploy business broadband. The Council has

estimated the service should be provided to all mobile workers (191) plus all flexible

workers in the 60% and half of all those in the 75% occupancy rates (232 and 195

respectively). Total 619 flexible and home workers will require business broadband.

An additional 10MB High speed corporate internet access is required for every 100

concurrent home/flexible/mobile workers.

Additional wireless coverage will be required for those working in the 60% and 75%

occupancy rates. An access point will be required for every 6.5 users with controllers

required for every 100 users to cope with the increase in flexible workers working from

shared desk areas. Coverage will be required for the 432 desks required to cover the

lower two occupancy rates. Approximately 67 access points and 5 access controllers will

be required at strategic points across the network.

Security

Secure access tokens may be required to work alongside the ASA VPN service. Council

currently uses RSA tokens but 619 tokens needed.

Virtualisation

Some 433 users will access a shared desktop. Citrix XenDesktop should be deployed to

ensure the systems are presented consistently, operate consistently and offer the highest

possible user experience for all departments. 400 concurrent licences should be made

available.

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Common Business Tools

Significant changes are underway to upgrade the Exchange email system, introduce

collaborative business tools, and upgrade the council’s web and intranet sites. In addition

the entire user base will standardise on Office 2007 and a view will be taken on the new

Windows 7 operating system some time after product launch. As such, many of the

common business tools required to introduce the new workstyles are already in place or

on the horizon. One significant missing link is the much needed hot desk and room

booking system. Electronic calendars in Exchange will not meet this requirement and a

full application deployment is required across all properties. A survey of the marketplace

has revealed a number of third party packages which can be deployed alongside MS

Exchange. One of those operating in combination with the existing MS Exchange system

could provide the necessary capability to determine the availability of staff, rooms and

hot desks and make appointments and bookings. A corporate Electronic Document

Records Management System is not considered imperative at this stage. There may

however be a requirement in the future for targeted electronic document management

systems and these will be looked at on a case by case basis. If the requirement is

identified the initial costs will be funded from the ICT capital programme.

Line of Business Applications

The Council currently runs a commercial package which provides content management

capabilities for both the external website and the intranet. The Customer Management

project is likely to conclude that the current content management system (Alterian)

should be replaced through a procurement. The Council is about to conclude a contract

for deployment of a commercial package as a replacement for its ageing ‘Roads Costing’

system. The Council is currently out to tender for a Fleet Management system - again

this would be a commercial package hosted locally. Some ‘agile working’ staff are

identified as being in the ‘mobile’ workstyle category - from the ‘mobile’ workstyle

category some staff may need to access to specialised applications via a PDA whilst

onsite. To provide this capability it may be necessary to purchase further specialised

software from the suppliers of the relevant ‘line of business’ applications.

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4 Thick clients Thick clients: software that runs directly on the PC (rather than in a browser) and communicates with a server-based application. Applications that use a very significant download into the browser environment should also be considered in this section. It is important to understand any thick client applications that might be used by flexible, mobile and home workers in order to assess

• The impact on network bandwidth

• Whether the latency of working remotely provides acceptable application response times

• To what extent a virtualisation solution should be deployed

Key Items What exists What is planned What is needed Cost comment

Planning system The Planning System is currently available via Windows Terminal Server.

No plans No Plans No Costs

Performance Management - Development Client only

General Users: access for read and update purposes is via browser with small Java load to client PC. Development Client Users: thick client application only for changes to system setup – could be 30 to 40 occasional ‘developers’,

No plans Nothing additional required – client is slow to start initially but bandwidth not a major problem during use

No costs

WDM Roads Project Planning

This system is currently available though Windows Terminal Server.

No plans Migrate this system from TS to Citrix in accordance with Council strategy for application virtualisation.

Application Virtualisation platform and costs to be determined. . There are 140 users of the WDM Roads system via TS.

Leisure Management System – System Administration Client only

General Users: System mostly used by staff based in Leisure Centres System Administration Client Users: Thick Client via Windows Terminal Server used by 2 or 3 staff only

No plans Assume retention of TS for this small number of staff – could look to move to Citrix later

No costs

Anite/Northgate Non-Domestic Rates system (NDR)

Thick client used at one site only over LAN. No plans Possible Citrix candidate but assumed not in scope at current time.

No cost

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Northgate Benefits Northgate Benefits system is currently delivered via Windows Terminal Server.

A new browser version is planned to be deployed in FY0910 which will remove the need for TS.

Nothing additional required No cost

Legal Case Management System (IKEN)

Thick client for all users but only used over LAN at one site.

No plans Candidate for Citrix if remote access is required.

Desktop Virtualisation platform with costs of £200 per user (included in Desktop Virtualisation costs). There may be 10 remote users of the IKEN system.

Northgate Licensing System is being introduced at the moment and has a thick client but no TS use is planned as all users access this application through LAN at one site

No further plans Candidate for Citrix if remote access is required.

Desktop Virtualisation platform with costs of £200 per user (included in Desktop Virtualisation costs). There may be 7 remote users of the Licensing system.

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5 Basic applications Basic applications: these tools keep everything working and provide the software infrastructure for the business tools and line of business applications to work. This category also includes basic productivity software.

Item What exists What is planned What is needed Cost comment

Updatable standard software builds

All network PCs are subject to critical and security updates via MS WUS

MS System Centre (specifically SCCM) will provide a mechanism for managing the software build and updates of devices outside Council offices, ideally without having to return devices to base (bandwidth dependent).

Nothing additional No additional costs

Software mall Nothing at present - there are two possible definitions of software mall: a) a mechanism for users to gain temporary access to an application via a terminal server type solution and b) an end-user tool for downloading and installing software on a client.

Assessing introduction of Citrix XenApp technology (Dazzle is the client application for ‘shopping’ for applications) which will replace Windows Terminal Server (as per definition a)). A self-service portal is available as part of Microsoft’s System Centre Service Manager product (in beta).

For a), see thick client and virtualisation sections. For b), no requirement for this technology – software can be deployed through central control.

No additional costs.

Software deployment to smartphones/PDAs

No standard solution. No plans at present. MS System Centre Mobile Device Manager 2008 could be considered but would require standardisation of smartphone/PDA OS (see below).

Nothing additional No additional costs.

Malware precautions All PCs use Pestpatrol for malware precautions.

Introduction of Forefront is scheduled to complete in FY0910. There is currently no Forefront Client for Windows Mobile/Windows Phone.

While desktop/laptop device precautions will be in place, smartphone/PDA device precautions need to be applied consistently across the estate – PDA Protect is the preferred solution.

400 devices currently in use but not all capable of running Malware protection . Approximately £45 for additional devices plus £8 per annum thereafter for support.

Hard disk encryption Devices requiring encryption have a managed BECrypt solution.

As mentioned previously BECrypt PDA Protect to be introduced for

Additional licenses to ensure coverage for all agile workers including

Approximately £55 for 407 devices plus £8

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smartphone/PDA devices as well which includes disk encryption for this type of device.

homeworkers over the existing 360 device licences.

per annum thereafter.

Endpoint security CA Integrated Threat Management is installed on all PCs, Group policies manage operating system firewall rules. Windows Firewall is also enabled on PC devices.

Deployment of Centennial DeviceWall to control USB threats.

No plans for additional security although consideration may be given to smartphone/PDA devices (see above).


Remote access for IT support

Windows Remote Desktop is used to provide remote access for IT support.

For each worker moving to an agile workstyle, there are a number of steps that need to be followed i.e.

a. Identify actual users; b. Contact department IT staff; c. Agree alternative; d. Migrate

– this needs to be reflected in the Managers Guide for Homeworking however this area is covered by other work in this Workstream.

Additional time required to resolve issues with remote users.

Remote network access client software

The Council currently has a Perle Remote Access Server (RAS) server providing 8 ports basic rate ISDN dial-up access and a Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) solution implementing VPN tunnels over broadband to the Cisco VPN client.

The Perle Remote Access Server (RAS) is to be removed in 2010 after which either the Cisco ASA in house VPN or managed C&W VPN service will be used.

Assuming the in-house solution is adopted for the purposes of this report, we need to determine the VPN and authentication infrastructure costs required to get to the required capacity.

Costs required for infrastructure– £50 per user for 619 additional user capacity.

Application virtualisation client

Currently Windows Terminal Server is used to provide this capability.

Resolve printing issues – Uniprint Nothing additional although the small number of remaining thick clients may be covered by the desktop virtualisation program if required

No additional costs

Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 7 is deployed and patched using Windows Update Services and is currently the standard browser.

IE 8 will be rolled out once it has been tested.

Nothing additional although some consideration needs given to browsers and versions on smartphone/PDA devices (Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0 and 6.1).


Online self-service help Service Desk Self Service module currently in development – this is a thin client application.

Service Desk Self Service module made available to all users.

Nothing additional. No additional costs.

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Office suite Microsoft Office 2003/2007 Migration to Office 2007. Nothing additional planned - any new PC devices for agile working will be built with Office 2007 to avoid remote install.


Email client Microsoft Outlook 2003/2007. Outlook Web Access is also implemented.

Migration to Outlook 2007.

Nothing additional planned although it might be worth re-inforcing the policy on .pst files being held on network drives so that they are backed up.


Online backup Client level backup not required all data is stored on server shares.

This is a Council policy therefore no change is planned.

Again, worth re-iterating this policy for agile workers to ensure their data is backed up.


Roaming profiles This is not implemented by the Council at present.

Not planned. Not required but would only require configuration changes on existing infrastructure if needed.


Telephone configuration Telephony configuration is performed against Siemens iSDX via modem access by administrators and on the Cisco Call Manager via browser, again by administrators.

The Council plan to move to an all VoIP telephone infrastructure.

No user configuration required. No additional costs.

Audit client Software to perform client device audits. Continued use of this solution for new client devices.

Additional licences for those who need more than 1 PC or laptop or any additional PCs or laptops.


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6 Devices Devices: personal computing, digital assistants, phone devices and other hardware provided to the users. The spreadsheet model articulates the proportions of the various workstyles who will require each type of device, and the proportion of that cost that should be attributed to the programme.


PCs at home There are only a very limited number of standard desktop PCs in employees or elected members homes (around 10 or less).

Nothing planned outside this Workstream.

Assume no desktops exist for costing purposes. Council has a policy of 4 year refresh for desktop PCs.

No additional costs

Laptops and netbooks There are currently around 360 laptops of various ages used by elected members and employees.


Assume a 3 year refresh policy for laptops.

Cost for 388 laptops – consider whether a proportion need additional monitor/keyboard. Assume no docking stations.

Tablet PCs There are currently around 20 tablets in use in the Council.


Assume no more than 100 laptop users will required tablet variants.

Cost for 19 tablet devices at £900 each

Printers in drop-in areas All Council offices have printers available to users signed into the network.


Additional shared printers required for drop-in areas. Could these be a combination of new and existing devices?

£161 per device but none required. Redeploy existing.

Printers at home Elected members have printers. These should be replaced by new multi-function devices (MFD) – print/scan/possibly fax.

Needed for 100% of Home Workers; 100% of Mobile Workers; 100% of “60% Occupancy” Flexible Workers

Cost of £80 per device plus on-going costs for 430 users

Smart phones/Personal Digital Assistants (PDA)

A wide variety of devices – these are purchased by departments from a Vodafone list of devices and tariffs rather than sourced through the IT department.

In future, the Council wish to standardise on the Windows Mobile (renamed Windows Phone for version 7) to ensure security and ease maintenance.

Nothing additional – refresh to standard to be driven as devices are replaced. It is anticipated that anyone electing to become an agile worker will already have a mobile phone.

No additional costs

Mobile phones There are 1100 mobile phones with approximately 100 with e-mail access – see above.

See above. See above. See above.

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Desk phones There are 1700 extensions in 24 offices plus more in other offices.

The use of Cisco IP Communicator is planned as a softphone implementation.

‘Desk phones’ are required for home workstyle users and these will be fulfilled by softphones (headset plug-in to PC rather than separate handset). See note below about call/contact centre working from home.

Cost for 134 desk or soft phones.

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7 Connectivity services Connectivity services: networks and communications to link the devices to the central servers and services. The spreadsheet model articulates the proportions of the various workstyles who will require each type of connectivity service, and the proportion of that cost that should be attributed to the programme.


Broadband and router at home

BT or Demon broadband up to 8MB with a Cisco 857 router

Nothing different The solution is acceptable and therefore needs to be provided by the Council for workstyles with a home working element.

Costs to be included for an estimated 619 new broadband users.

Telephone service at home

Analogue handset on broadband line Use of Cisco IP Communicator and softphone headset.

Nothing is needed for standard users. However users with a heavy or critical phone requirement e.g. call/contact centre workers may require quality of service (QoS) on their network connection to ensure calls are not dropped or degraded. There are products utilising ADSL technology that have lower or zero contention and can therefore offer QoS (IP Clear ADSL Plus and IP Clear ADSL Premium respectively) and these could be considered for this type of worker although these services attract a higher cost.

Additional costs for 7 CCM device licences and Quality of Service enabled network connections from home.

Fixed Line Telephony at home

Not currently offered Standard telephone and line for users with poor mobile reception

Estimate the following numbers will require this service: 100% of Home Workers; 10% of Mobile Workers; 10% of “60% Occupancy and 75% Occupancy” Flexible Workers

88 telephone lines required

High capacity internet access

45MB connection of Lochgilphead for Corporate use 100MB connection at Helensburgh for schools use There is also a 10MB connection as part of the Cable and Wireless VPN service trial.

Assuming use of in-house service for this report, an estimate of 100KB of internet access into the Council per concurrent user is made. This assumes that the user will be generating limited user traffic when

In additional, it is necessary to configure fall-back to alternate connection on link failure.

A concurrent user value of 100 dictates an additional 10MB of internet capacity is required (plus fallback). £2k per

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making an IP call. A 10MB pipe will therefore support 100 concurrent users.

10MB installation and £8193 per 10MB per annum

Private fixed LAN/WAN

The Council Local and Wide Area Networks are currently sized appropriately for the Council’s requirements.

On-going upgrade activities as required.

After full discussion, introduction of agile working practices is not anticipated to require any further investment in the Council WAN or LAN.


Private wifi Private (Council) wireless networks are available in few offices.

Substantial change is planned to ensure at least 50% coverage in all offices..

Additional wireless access point will be required for shared desk areas

Approx new 67 access points and 5 associated controllers will provide coverage for 432 desks in touchdown/team zones

Offering public wifi This is not currently offered. There are no plans to offer this. Nothing additional. No additional costs.

Using public wifi Not currently permitted ‘officially’. Need to change two-factor authentication approach to support this securely – see below.

May need to provide user accounts/on-going costs if this is to be used.

No additional costs at this time.

GPRS/3G There is limited 3G availability outside Helensburgh and limited GPRS availability outside town limits. Users using various phones to sync with Exchange server using push or pull technology.

Nothing additional planned. Monitoring usage to identify users suitable for fixed rate tariff.


Audio conferencing services

These are currently available on the existing iSDX and Call Manager telephony platform.

Plan is to fully implement audio conferencing service on Cisco Call Manager.

Removal off iSDX Integration with Exchange


Web conferencing services

Web conferencing services allow participants to view and/or interact with presentations and other application alongside audio conferencing. .

The Council have implemented Microsoft Live Meeting.

A hosted web conferencing service is available for interim use. Microsoft have provided a service for approximately £9 per meeting host licence per month

No additional costs

Corporate telephony infrastructure

The Council has an infrastructure of Siemens iSDX (8 switches) which are be replaced by a Cisco Call Manager solution.

The plan is to remove all iSDX switches by 2011 and all handsets will be VoIP devices.

The new infrastructure will have sufficient capacity for IPT use at home however some additional licences may

See above.

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be required.

Mobile voice service Vodafone mobile phones Cisco mobility for extensions

Nothing additional planned. Nothing additional anticipated. No additional costs.

Virtual business numbers

Users can divert extension to mobile as required

See above. See above. See above.

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8 Security Security: authentication and authorisation services, providing access to those who need it, and protecting against unauthorised access.

Item What exists What is needed Cost comment

Firewalls Nokia IP560 (Lochgilphead and Helensburgh) The current firewall provision is expected to have capacity to support this Workstream.


Token server The Council current has a Windows server with RSA running and a Cisco ASA server.

For this report, we assume that two factor authentication needs to be implemented in a different way i.e. two factor authentication is required at the network perimeter by username/password and by a secondary method such as SecureID token or Swivel PINsafe. Again, assume token based authentication for this report.

Time needs to be allocated to investigate and reconfigure the existing mechanisms. Cost for any new infrastructure required.

Authentication tokens Currently there are Securid and Cisco tokens in use. Tokens are required to support two factor authentication for all agile workstyles.

Cost per token of £30 for 619 users.

Identity management Nothing beyond Active Directory. Nothing additional required. No additional costs.

Single sign on/authentication service

Microsoft Active Directory is used for authentication but single sign-on is not implemented. In the past, auditors have driven the requirement for explicit sign on to applications.

A single sign-on project may have a business case in its own right but such as solution is not mandatory here.


Security of data as it traverses the network

Data on WAN, LAN and VPN is assumed to be secure. Nothing additional. No additional costs.

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9 Virtualisation servers Virtualised Servers: these are central servers which run applications, middle ware, sub-systems and operating systems. They deliver a consistent user experience regardless of the devices at the user end.


Application virtualisation servers

Currently some corporate applications are delivered via Windows Terminal Server.

No pans to migrate from Terminal Server No additional costs.

Virtual desktop infrastructure

No VDI in Council at present. For certain types of user it may be appropriate to deliver the entire desktop virtually as opposed to individual applications. 433 shared desktops may require 400 concurrent licences for Citrix XENDesktop

400 licences and associated server hardware.

Forms server Forms server technology supports offline working when mobile users are out of network coverage,

Offline working may be required for certain applications but this will be done on an application by application basis rather than as a standard Council-wide technology approach.


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10 Common business tools Common Business Tools: these are programs that help perform a business function, and which are used by (or available to) everyone in the organisation.


Email E-mail is provided by Microsoft Exchange. Nothing additional is required. No additional costs required.

Corporate directory Corporate directory is provided through intranet and from Active Directory.

Some work is required to active directory to get this working completely.

Work underway to refresh the Active Directory but no additional costs required

Email, contact list, diary on mobile device

ActiveSync technology is used to provide this functionality.

This is all in place and working effectively. No additional costs required.

Corporate directory in mobile phone

There is an existing electronic list which could be used here.

Resolve as part of corporate directory work. (See above).

No additional costs required.

Electronic diary Outlook calendar Push pull is available through ActiveSync – nothing additional required.


Hot desk and room booking system

Video conference rooms are managed centrally using Exchange calendars and service desk system

A packaged ’add-on’ to MS Exchange which allows Staff, room & hot desk availability & booking. One solution to be identified which meets both Workforce Deployment & Customer Mgt. needs

Approx £21k one-off and £3k p.a ongoing.

Instant messaging Nothing at present but there is a plan to implement Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS) and Office Communicatore by FY0910.

Nothing additional – this project is already in progress.


Presence information Not at present but included in above project. See above. See above.

Click to call Not at present but included in above project. See above. See above.

Whereabouts visibility See above. See above. See above.

Corporate social networking

Nothing required over and above the OCS/Communicator solution.

See above. See above.

Intranet content management

The intranet content management system - Alterian (previously Mediasurface) is the same as website content mgt sys (section 11). The current system is under review by Customer Mgt

Nothing additional required here. No additional costs.

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project

Shared folders Microsoft Sharepoint is used to host shared folders as well as standard use of network drives.

Nothing additional required. No additional costs.

Document management No general Council-wide document management system.

This is not seen as a pre-requiste for agile working but will be looked at on a cost by cost basis for individual systems.


Wiki, blogs, forums etc A trial blog has been created for the Chief Executive built on a Twiki platform.

Use of the Twiki platform could be extended to support wider use of this technology however nothing additional required here.


Workstyles support application

Nothing at present beyond some Word documentation and basic processes.

Assume no technology purchase specifically for this purpose - existing material can be presented via currently licensed technology.


Discussion forum for inter-user self-help

This could be implemented on the Twiki platform. See above. No additional costs.

Search Basic search capability currently available. Revised solution to be implemented as part of CMS project.


Flexi-time system The current flexi-time system is Crown ‘My Options’. There is a PC interface for this system that will allow agile workers to manage their clocks. Its possible that additional configuration will be required here but no costs estimated.


Expenses Although these are currently done by Excel spreadsheet and this manual process will still work from agile workers, there is an option to use ‘self-service’ module of Northgate Resourcelink Payroll/HR system.

This is a thin-client and therefore requires not additional work.


Performance Management QPR This is a thin-client and therefore requires not additional work.


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11 Line of business applications Line of Business Applications: these are programs which are specialised to support the work of the various departments within the Council. It is important to understand the main line of business applications that might be used by flexible, mobile and home workers in order to assess

• The impact on network bandwidth

• Whether the latency of working remotely provides acceptable application response times

• To what extent a virtualisation solution should be deployed

In the short time available for this report it was not possible to do a complete survey of line of business applications in use across the council, so focus may be given to applications used by key communities considered likely to be early adopters of workstyles. The checklist below is mainly to help identify applications with specific or unusual requirements when it comes to workstyles.


Social work OLM CareFirst ( incl CareAssess ) ‘Care Mobile’ module ?

ePayments Link to external ePayments service ( Capita )

Nothing more

CRM Lagan Major upgrade likely to be undertaken to move to new version.

Revs and Bens Northgate Council Tax & Bens

eBenefits Mobile going live by end Sept 09

Nothing more

Non Domestic Rates System

Northgate (previously Anite)

Housing Academy - ICT support system for housing association ( ACHA )

(n/a) Housing stock managed by housing association ( their staff not in Workforce Deployment )

Transportation Vehicle tracking system (Cybit - Fleetstar) Project underway to procure a Fleet Mgt system - go-live June 2010

Roads Maintenance Planning

WDM

Financials Oracle Financials General Ledger & Payables plus Discoverer Reporting tool , Civica Debtors System, Civica Cash Receipting, Northgate Resourcelink Payroll ( & HR )

Data transfer interface to be established between Payroll and Flexi Time System (see section 10) – to reduce duplicate manual data entry to these systems

Personnel Northgate Resourcelink HR ( & Payroll ) See above

Vacancy Mgt System EURO RSCG Riley Use of this may cease – Council would use Scottish recruitment portal system instead

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Licensing None yet Intention to deploy Northgate ( previously Anite ) sys

Estates No specialised system

Building control IDOX Uniform module

Development services IDOX Uniform module

Asset management No specialised system

Environmental services

IDOX Uniform module

Cleaning and Catering No specialised system

Education admin SEEMIS ‘Click & Go’

GIS ESRI Arcview & Localview

Corporate Address Gazetteer (CAG)

IDOX Uniform

Libraries management Civica ‘Spydus’

Leisure centres XN Leisure ( previously Torex)

Card management Payne Security (loca) & link to Scottish card mgt sys

2 users for both - suggest not a priority

IT support Frontrange IT help desk system

Public protection IDOX Uniform module

Burials ClearSkies

Legal Case Management

IKEN

Website Content Mgt Alterian ( previously Mediasurface ) Customer Mgt. project likely to conclude that a new packaged solution is required to replace current Alterian/Mediasurface system

nothing additional required as this is dealt with by Customer Management Project

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Argyll and Bute Council – Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme – HR Report

WORKFORCE DEPLOYMENT Argyll and Bute Council

Process for Change

Appendix 2 - HR, Training, ICT Unified Communications, Information Security, Use of Space Policy and Agile Work Options Policy Part 1

Authors: Judy Orr, Lisa Bond, Agnes Fleming

October 2009

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Contents

PAGE NO

1. Introduction 3

2. Recommendations 3

3. Background 3

4. HR Considerations for Agile Working 5

4.1 Agile Working Considerations 6

4.2 Delivering efficiencies from agile working 6

4.3 Contractual Considerations and Allowances for home and mobile workers 7

4.4 Health and Safety Implications 8

4.5 Communications 9

5. Training 10

5.1 Overview 10

5.2 Numbers to be training 11

5.3 Modes of delivery 11

5.4 Superusers or Mentors 11

5.5 High level training needs analysis 12

5.6 Training Costs 12

6. Unified Communications 13 7. Information Security 14 8. Use of Space Policy 14

Appendix A Use of Space Policy 15 Appendix B Agile Work Options Policy and Procedures

Part 1 Home, Mobile and Flexible Working 20

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1. Introduction

1.1. This report examines the HR considerations that require to be addressed as part of the Workforce Deployment theme of Process for Change. It addresses managerial, cultural, training and ICT requirements to support the new workstyles and sets out new policies for “Use of Space” and “Agile Work Options”

1.2. Flexible and Mobile working have already been piloted in Development Services and Corporate Services. The HR-related issues highlighted by the Pilot together with some of the concerns raised by employees at the recently held Solution Design Workshops have been incorporated, as far as possible, into this report.

1.3. HR Business Partners have been consulted on the matters highlighted and guidance

has been sought, where appropriate, from Legal Services, ICT and Financial Services, Planning and Health and Safety. In addition, Strategic HR and Business Improvement have reviewed several other Councils’ policies including those involved in project NOMAD.

2. Recommendations

2.1. Implement the training recommendations set out at section 7 with associated total

cost of £107,500.

2.2. Approve the “Use of Space” policy attached at Appendix A.

2.3. Approve the “Agile Work Options Policy and Procedures attached at Appendix B.

3. Background

3.1. Four work styles have been identified as part Workforce Deployment. They are

Fixed, Flexible, Mobile and Home working. Fixed workers are those who need a dedicated office such as directors, heads of service, third tier managers and other managers who deal with confidential matters.

3.2. Flexible workers have been broken down into 3 sub categories as follows:

Flexible worker category Number

90% occupancy 434

75% occupancy 391

60% occupancy 232

Total 1,057

3.3. The 90% occupancy flexible workers work from a Team Zone. They will always

operate from a desk within that Team Zone except when they are away at a meeting (which is fairly infrequent) or on holiday or off sick. Each desk in that Team Zone will have a desktop PC loaded with the software required for those team members, and there will be a central filing area.

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3.4. The 75% flexible workers are out and about at meetings or occasionally working from home on average one day per week. 60% flexible workers are out and about on average two days per week. Both of these categories have their own laptop PC. They are all enabled to connect to the Council’s network from home and business broadband is installed at their home to support this. They will also have a Council provided mobile phone if they haven’t got one already as over 1100 staff members already do. When they are in the office, they operate either from a Team Zone area or a Drop-In zone area using wireless networks.

3.5. Mobile workers, like flexible workers, can work from a variety of locations including

any Council office, home, or client’s premises. They spend a significant amount of their week “on the move”. They have GPRS connection to Council systems whilst out and about, and have Council provided broadband connection from home. This means that they don’t have to visit a Council office or base on a daily basis. Some 10% of mobile workers are provided with a tablet PC which enables them to record data whilst on site with their clients.

3.6. Home workers have a contract to work from home on a permanent basis but may occasionally visit their Team Zone in a Council office in order to keep in touch. They are provided with some furniture, a desktop computer and a telephone at home and a fast broadband connection.

3.7. All home, flexible, mobile and fixed workers will be provided with the common IT tools for keeping in touch with team members irrespective of where they are located. These include desktop based video/web conferencing, collaboration via desktop and document sharing and audio conferencing. This is referred to as Unified Communications. At the heart of this a concept of “Presence” where users can see at a glance whether a colleague is available for contact, or is in a meeting, on a call, or on the road and can see the best way to contact them – reducing wasted time spent on telephone tag. When someone is in the office they will be able always to keep the same telephone number irrespective on which desk they are sitting at – they just log on to their telephone using VOIP facilities.

3.8. The new workstyles free up office space. This allows more areas to be set aside for meetings with clients and colleagues – both formal interview rooms and less formal collaboration areas. Overall, despite these new meeting areas, the total floor space requirement is reduced. This means that it may be possible to reduce the number of buildings which the council occupies. For the Oban area, the intention is to move out of Kilbowie House. As a result, all staff members currently located at Kilbowie House can expect to be relocated to other premises in Oban. It is to be expected that similar changes will happen in other locations. Overall, the business case allows for costs associated with 382 desk moves – some 30% of all mobile and flexible staff. It is assumed that 90% of desk moves are fairly simple ones that cost on average £1,200, but 10% are more complex with costs of £2,700.

3.9. In addition to freeing up office space, the main benefit from the new workstyles is in

increased efficiency of staff. The efficiency targets for each category of staff are set out below:

Workstyle category Efficiency Target

Fixed 3%

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Home worker 20%

Mobile worker 15%

Flexible 90% occupancy 5%



3.10. These efficiency targets have been derived from the DILO survey and the Solutions Design workshops. However, to become realisable, they effectively mean that staff savings must be made. They will only be realised if managers set outcome based targets for performance, and re-organise their services so that workloads reflect the improved efficiency levels. In time, this means not replacing staff when vacancies arise.

3.11. The Council’s PDR paperwork is currently being reviewed to incorporate a greater emphasis on SMART targets for all employees. These changes should assist line managers to put emphasis on task orientated working (getting defined jobs done) as opposed to measuring presenteeism.

3.12. However, this paper predominately focuses on the HR issues that may arise from the adoption of the flexible, mobile and home working work styles and the need to realise the anticipated efficiencies.

4. HR Considerations for Agile Working

From the HR perspective, agile working has a number of benefits. These include attracting a wider range of candidates, improved productivity, reduced absence, reduced staff turnover, increased employee commitment, and a better work-life balance for employees. By cutting commuting time and reducing stress, agile working can be a means of harmonising work and family commitments. However, agile working also raises a number of challenges including ensuring that good communications are maintained between managers and their team, and ensuring that work is delivered as efficiently as possible. It is good practice for new jobholders, particularly new recruits to the Council and especially those who are in their first job, to spend some time in the office environment in order to familiarise themselves with the organisation and with colleagues, before working remotely. New policies are required which address the following issues:

• How do you decide whether an employee can work in an agile manner, and how soon should the arrangement start?

• What happens if the employee’s circumstances change?

• What are the Contractual considerations and allowances?

• Tax and National Insurance Implications

• Legal considerations

• Health and Safety implications

• Links to other Council Policies and Procedures

Attachment B “Agile Work Options Policy and Procedures (Part 1 - Home, Mobile and Flexible Working)” has been drafted to address these issues. Trade unions and the Employee Equality Forum have still to be consulted on this. Part 2 of

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the Policy will focus on requests from employees who wish to change when they can work and will be developed later.

4.1 Agile Working Considerations

The majority of all posts will be designated as flexible workers, mobile workers or home workers. There will be some flexibility for employees to request a particular category of flexible working (e.g. home working) but in the main, the category will be pre-determined by the job role. An application form and process for dealing with requests from employees for agile working has still to be developed. It may be desirable to require employees to work flexibly from day one of their appointment. It is, however, good practice for new job holders and in particular new recruits to the council and especially those who are in their first job to spend some time in the office environment in order to familiarise themselves with the organisation and with colleagues, before working remotely to a smaller or greater degree. All employees should go through an induction process for their new job to enable them to acclimatise to their new role and working environment. The length and nature of this depends upon the complexity of the job, and the background of the new employee. As part of the induction, employees should gain an understanding of the Council’s HR policies and procedures (including any Health and Safety requirements) as well as an overview of the organisation’s strategy and goals, and how their role fits into these. Remote access to the Council’s Intranet, Public Folders and Learn-In- Bytes courses could assist with some of this however there may be other elements of the Induction Programme which may be better suited to face-to-face contact where possible. This could include a strategy for integrating the employee into not just their immediate team, but also introducing the employee to any other contacts (internal and external to the Council) with whom the employee may have regular contact. Where employees work flexibly, this can be more challenging. Employees most suited to greater degrees of agile working are typically self-motivated, capable of working without direct supervision, and able to cope with reduced social contact.

For home workers, a change of circumstances could mean that this work style is no longer practical. For example, if the employee moves home there could be difficulties getting broadband access at their new location, or a change of family circumstances could mean that there is no longer sufficient space to work from home. A notice period has been built into the Policy whereby employees are required to give three months notice if they wish to amend the agile working arrangement in order to give time to make alternative arrangements.

4.2 Delivering efficiencies from agile working

1.1 There will be significant challenges in delivering the projected levels of efficiencies set out at paragraph 3.9. The business case assumes that only 60% of these efficiencies are realisable. Also, it recognises that it takes time for people to become proficient in the new style of working. We have assumed that after 3 months of adopting a new workstyle, they achieve 25% of their future maximum efficiency gain. After 12 months, they achieve 80% of their efficiency target and by the end of the second year of working in the new work style, they have achieved the maximum possible efficiency gain. In order to realise any efficiency gains, staff numbers have to be reduced. By year 5, the business case assumes annual benefits of £1,931,405 At an average annual salary of £28,000, this equates to saving 66.2 FTE which is 6% of the staff within the original

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scope. As savings will arise in small percentages of time in individual job roles, they need to be aggregated together to allow posts to be reduced. This can only be done through reconfiguring job roles. If job roles are not reconfigured, then there is very little chance that savings can be realised unless there are at least 15 FTE doing the same role. Most teams are not this size.

Managers will need considerable assistance from HR Business Partners to help them reconfigure job roles – new job descriptions will need to be drawn up and new job evaluations carried out. There is a long lead time to achieving this successfully. Ideally there should be consultation with all staff affected - staff should be actively engaged in influencing how services are reconfigured most efficiently.

In addition, relevant outcome based targets need to be set for all job roles. It is important to concentrate only on those elements of activity that directly result in the achievement of those targets, and not be distracted by bureaucratic procedures. This requires an element of business process re-engineering, and a strong emphasis on Lean thinking. Staff need to be empowered to question why they do certain activities and allowed to stop doing them if they are unproductive.

Managers will have to manage in a completely different style to traditional methods. They will have to concentrate on reviewing the achievement of targets and not measuring inputs or perceived “busy” levels. They will have to “trust” staff – no longer supervising them directly but reviewing their performance more remotely. Training for all aspects of job roles may need to become more formalised as it becomes harder to learn on the job from your colleagues beside you – as they simply aren’t beside you in the same way. Learning needs to be shared and files in easily accessible repositories – using Sharepoint and/or the Council Intranet. There needs to be a recognition that using these resources in not an optional extra – it is a necessity to learn and maintain essential skills. All members of staff have to contribute to these resources – information has to be regarded as a corporate resource – not as a power base.

4.3 Contractual Considerations and Allowances for Home and Mobile Workers

There are a number of contractual issues that need to be decided - one of the most important being whether the employee is issued with a contract variation, or a new contract. Following the implementation of Single Status, a number of Local Government Employees have retained contractual rights relating to pay frequency and Essential Car User Allowance. This is on the basis that they do not get a new contract. Pay protection for employees who are still red-circled will cease in February 2011 or sooner if they receive a new contract. Provided the actual work remains the same, the Policy has been drafted on the basis of a variation to an existing contract as this is more beneficial to the employee. However, the Council’s legal advisers are required to provide a definitive answer in this regard. In the event that they recommend that a new contract is issued, the Policy will be amended. The Statement of Particulars must by law, state the employee’s place of work. The Council’s current practice is to state this as a town, rather than an actual building, and to use this as the base from which employees can claim business mileage and/or travel time. Employees are required to deduct their home to work mileage from any claims for business mileage which they make, and should also deduct their travel time from home to work as well when claiming flexi time/overtime. If the employee’s place of work is their home then they may be able to claim for attendance at team meetings, training etc

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in addition to what would ordinarily be classed as business mileage. It is recommended that the Council allocates employees to an administrative base from which they can claim time and travel allowances. This base would be the office from which that particular group of employees would ordinarily work. The Conditions of Service contain provisions for reimbursing for four years, the excess travelling expenses of those employees whose place of work is changed at the Council’s request. There are certain conditions attached to this, but where office rationalisation is being considered as a consequence of workforce deployment, it would be advisable to check the employees’ contracts of employment to see if these allowances would apply.

It is recommended that the Council pays a £2 tax free per week allowance to cover the heating and lighting costs of employees who work permanently from home. This would only be paid to those employees with a contractual entitlement to work from home. Though a small amount, this would be paid on a pro-rata basis to part-time employees in line with the current arrangements for paying telephone allowance. In the event that a permanent home worker is not able to work from home for any reason e.g. equipment failure, loss of broadband access etc, then they would be expected to work from another office (normally their administrative base) until this is resolved.

It is recommended that the Council provides office furniture and equipment for Homeworkers which will ensure that it is fit for purpose, and meets Health and Safety requirements. Private use of the Council’s ICT systems and equipment is not permitted except in specific authorised circumstances. Council owned equipment kept at home should be covered by the Council’s Insurance Policy. Employees are also advised to contact their own insurance provider to ensure that their insurance cover is not invalidated by the new arrangements. The employee will also need to satisfy themselves that their tenancy and mortgage arrangements allow them to work from home, and that there are no planning restrictions on their property. There may be tax implications for homeworkers depending on their individual circumstances and they would be encouraged to discuss these with a relevant expert.

4.4 Health and Safety Implications

The Policy contains a risk assessment form and a display screen equipment form which the employee is expected to complete and submit to their manager prior to commencing a home working arrangement on a permanent or more than occasional basis. This should be completed by all home workers, all mobile workers, and all flexible workers. Departmental Health and Safety sections are responsible for following up any necessary actions prior to implementation of the new work style. Employees should be trained in the use of risk assessments, and in the safe use of any equipment provided. The Council has a duty to ensure that any equipment provided is checked regularly and kept in a condition that does not cause harm to the worker, or to others. The Council will need to arrange PAT testing of equipment and this could require the

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employee to bring their equipment to an office to be tested, or the PAT engineer will need to travel to the employee’s home. The Council needs to ensure that employees comply with the Working Time Directive. For some employees who work from home, there can be a tendency for the boundaries between home and work life to become blurred, and for staff to work longer hours than normal. The Time Recording System could be used for monitoring an employee’s hours.

There may be more lone workers as a result of the new work styles. If mobile workers, for example, can update information “in the field” then there may be less of a requirement for them to return to the office. This could mean that it takes longer for someone to notice if they are missing. The Council already has a Policy on Working Alone, and both employees and line managers need to ensure that this is adhered to. Within touch-down zones there may not be any permanent staff. Consideration will need to be given as to how fire safety arrangements are put in place. Shared work stations need to be user adjustable. Manual handling, particularly for mobile/flexible staff, should be minimised by using light-weight equipment, increased use of document management and use of trolleys for transporting files and equipment where necessary.

4.5 Communications

Communication between line managers and their employees is essential, particularly where employees are working flexibly so as to avoid a scenario of “out of sight, out of mind”. Organisations seek to keep in touch with agile workers using the following methods:

• Regular (sometimes daily) contact by telephone and/or e-mail

• Regular team meetings

• Teleconferencing

• Intranet chat rooms, discussion forums and blogs.

• Monthly one-to-one meetings with line managers either face to face or by telephone

• “Buddy” networks in which agile workers meet office-based colleagues to keep in touch

• Regular visits to the office, perhaps once or twice a week Employees should not experience a reduction in promotion prospects as a result of agile working. Additional effort needs to be made to keep in contact with the employee, as being out of the office could mean that they are less likely to be involved in important decisions, in knowing what training is available, or having access to the Council’s Vacancy List for example. If the plan to implement self-service for Resourcelink, the Council’s integrated HR and payroll system goes ahead, this would enable employees to request training courses, update their home address and bank details, access their payslips on-line, and submit their expenses electronically - all of which would assist agile workers.

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Employees should be aware of, and have easy access to Council-wide and departmental policies and procedures. These should be available on the Intranet. Particular policies and guidelines which agile workers need to be aware of include Guidelines - Conduct of Employees (in particular the sections on Use of Council Facilities, Confidentiality, Financial and Security Regulations and Contract Standing Orders, and Delegated Powers), ICT Acceptable Use Policy, the Council’s Regulations for the Control and Use of Computer Software and Computer Data, and Data Protection/Information Security protocols. Employees who are agile workers may wish to work at different times to those who are fixed. Contracted hours need to be agreed with line managers and reflect the requirements of the service. Presence will highlight when people are available to be contacted.

The Council’s PDR paperwork is currently being reviewed to incorporate a greater emphasis on SMART targets for all employees covered by PDR. These changes should assist line managers, who may be agile workers themselves, as they won’t see their employees as often and therefore their emphasis requires to be on task orientated working (getting defined jobs done) as opposed to presenteeism.

5. Training 5.1 Overview

A high degree of aptitude and skill in the execution of their tasks is required of agile workers. It might be more difficult for them to gain assistance from colleagues or guidance from supervisors, and they may require knowledge of a wider range of tasks that would normally be left to specialists in the office.

Training for employees should include:

• Training on new technology

• Health and Safety Training e.g. risk assessments, fire safety, safe working practices and safe operation of equipment required in the course of the job

• Communication and time management skills

• Council policies and procedures - accident and absence reporting, data protection and information security, Guidelines – Conduct of Employees etc

• Departmental procedures

Training for managers could include briefings on the application and implementation of agile working practices including management by objectives rather than presenteeism (i.e. target setting and monitoring and review of the employee’s performance), how to manage employees remotely including communication techniques and technologies, and important health and safety considerations. It is essential that managers of agile workers are given a good grounding in people management skills. Whilst the people management skills that managers need to manage teams under fixed working arrangements are the same as those required to manage agile working patterns, agile working tends to demand higher levels of some of these skills such as communication, leadership, teambuilding, decision-making and coaching.

5.2 Numbers to be trained

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The numbers to be trained in the new workstyles are set out in the table below by location:

Location No of People

Campbeltown 153

Dunoon 249

Helensburgh 178

Lochgilphead 481

Oban 188

Rothesay 71

Total 1320

5.3 Modes of Delivery

Analysis of similar Agile working implementations show that employees training needs may differ dependant on their preferred learning style and how steep a learning curve they have to transition to the new work style and culture change. It is necessary therefore to provide a learning solution to address this requirement. A blended learning solution encompasses multiple training modes of delivery and allows a learner certain flexibility to progress at a level comfortable to them. This would include:

• Written documents available online e.g. Work Instructions, Leaflets, Presentations, Written Procedures, Job Aids, FAQ’s

• Elearning (Learn-in Bytes), CD’s

• On the Job Training (OJT), Peer Mentoring

• Informal or Practical Workshops

• Face to Face/Classroom Training

5.4 Superusers or Mentors Superusers are employees identified by each Service area. They will receive in-depth training on new technologies and procedures being deployed and will then cascade the training to teams and individuals within their organisation. Superusers attend bespoke “train the trainer” classes to equip them with the knowledge and practical skills necessary to perform this function. Once trained, Superusers can deliver training, act as a focal point, conduct informal or practical workshops and conduct on the job training for new recruits within their Service area. It is critical that the Service areas select people with the right level of skills, confidence and motivation to take on the superuser role. The number of Superuser required per Service area needs to be agreed. Lessons learned during the new flexi system implementation highlighted that having a small, dedicated highly competent team for a defined length of time worked much better than having larger numbers of nervous superusers who lacked the necessary skills.

5.5 High Level Training Needs Analysis The table below identifies the potential training requirements for impacted employees and suggests potential modes of delivery:

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Training Requirement Documents Elearning OJT Workshop Classroom

ICT Unified Communications: How to use new ICT communication equipment effectively including: collaboration via desktop and document sharing, audio conferencing, integration with fixed and mobile devices, software based telephones and desktop based video/web conferencing

Changes to the PDR Process: Details on how the PDR process has been updated to take cognisance of agile working practices including management by objectives rather than presenteeism (i.e. target setting and monitoring and review of employee's performance

Health and Safety - Can include additional training or new documentation on risk assessments, fire safety, safe working practices and safe operation of equipment required in the course of the job

New departmental processes and procedures

Agile working induction training for employees

Agile working induction training for managers

Train the Trainer for Superusers

5.6 Training Costs

Rapid E-Learning software proves an authoring package that gives you everything you need to quickly create e-learning courses from PowerPoint allowing you to develop stunning interactive content, quizzes, assessments and surveys for one affordable price. Non-technical users will be able to create professional, interactive e-learning courses easily and quickly. The workflow is streamlined and intuitive because the tools have been designed from the ground up by e-learning experts. The software also provides the capability for content experts to get informational presentations published rapidly to e-learning without having to reformat any content. It is assumed that 2 x Rapid E-Learning licenses will be required at a cost of approx £2,400. An allowance has been made for 14 days consulting time to assist with using this tool. An allowance has also been made for train the trainer courses and for rolling out Elearning to all 1320 users in scope. The estimated costs are summarised in the table below:

Delivery Mode Details Costs Total Cost

Elearning

Consultant fees are approx £550 per day. 14 days

development time.

Approx £550 per day x 14

days development time £7,600

Articulate Rapid

E-Learning Studio

09

Rapid E-Learning software allowing Power-point

presentations to be converted to elearning

quickly

Estimate 2 licenses

required x approx £1200 £2,400

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Delivery Mode Details Costs Total Cost

Train the Trainer

Approx £500 per day for facilitator. Estimated 1 -

2 days training required per Superuser x approx 3

sessions. 3 days added for content development

Approx £500 per day for

facilitator x 2 day training

delivery x 3 sessions plus

£1500 content

development £7,500

Licenses

Licenses for elearning rights are either unlimited

or charged per user. Costs include hosting of

material and LMS (Learning Management System)

costs. It is recommended during negotiations to

build in unlimited license rights where possible to

avoid these costs. Note: this usually entail paying

higher development cost per course.

Note: Courses may have

multiple modules totalling

more than one hour.

Estimate £50 per user.

1350 users x 1 course, 100

users x 1 course, 350 users

x 1 course £90,000

Total Costs £107,500

6 Unified Communications ICT have begun the implementation of an exciting new service designed to enable a variety of new communication options across our network. Using technology developed by Microsoft and Cisco, the department is working towards the launch of a new Unified Communications (UC) service complete with;

• desktop based video/web conferencing,

• collaboration via desktop and document sharing,

• audio conferencing,

• integration with fixed and mobile devices,

• software based telephones

The system will allow Council teams to work collectively on documents, spreadsheets and presentations from any remote location as if they were sitting side by side in the same room.

At the heart of the UC system is a new concept called “Presence” where we can see whether a person is available, in a meeting, on a call or out on the road and determine the best way to communicate with them. The service is designed to operate across the entire corporate network with all of the above facilities also available over fixed home and mobile broadband network connections. The system therefore ensures these new methods of communication may also be available for those working away from the office and will form links to those flexible, mobile and home workers identified in the Workforce Deployment study.

ICT and Financial Services are working with both Microsoft, Cisco and their partners in preparing for an initial pilot due to rollout during the autumn months. A number of pre-installation tasks are underway with the main installation due to commence mid-September. The system links directly to the new Voice over IP telephone system and will allow the Council to take best advantage of the new Pathfinder Broadband network via an integrated communications suite.

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Studies show that Agile workers, especially home based and mobile workers who do not have a permanent desk in the office can sometimes feel lonely and isolated from their colleagues and the Council in general. Unified Communications will help to assist with this. Managers will also have to be alert to this risk and change their management style to make sure that they regularly set aside time for making contact with all their members of staff – not just those based in the same location. They may have to hold more formal team meetings and ensure that home workers also attend these on a regular basis. Team information should be stored on Sharepoint or on the Intranet to ensure it is easily accessible by all members of staff. Informal networking capabilities such as Blog pages, social network forums, etc. can also help to maintain good communications with more remote workers. 7 Information Security Where users are going to be working outside the office or from home on a semi-permanent basis, all risks must be reduced as far as is possible. The following policies must be strictly enforced:

• All mobile devices encrypted without exceptions using BeCrypt for all laptops and PDA protect for PDAs

• USB access to be restricted to a business need basis to approved devices which are encrypted

• Staff to be regularly reminded of their requirements to keep Council data confidential. ICT acceptable use policy to be signed on a regular basis – at least every 3 years.

• Paper and IT files only to be removed from Council offices where there is a business requirement for this

• Staff training will be required to highlight the new risks likely to be faced and changes in responsibility for access to systems

8. Use of Space Policy It is necessary to provide a set of guidelines or policy detailing expectations when employees are operating in new Team Zone or Touch Down Zone environments. These are set out at Appendix 1.

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Appendix A

Use Of Space Policy

Argyll and Bute Council September 2009

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Contents Section 1 Introduction Section 2 General 2.1 Privacy and Confidentiality 2.2 Dedicated Desks 2.3 Touchdown Desks 2.4 Clear Desk Policy Section 3 Health and Safety Section 4 Hygiene Section 5 Noise Section 6 Equipment

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1. Introduction 1.1 The purpose of this policy is to establish a culture of security and trust for all employees at Argyll

and Bute Council. An effective clean desk policy involving the participation and support of all Argyll and Bute employees can greatly protect documents that contain sensitive information about our clients, customers and other third parties. All employees should familiarise themselves with this policy. The Council aims to transform council buildings and provide a wide range and choice of work settings to match work style needs and preferences, reflecting the nature of modern office work. This includes providing places to work quietly, work in teams, relax and have a break, hold meetings or drop in. Employees are encouraged to use all the options and facilities provided and think of the whole building as a resource.

1.2 Some of these settings are familiar and some are new concepts, they will include formal and

informal areas. There will also be areas that you can pre book and areas that you can work in on an ad-hoc first-come, first-served basis – based on common sense and courtesy.

1.3 There will be a high degree of shared facilities, so you are asked to respect the needs of others.

Shared work settings and informal meeting areas should always be left as you find them, ready for the next occupant.

1.4 Managers should ensure they allow staff adequate time to sort out personal storage as they

transition into the flexible environment.

1.5 This policy applies to all employees (including home based, flexible and mobile workers), members, contractors, consultants, temporary staff and other workers at the Council.

1.6 The Council retains the right, in consultation with Trades Unions, to modify the policy at any time

and any such modification shall be notified to all existing users.

1.7 It is important that you read this policy carefully. If there is anything that you do not understand, it is your responsibility to ask your line manager to explain.

2 General 2.1 Privacy and Confidentiality

You must lock away any confidential papers and files when you are away from your desk. You should assume that all information on colleagues’ PC screens is private and/or confidential unless they invite you to view it. If you are displaying sensitive information on your screen and need to hide this from colleagues, it is quicker to minimise the window instead of closing it – this will also reduce reload time when you want to carry on working on it. Finally, if you are working with very sensitive material and need to leave your PC, you should always lock your computer or log out.

2.2 Dedicated Desks Desk sharing uses our desks/workstations more efficiently than allocating one desk per person. ICT advances mean that you can get access to the office tools you need without being tied to a specific workstation. It is not about simply giving up your desks but about allowing you to work more flexibly and enabling the Council to be more efficient.

2.3 Touchdown Desks Many Council buildings will have a number of desks where you may either use a desktop computer or bring your laptop to plug into a docking station. These desks also have phones where you may log in if you use the roaming telephone facility. Touchdown desks are a resource available on a first come first served basis to all Council staff. A proportion are bookable in advance through the Service desk reservation system (the resource booking system).

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2.4 Clear Desk Policy Argyll and Bute Council operates a clear desk policy. At the end of the business day, please remove all files and other articles from your desk and other surfaces. Place them in the team zone filing area or touchdown zone filing space as appropriate. Remember to secure your laptop if you are leaving it in the office overnight.

3 Health and Safety

Information will be placed at each desk, identifying a correct seating position. All desks and chairs are height adjustable. Employees must check the height of the seat, desk and PC/laptop, to ensure they are seated comfortably and safely. This type of assessment is part of the Display Screen Equipment regulations, which help to secure employee health and safety. If personalised equipment has been provided to an employee for health and safety reasons, storage will be provided wherever possible/practical for moveable equipment such as chairs, feet and wrist rests.

4 Hygiene 4.1 The environment needed for touchdown desks or sharing a desk is exactly the same as for

normal working, e.g. proper ventilation and a clean workplace. One of the most stressful situations arising out of different types of desk sharing is the cleanliness of the workstation that has been left by another employee. Where a workstation is used by several people there is an increased possibility of contamination and risk of passing on infections or viruses between staff. Staff are encourage to wash hands regularly and to leave desks as they would like to find them. Cleaners will ensure these areas are cleaned adequately for the next day.

5 Noise 5.1 Within a flexible working environment, employees must be aware of the impact of excessive

noise and uninvited interruptions on colleagues around the building. Therefore it is important that all building users have consideration for each other and attempt to keep unnecessary noise and interruptions to a minimum.

§ Personal mobile phones should be turned to silent or vibrate modes. § The volume on work mobiles should be turned down and a discreet ring tone used. § Sometimes when using a phone the voice is raised unintentionally either to be heard or if it is

difficult to hear those we are talking to. This may disrupt others and should be avoided. Although the offices are designed to ‘soak up’ noise the voice will carry, particularly if the person is standing up. If using a mobile phone it may be possible to avoid this by moving away from work areas and calling back.

5.1.1 If the PC being used is sound enabled, the sound is to be kept turned down. 5.1.2 Personal music equipment is not permitted. 5.1.3 Loud discussions around the workplace must be avoided. Employees should be careful not

to shout across others, as this can be disruptive. They should move to informal meeting areas whenever that is appropriate.

5.1.4 Meeting rooms should be booked for formal meetings and discussions. 6 Equipment 6.1 Employees should not interrupt the person sitting nearest to the printer, fax or other general use

facilities with questions relating to the equipment e.g. ‘How do you restock the paper?’ etc. Employees should ring the helpline number. These numbers are displayed next to office equipment.

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Any violation of the Use of Space Policy will be dealt with under the Council Disciplinary procedures.

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Appendix B

Strategic HR

Agile Work Options Policy and Procedures

Part 1

Home, Mobile and Flexible Working

DRAFT September 2009

Page 102

FOREWORD

As a rural local authority, Argyll and Bute Council is required to deliver services across a wide and diverse geographical area. Adoption of more agile working practices can help facilitate better service delivery by allowing more time to be spent on delivering services, using more efficient technologies to deliver these services and deliver cost benefits by reducing the overheads involved in service delivery. Increased options for agile working have been identified as a priority area in the Council’s Improvement Plan 2009 – 2010. The Improvement Plan maps out the processes and tools we will use as a Council on our

journey to becoming a more efficient, customer focused, forward thinking modern Council. It covers themes such as “Process for Change” (transforming key processes to deliver improved service and efficiency savings), as well as “People Management” (how we ensure that our employees are involved, and that we are making best use of their skills). The Policy also recognises that the Council can play a part in helping employees to achieve the right balance between their home life and work life, and that this can have benefits for both the organisation and the individual. It also recognises that different things are important for different people at different stages of their life. This Policy aims to provide something for everyone enabling them to enjoy and meet their personal and work commitments. If you would like this document in another language or format, or if you require the services of an interpreter, please contact us.

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Jane Fowler Head of Improvement and Strategic HR Argyll and Bute Council

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Flexible Work Options Workforce Deployment Page i

Policy Statement The following Policy applies to all employees of Argyll and Bute Council where their post has been identified as being suitable for home, mobile or flexible working. Argyll and Bute Council recognises the need to move to more modern ways of working, taking advantage of technological developments to introduce more flexibility to how work is organised and therefore, more responsive service delivery. This increased flexibility has the potential to provide greater opportunities to support those employees seeking to integrate their home and work life more successfully as well as delivering a more effective and efficient service to Council customers. The Policy will facilitate improved service delivery through more imaginative and innovative approaches to working arrangements as well as promoting environmental considerations. Potential benefits of agile working for both employees and the Council include:

Clear operational service requirements and business reasons will define the scope for employees to be considered for specific alternative working arrangements. However, it will be the nature of particular operational service areas that some agile work options are already in operation or would be difficult to apply. The Policy will operate on a voluntary basis with the employee making a request for alternative working arrangements. Where there is scope, management may invite individuals or particular groups of employees to submit requests for agile work options outlined in the Policy. The Policy sets out an initial approach to introducing more agile working arrangements within the Council. It will therefore be monitored on an ongoing basis and reviewed in light of operational experience.

For the Council For the employee

- Enhanced recruitment, retention and productivity and reduced costs as result of these. - Proven increase in employee satisfaction and morale at work. - Stimulates the “change management culture” - Helps support a learning culture. - Reduced sickness absence. - Workplace property costs reduced. - Accommodation and parking space pressures eased. - Reduced property maintenance and running costs - More flexible service provision. - Increased access to jobs to a broader range of potential employees.

- Reduced stress and improved quality of life. - Improved commitment to the organisation. - Feeling more valued and trusted. - Improved motivation. - A choice in how and when to use free time. - Potential reduction in travelling time and associated costs. - Greater choice about when and where you work. - Increased morale. - Ability to remain at work because a work/life balance has been achieved.

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Flexible Work Options Workforce Deployment Page ii

Argyll and Bute Council will achieve this through: - Approaching requests with a focus on how services can be maintained or improved

through the specific work style requested, rather than focussing on the reason for the request.

- Identifying posts and individuals as being suitable for more agile working arrangements such as home or mobile working.

- Providing equipment and facilities to allow employees to work in more agile ways.

- Offering a range of alternative working arrangements, for a diverse workforce, that will be decided and managed at a local level, in a systematic way.

The following general principles will define the operation of this Policy:- - Posts will be identified as being suitable for agile ways of working, but a change to

this will be on a voluntary basis and dependent on the equipment and facilities at the disposal of the employee.

- Individuals should not be forced into working an arrangement by departments or management.

- Employees requesting to work in a more agile way do not have a contractual

entitlement to have their request approved. - All individual contract variations will be subject to review in light of changing

operational service needs when the continuation of the working arrangement is detrimental to service delivery. At such time, the Council will reserve the right, following individual consultation and reasonable notice, to end the existing arrangement and explore other alternative working arrangements.

- The manager and the employee will work jointly to reach an acceptable solution that

will be based on mutuality, co-operation and practicable compromise. - Some alternative working arrangements will result in the terms and conditions of the

contract of employment being adjusted accordingly. Such adjustments will be referenced to the norm of an equivalent full-time employee working the standard working week (e.g. pro-rata pay/annual leave).

- This Policy aims to provide a co-ordinated approach for individuals or groups of

employees seeking more flexibility to support their work and life responsibilities. - The scope to provide more agile working arrangements will depend on the type of

service delivery provided and the operational constraints of particular arrangements. - Where it is agreed that an employee may take part in agile working, his/her revised

terms and conditions should be based on the following principles: o No reduction in grade

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Flexible Work Options Workforce Deployment Page iii

o No loss of status o No loss of career prospects

- The Time Recording System (TRS) will be used by line managers, where possible, to monitor working time.

- All requests will be considered on their own merit on a first come, first served basis

within each department. Service delivery will remain key to considering any request for agile working.

- Both parties must be aware of their duties and obligations prior to the

commencement of any change to working arrangements. Managers are expected to: - Consider current and foreseeable operational needs of the service and how different

working arrangements could affect these (positively and negatively); - Consider the potential impact on other employees, internal and external customers

and clients; - Continue to measure the performance and output of all employees to maintain

service standards. - Decide whether a request for alternative working arrangements can be supported,

taking into account such factors as the employee’s role and the operational needs of the service. The decision will only be based on clear business reasons even if the employee has provided a reason for their request.

Employees are expected to:

- Recognise and consider the likely impact on existing terms and conditions - Collaborate with their line manager during the change process. - Participate in the process. - Ensure that relevant health and safety measures are complied with.

The following policies and documents are to be read in conjunction with this Policy: - Guidelines - Conduct of Employees - ICT Acceptable Use Policy - Health and Safety Policy - Conditions of Service - Code of Disciplinary Procedures - Grievance and Disputes Procedure - Policy on Working Alone - Stress Reduction Policy - Managing Attendance Manual

The Council reserves the right to, from time to time, review and alter/end the Policy in light of experience and any changing circumstances.

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Flexible Work Options Workforce Deployment

1. Agile Work Options Procedure The following procedure applies to all employees of Argyll and Bute Council where their post has been identified as being suitable for a change in working arrangements. 1.1. Working Styles

1.1.1. Four different work styles have been identified as part of the Workforce Deployment Theme of Process for Change. They are:

• Home workers. This work style is used for roles that can be performed permanently from a home location. Whilst the job can be done at home it is typical for home workers to occasionally work in Council offices.

• Mobile Workers. This work style is for ‘field’ based work. Typically work is done ‘on the move’ such as in a car, at an external location or from client’s premises. Mobile Workers would typically work from multiple Council offices, external locations and occasionally from home.

• Flexible Workers. This work style can be carried out in a variety of locations including multiple Council offices and at home. Typically a flexible worker would work occasionally from home and from one or two Council offices.

• Fixed Workers. The fixed work style is how most Council employees work at present. Attending a fixed work location and working a fixed work pattern.

New software may be provided to assist with communications across all work styles.

1.2. Contractual Terms

1.2.1. An employee will be issued with a contract variation (See Appendix 5) as necessary to reflect changes in the pattern of work, or the place where work is undertaken. This will also reflect any other contractual arrangements applicable to the specific work style option approved. An additional leaflet regarding working from home should be issued to employees with the contract variation. This is included in Appendix 4.

1.2.2. Annual leave and public holiday entitlements for employees working other than

on a full-time basis will be pro-rated to the full-time employee entitlement by reference to the number of normal hours of work and the pattern worked, over a relevant period and it may be appropriate to express and control the equivalent entitlement in hours and minutes.

1.2.3. Any hours worked in addition to the contractual working week must be authorised

and approved before the additional hours can be undertaken. For any authorised additional hours worked, the appropriate hourly rate will apply.

1.2.4. All Local Government Employees and Chief Officers will participate in the Flexible

Working Hours (Flexi-time) scheme other than in circumstances where an appropriate third tier manager or a Director deems participation will be

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detrimental to the provision of an effective service or impracticable in relation to the service provided.

1.2.5. All individual contracts will be subject to review in light of changing operational

service needs when the continuation of the working arrangement is detrimental to service delivery. At such time, the Council will reserve the right, following employee consultation and reasonable notice, to end the existing arrangement and explore other alternative working arrangements.

1.2.6. The Flexible Work Options Policy Framework will be applied in conjunction with

existing Council policies and procedures including the Council’s commitment to equality of opportunity and relevant Health and Safety procedures and standards.

1.2.7. An approved Flexible Work Option will apply to the post held and will cease if the

employee takes up a different post.

1.3. Working Time Regulations 1998

1.3.1. Employees should not work more than an average of 48 hours per week. The average is calculated over a 17 week ‘reference period’ i.e. the previous 17 weeks. An employee may agree with their employer to be excluded from this weekly maximum. In these cases the terms of the agreement must be recorded. (Further details are available from departmental HR sections)

1.3.2. Employees aged 18 or over are entitled to a rest period of not less than 11

consecutive hours in each 24 hour period. (A young person is entitled to 12 hours of consecutive rest)

1.3.3. Employees aged 18 or over are entitled to 24 consecutive rest hours each week,

48 hours for young workers. Over 14 days the rest period can be back to back to make one 48 hour rest break.

1.3.4. Employees aged 18 or over are entitled to 20 minutes break during the working

day if they work more than 6 consecutive hours, young workers are entitled to 30 minutes rest where their working day is longer than 4 ½ hours. The break should be taken during the working hours and not at the end of the working period. The Council requires all staff working a full day to take at least a 30 minute lunch.

1.4. Evaluation of the Policy

1.4.1. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and the use of the Flexible Work Options

Policy, monitoring is required. This can be achieved by collating: - Statistical information – Departmental HR sections monitoring and recording

applications, decisions and appeals under the Policy - Costing information – The administration, set up costs and reductions in other

costs being monitored by departments

- Qualitative information – The Policy being regularly reviewed taking into consideration the views and comments of Council employees.

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1.5 Advice on the Operation of the Policy

1.5.1 Third Tier managers should consult with Departmental HR Representatives prior to

applying the Policy Framework in any particular circumstance. Matters of interpretation and further advice can also be obtained from departmental HR sections. A checklist for managers is also provided in Appendix 6.

2. Agile Working

2.1. Definitions

2.1.1. Agile working refers to a variety of different approaches to working across the Council. These approaches are; home working, mobile working and flexible working.

2.1.2. All agile working arrangements will be tailored to individual circumstances and

key factors in setting up an arrangement will be the needs of the service and cost-effective expenditure. Not all jobs will be suitable for this type of working arrangement.

2.1.3. The employee will retain their existing employment status subject to any revised

terms and conditions that have been agreed. As employees of the Council the requirements of existing policies and procedures will continue to apply e.g. sickness absence reporting etc.

2.2. Personal Qualities

2.2.1. The success of agile working depends on the employee holding the right personal qualities and, through relevant performance monitoring, demonstrating the necessary skills. The following are some of the personal characteristics that are considered important for agile working, and in particular, home working:

- Self motivation, self reliance and discipline to work without direct supervision - The ability to complete work to scheduled deadlines - Initiative, flexibility and time management skills - The ability to communicate well by telephone and in writing - The ability to cope with reduced social contact and isolation - The ability to cope with the additional pressures of working in the home where

the demands of family life are difficult to ignore. - The ability to combine work and leisure life

2.3. Suitable Jobs

2.3.1. In assessing the suitability for a change in working arrangement, the manager (or other nominated officer) should have regard to the following criteria:

- The type of work activity and associated duties and responsibilities to ensure

that there are no adverse effects on the level and quality of service. Examples include consideration of the nature of work, level of expertise, requirement

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to/for supervision, access to necessary information, accessibility for others and the impact on other employees etc.

- Appropriate arrangements are in place to monitor performance i.e. measurable performance targets/outputs.

- Suitable equipment and facilities are available for safe and effective performance of work activity e.g. enabling technology, the employee’s home environment etc. Areas with poor access, inadequate heating and ventilation are not suitable.

- Communication and administrative arrangements are in place to support the arrangement.

2.4. Hours of Work

2.4.1. The determination of when the contractual hours of work will be carried out will be agreed between the manager and the employee and will depend on the nature of the work undertaken e.g. being available for contact etc. Any additional hours worked require to be authorised, in advance, by the manager.

2.4.2. During the agreed working times when the employee is undertaking work activity

at home, there will be contractual requirement to ensure that childcare is undertaken by another person.

2.5. Health and Safety

2.5.1. The Council and the employee both have a responsibility to ensure adequate health and safety measures for all agile working arrangements.

2.5.2. Health and Safety and DSE checks will be carried out initially by the employee

with the forms passed to the appropriate departmental health and safety representative. See Checklists in Appendix 1 for a Risk Assessment (including Health and Safety Checks) and Appendix 2 for DSE.

2.5.3. Employees will agree to complete health and safety self-assessments at least

annually or in the event of the working environment significantly changing. This will be to ensure the continued suitability of the work station and work area when working at home. In addition, the department will ensure that any equipment provided meets appropriate health and safety standards. Any issues that arise from the self assessment will be followed up by a departmental health and safety representative.

2.5.4. Employees have a responsibility to ensure that appropriate health and safety

measures are observed (e.g. alternating work activities when using display screen equipment, appropriate arrangements for the correct use of computer equipment, mobile phones and taking adequate breaks etc). There will also be a responsibility to report any health and safety matters promptly to their line manager (e.g. reporting injuries to themselves or others in the course of their official duties)

2.5.5. Measures should be agreed for individuals working alone to ensure that a team

member or manager is aware of their movements and whereabouts for safety reasons. For more information see the Council’s Policy on Working Alone

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2.5.6. Consideration has to be given to the suitability of the proposed location. The work site has to be adequate, both in practical working and in terms of health and safety legislation.

2.6. Systems, Equipment and Consumables

2.6.1. The Council, in consultation with the employee and based on the work activity, will be responsible for determining the equipment requirements (including consumables) for the employee undertaking an agile working arrangement. Any equipment supplied will remain the property of the Council or the Council’s providers.

2.6.2. Whilst in receipt of equipment, the employee will have a responsibility to only use

the equipment provided for the purposes of work, to take reasonable care and report any defects promptly to their manager (or other appropriate person).

2.6.3. Employees will be responsible for the cost of any private use of the ICT system(s)

although this should be limited to exceptional circumstances. In addition they are required to comply with the Guidelines - Conduct of Employees and the ICT Acceptable Use Policy in terms of information security.

2.6.4. The Council will provide and service any equipment considered necessary to the

performance of the employee’s duties. This will be subject to specific requirements, as determined by the manager, to ensure proper and safe use of the equipment supplied. An appropriate risk assessment should be conducted where necessary to determine the nature of the service or equipment provided.

2.6.5. Equipment provided by the Council will require a Portable Appliance Test (PAT)

annually. The Council or its nominated representative will require periodic access to the employee’s house for the purpose of inspection, servicing, repair and replacement of its equipment, on reasonable notice.

2.6.6. Electrical sockets and other parts of the homeworkers’ domestic electrical system

are their own responsibility.

2.6.7. If there is an issue with a hardware or communications failure, employees are expected to attend their designated office during work time to fulfil their duties as normal.

2.7. Insurance

2.7.1. The Council’s Employers Liability and Personal Accident insurance will cover employees working from home provided a risk assessment and DSE (Display Screen Equipment) assessment has been completed. Employees are advised that they should check their own insurance arrangements to ensure that their work arrangements do not invalidate these.

2.8. Legal Considerations

2.8.1. Working from home sometimes has implications for an employee’s mortgage or lease agreement, although in most cases there is no difficulty. Employees are required to advise their mortgage provider or landlord of this arrangement.

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Employees are also advised to check the implications for Council Tax liability with their Council Tax section to ensure this is not affected.

2.8.2. Planning permission is not usually required to work from home as this does not

normally affect the primary function of the building. Planning permission however is likely to be needed if the answer to any of the following questions is “yes”: - Is there a planning condition which was imposed on the original planning

permission for the home that could prevent working from home? - Will the home no longer be used mainly as a private residence? - Will the business result in a marked rise in traffic or people calling? - Will the business involve any activities unusual in a residential area? - Will your business disturb your neighbours at unreasonable hours or create

other forms of nuisance? Employees are responsible for checking if planning permission is required.

2.8.3. If any substantial work is required to be completed to the property prior to working from home, a Building Warrant may be required. It is up to the individual employee to determine if this is the case by contacting the relevant Building Standards Department.

2.9. Training

2.9.1. Employees undertaking or managing agile working arrangements will be provided with relevant training to ensure that the arrangements are not impeded by the lack of necessary knowledge or skills. This will be discussed as part of the arrangements to determine the suitability for agile working arrangements.

2.9.2. The Council will require employees to attend Council offices for team meetings,

training or other work related activities.

2.9.3. Agile workers will be treated in the same way as other employees in terms of equality of opportunity and employee communications (e.g. career opportunities, access to the vacancy list, training, receipt of employee newsletters etc).

2.10. Communication

2.10.1. It will be essential to ensure that regular contact is maintained with the manager and colleagues, as appropriate, and that good communication systems are established. Where it is agreed that an employee can work from home, they should leave any details of how they can be contacted at home. If there are no alternative arrangements, then the employee’s home telephone number may be used to contact them.

2.10.2. The Council will assess the employee’s communication and telephone needs and

will arrange to provide any necessary equipment or connections (including arrangements to reimburse the cost of business calls). The Service will meet the cost of installation of any ICT equipment and pay for basic line rental as appropriate.

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2.11. Information Security

2.11.1. Employees will be responsible for any hard copy information that they remove from Council premises. They will have to comply with local document library arrangements and not remove any information from Council premises for which prior permission has not been given.

2.11.2. It will only be possible to connect computer equipment provided by the Council to

the Council’s computer network or such other arrangements, as agreed

2.12. Termination of Arrangements

2.12.1. If employment is terminated either by the Council or the employee, an arrangement needs to be put in place prior to the employee’s last day to return all equipment, information and materials. Any information should be handled confidentially and returned securely to the Council prior to the termination of employment.

2.12.2. Any breach of the agreed agile working arrangement may lead to its termination

and other arrangements being applied. Disciplinary action may also be considered.

2.12.3. The Council will keep any agile working arrangements under review and with the

exception of any trial period (which will cease at the end of a specified period) will reserve the right to end the arrangement with reasonable notice and following consultation with the employee.

2.12.4. Where there is a change in the employee’s personal circumstances in respect of

the agile working arrangement, the employee will be required to advise their manager and this could trigger a review of the arrangement.

3. Home working

The following are specific to home working, and are in addition to the conditions outlined in Section 2 3.1. Home working refers to an arrangement where the employee’s Statement of

Particulars designates the employee’s home as their main place of work. Home workers may occasionally work from a shareable desk in a Council office.

3.2. The types of jobs that are most suitable for homeworking are those that are

information, advisory or guidance based, and can be clearly definable in output terms. The work must be able to be done with a limited need for face to face contact with colleagues or members of the public, or little direct supervision. Introducing home working should cause no adverse effects on the level of service.

3.3. Employees with a contractual right to work from home shall receive an allowance to

cover additional costs incurred as a result of working from home (i.e. heating, lighting and electricity). This annual allowance will be paid on an hour by hour pro-rata basis for part time employees.

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3.4. Employees will be designated an administrative base (usually the office that they

would work from if they were office based). Travel expenses and time will be measured from this administrative base, therefore expenses and time from the employee’s home to this base cannot be claimed. Relevant business journeys will be reimbursed, subject to agreement, and in line with relevant Council travel and subsistence arrangements.

3.5. As there is a need to balance work and home life, employees should inform their

friends and family about their home working arrangements to ensure that there will be minimal interruptions.

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Flexible Work Options DRAFT Home and Mobile Working - Appendices Page 9

Appendix 1 - Risk Assessment Checklist

To be completed by employee:

Name: Job Title:

Service: Department:

Home Address:

Date of Assessment:

Home Tel No.:

Address to which Risk Assessment applies:

The purpose of this assessment is to assist your manager in safeguarding your health and safety while you work at, or from, home. Please complete all sections of the form and return it to your Manager.

Occasional working at, or from, home may be approved as long as the following points are complied with.

Note: This list is not exhaustive but does cover all the common hazards found in the home.

Work Environment and Housekeeping

Yes No List Action Needed

Is there suitable space to work with a desk or table at a comfortable height and a suitable chair?

Is the work area a comfortable temperature, well lit with sufficient ventilation?

Is local or task lighting required? (e.g. desk lamp)

Is there a sufficient degree of privacy to allow concentration on work activities?

Has a workstation assessment been carried out (Appendix 2)?

Is the work area clear from obstructions and tripping hazards?

Are sufficient storage facilities available?

Are files and documents safely stored and kept to a minimum?

Is the work area kept tidy and free from obstructions including waste materials?

Safe use of equipment


Is there access to adequate power outlets to allow safe routing of cables and prevent overloading of sockets?

Are all cables, leads and plugs in use in good repair and working properly?

Are all items of electrical equipment in good repair and working correctly?

Electrical equipment must be switched off when not in use

Use only proprietary cleaning solutions such as screen cleaning fluid etc.

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Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences


Do you have access to Argyll and Bute Council’s accident reporting system?

Is there a fully stocked first aid kit available?

Is there a telephone or mobile phone available for use in an emergency?

Stress


Do you experience stress which you feel has arisen as a result of your work pattern?

Have you discussed this with your manager?

Are you familiar with ways or techniques to alleviate or reduce work related stress?

Security, data protection and confidentiality


Do you have permission to remove council documents from the office?

Have you read and understood the department procedures for document removal?

Is there secure storage for confidential information at home and in transit?

Do you have a system in place for returning or disposing of confidential waste?

Any other comments you have regarding health and safety concerns/issues relating to working from home please list here:

Signature of Employee: Date:

Signature of Manager: Date:

Thank you for completing this checklist Please return it to your manager as soon as possible

Additional Comments (Any issues requiring action)

Completed Form to be sent to Departmental Health and Safety Section with a copy to the Departmental HR Section

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Approved by Departmental Health and Safety:

Date:

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Appendix 2 - Checklist: Use of Display Equipment To be completed by employee after reading attached information and returned to Line Manager. If required the Line Manager will complete the “Action Required” column with any remedial action and the date it should be completed by.

Name:

Department:

Chair

Checked Details Action Required

Height of seat can be adjusted so that forearms are approximately horizontal

If no, a footrest is provided

Seat back can be adjusted for lumbar support

Seat back can tilt

Swivel mechanism provided

Chair is stable (min five star base)

Chair is provided with castors

Input Devices


Positioned at comfortable distance

Space in front of keyboard to rest arms during pauses in keying

Comfortable and easy to use

Worksurface


Matt surface to avoid glare

Sufficiently large to accommodate screen, keyboard, documents and peripherals

Sufficient space under desk for leg movement

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Monitor


Characters are clear and readable

You know how to adjust character size/style?

Screen is free from flicker or movement

Screen is free from glare/reflections

You can adjust brightness, contrast and background colour

Screen cleaning materials are provided

Positioned at comfortable viewing height

Swivel and tilt mechanism provided

Positioned directly in front when viewing

Comfortable viewing distance

Work involves copying from documents

If yes, document holder provided

Miscellaneous


Cable management provided

Where adaptor used, this is of the fused type

Any other problems

Employee’s Signature: Date:

Manager’s Signature: Date:

Completed Form to be sent to Departmental Health and Safety Section with a copy to Departmental HR Section

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Approved by Departmental Health and Safety:

Date:

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Information on using VDU’s

1. Seat back must be capable of tilting by up to 15º 2. Chair must provide good support in the lumbar area. Seat back rest should adjust in

height to facilitate this or other means of lumbar adjustment provided. The seat pan should be short enough to enable use of lumbar support

3. Seat height should be adjusted so that forearms are approximately horizontal with elbows approximately at desk height

4. There should be no excess pressure on underside of thighs or backs of knees. Seat pan must be short enough for user and provided with a waterfall front to avoid cutting into back of legs

5. If feet do not comfortably reach the floor with chair adjusted as above, a footrest must be used

6. There must be adequate space under desk to allow space for postural change. There must be no obstructions reducing the available space

7. Wrists should be in the neutral position (i.e. approximately horizontal not bent upwards, downwards or sideways).

8. Keyboard and mouse within comfortable reach to avoid overstretching. 9. Screen should be positioned with top of screen slightly below eye level and tilted

slightly back. It should be between 40 -75 cm distance from eyes. 10. There should be 10cm space in front of the keyboard to rest arms during pauses in

keying.

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Appendix 3 - Checklist: Use of Mobile Computing Equipment Poor posture and body positioning over long periods of time can put strain on our muscles and joints. The effects are usually cumulative (i.e. they build up over days, weeks, months or even years) and lead to problems such as repetitive strain injuries, sore necks and bad backs.

Issue Description/Solution

Issues using mobile equipment

Laptops are designed to provide excellent portability and mobility to the user. However, this leads to a number of problems. It is therefore important that when using computers we try to maintain a comfortable and correct posture to ensure we don't cause ourselves any harm. Place the laptop on a stable base such as a desk if possible. If using the laptop on your lap consider using a foot rest to elevate the laptop and be mindful of heat generation (particularly on older models). Take frequent breaks during use, in less ideal situations, breaks should be more frequent. If you find a laptop track pad difficult to use, obtain a mouse and use this instead.

Keyboard height versus screen height

As the keyboard and screen of a laptop are permanently connected you can normally have either one or the other in the ideal position leading to wrist problems, neck problems or both. Alternate the position of the laptop during use - a good height for your wrists then a good height for your eyes. When working with a laptop computer for a prolonged period it is advisable to use a docking station or separate keyboard and mouse to reduce the problem.

Glare On a laptop, because the screen is not separate from the keyboard it can be hard to position the screen to avoid glare. This can cause the user to strain their eyes in order to read the characters. In addition, laptop screens tend to be smaller than desktop monitors but display the same amount of information. On PDAs this can be worse due to the fact that they may be used outside in direct sunlight. When using equipment outdoors try not to use in direct sunlight. At other times use a separate larger desktop monitor.

Small keys Mobile computer equipment has smaller keys than a standard desktop computer keyboard. This can lead to work related upper limb disorders (commonly known as repetitive strain injury). Use of an external keyboard and mouse will reduce the risks associated with this.

Heat generation The base of a laptop, especially older models, can heat up during use. For safety reasons reduce the amount of time the computer is rested on your lap.

Transport and Carriage

Laptops are meant to be mobile and therefore be carried. This can create manual handling issues, especially if the user has many peripherals with them. The following should help reduce the risks of laptops on the move:

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- Only carry the peripherals you need and use a lightweight, sturdy non manufacturer branded carry bag or laptop case with handle and shoulder straps to reduce manual handling and security risks. - If you can, travel with a PDA or Blackberry device instead of a laptop (please note that due to key and screen size, prolonged use of a handheld device may cause eye strain, wrist and finger problems)

Use in the Office For some people, their laptop will be the only computer they use and it may sit on their desk for a large part of the working day. Laptops are designed for ease of portability, not comfort during prolonged use, where this is the case, many of the ergonomic issues can be resolved at least while in the normal place of work, by the purchase of a few items of equipment. An external keyboard and mouse can be plugged into a laptop allowing separation of the keyboard and monitor. The laptop can then be placed on a laptop stand to raise the screen to a desired height. Stands are available from most office stationary suppliers. Alternatively, a docking station can be acquired. The laptop can be plugged into the docking station, which is in turn plugged into the Council’s network, a keyboard, mouse, monitor or other devices considered necessary

A PDA or and Blackberry is only really suitable for quick reference and communication, they are not a substitute for a laptop or desktop computer.

Prolonged use Report any symptoms of discomfort that you feel is associated with the use of portable equipment to your line manager as soon as they arise. These can include pain, tingling or numbness in hands, wrists or forearms, neck and back pain, headaches, eyestrain or visual disturbances Use a docking station where possible for prolonged use.

For detailed visual guidance to posture and layout go to www.ergoergo.info or look at the Health and Safety section on the Council’s intranet.

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Appendix 4 – Working from Home Leaflet

Strategic HR

Working from Home

Employee Information Leaflet

Background Argyll and Bute Council is required to deliver services across a wide and diverse geographical area. Adoption of more agile working practices can help facilitate better service delivery by allowing more time to be spent on delivering services, using more efficient technologies to deliver these services and deliver cost benefits by reducing the overheads involved in service delivery.

Introduction There are a number of issues and responsibilities that need to be considered by employees before they start to work from home as highlighted by this leaflet.

ISSUES AND RESPONSIBILTIES

Communication and Contact Periods Where it is agreed that you can work from home it is essential to ensure that regular contact is maintained with your manager and colleagues. You should leave details of how you can be contacted at home. If there are no alternative arrangements, then your home telephone number may be used to contact you.

A period of time should be agreed between you and your manager when you can contact each other during the working day.

Childcare Working from home should not be a substitute for childcare arrangements. During the agreed working times, when undertaking work at home, there is a contractual requirement to ensure that childcare is undertaken by another person.

Change in Circumstances Where there is a change in your personal circumstances which could affect your working arrangements, you have a responsibility to advise your manager as arrangements may need to be reviewed.

Equipment Failure If there is an issue with hardware or communications failure which will adversely affect work activities, you will be expected to attend your designated office during work time to fulfil your duties as normal.

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25


Visitors The Council or its nominated representative (e.g. Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) engineer) will require periodic access to the employee’s house for the purpose of inspection, servicing, repair and replacement of its equipment, at reasonable notice.

Planning Planning permission is not usually required to work from home as this does not normally affect the primary function of the building. However, if the home is no longer being used mainly as a private residence, if there is a large increase in the number of visitors, if there are any activities that would be considered unusual in a residential area, or if any activities are likely to disturb neighbours, planning permission may be required. You should check that there are no planning restrictions imposed on your property that may restrict its use as a place of work.

Mortgage or Lease agreements Working from home can sometimes have implications for mortgage or lease agreements. In most cases there is no difficulty, but it is recommended that you advise your mortgage provider or landlord to confirm that there are no problems with this.

Council Tax You should check the implications for your Council Tax liability with the appropriate Council Tax section to ensure that your rate and type of Council Tax is not affected by working from home. Insurance The Council has appropriate insurance arrangements in place to cover employees working from home provided appropriate risk assessments and Display Screen Equipment Assessments have been carried out. You are advised to check your own insurance arrangements to ensure that working at home does not invalidate these.

Health and Safety When working from home, it is essential that you complete health and safety self-assessments at least annually or in the event of the working environment significantly changing. This will ensure the continued suitability of your workstation and the work area within your home.

Whilst working from home, you will have a responsibility to ensure that appropriate health and safety measures are observed. These include correct use of equipment and taking adequate breaks. You are also responsible for reporting all health and safety matters promptly to your line manager.

Use of IT equipment It will only be possible to connect computer equipment provided by the Council to the Council’s computer network. You will be responsible for the cost of any private use of the system(s) although this should be limited to exceptional circumstances. You should also comply with the ICT Acceptable Use Policy.

Confidentiality You are responsible for any data, both hard copy and electronic, that is removed from Council premises. Information should only be removed with prior permission, and following the appropriate departmental document management or library guidelines.

Return of Equipment and Data Upon leaving employment with the Council or changing jobs within the Council, you must return all equipment, data and Council/Department property. This will be arranged with your line manager. You must be available to allow collection to take place.

Expenses and Allowances An allowance will be paid to employees who have a contractual right to work from home to help cover heating and lighting costs.

Travel expenses will be paid from the administrative base. Travel from your home to the administrative base cannot be claimed, and all other travel claims should have this distance deducted.

The full Agile Work Options Policy can be found on the Council’s Intranet, Internet or from your departmental HR section. Advice and guidance on the policy is available by telephoning your departmental HR Section – telephone numbers are listed in the vacancy list or alternatively they can be contacted through the switchboard at Kilmory (telephone number 01546 602127).

Pag

e 1

26


Appendix 5 - Contract Variation Argyll and Bute Council

Comhairle Earra Ghàidheal agus Bhòid

Service Head of Service: Name

Address Line 1

Address Line 2, Town, Postcode Tel: (Code) Number Fax: (Code) Number

www.argyll-bute.gov.uk If you are phoning or calling please ask for an Admin Assistant

Our Ref:

Date:

Name Address Line 1 Address Line 2 Address Line 3 Town Postcode Dear ,

CHANGE TO WORK LOCATION Post Number: Post Title: Having had the opportunity to review your application for agile working, I can confirm that your request to change your work location has been granted. I write to confirm that with effect from [DATE] your normal place of work will be your home. For administrative purposes your work location will be {town/island}. Any claims for expenses/travel time will be based on the administrative location. Additional requirements for working from home are included in the attached leaflet for your information. All other terms and conditions of your employment will remain the same. Please sign and return one copy of this letter to accept the changes detailed above. Yours sincerely, Name Position Signed: ________________________________ Date: ________________ Enc. Homeworking Leaflet

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Flexible Work Options DRAFT Procedure - Appendices Page 21

Appendix 6 - Manager’s Checklist

When you are considering implementing agile working arrangements or have received a request from an employee, it is advised that you give due consideration to the following:

General

Checked Date

Consult the employee and jointly conduct a comparative exercise between current and proposed working arrangements to consider its feasibility.

Has the employee’s job role been identified for an alternative working arrangement?

Is the necessary equipment and accommodation available to support the changes in working arrangements?

Should you agree to the proposed working arrangements, what would be the impact on:

Checked Date

1. Delivery of the Service 2. Colleagues workload 3. Client / Customer group 4. Employee’s terms and conditions of employment (e.g. salary, annual leave / public holiday entitlement)

Communication

Checked Date

- Reporting mechanisms - Adequate communication channels to ensure important information is disseminated to employee - How to ensure the employee does not become isolated - Have regular contact times and mechanisms been agreed?

Working Relationship

Checked Date

- Agreed work outcomes

Supervision and General Management

Checked Date

- Complexity of work. Is it appropriate for the type of flexible working arrangement? - Supervision arrangements - Cost of implementing

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Flexible Work Options DRAFT Procedure - Appendices Page 22

Health and Safety

Checked Date

- Ergonomic and Risk Assessment (Appendices 1 and 2) - Appropriate break times in accordance with Working Time Regulations - Accident reporting - The Council has in place appropriate insurance arrangements to cover home working. Ensure that the employee checks their own insurance arrangements to certify that working at home does not invalidate these.

Information Technology

Checked Date

- Access to a computer (does the employee have a suitable work area if undertaking home-working?) - Access to electronic files - Confidentiality of information

Written Confirmation of Working Arrangements

Should you agree that an employee could undertake a new working arrangement, you must confirm this in writing. The letter should detail all contractual changes and include a brief overview of the following (Appendix 5):

Checked Date

(1) The new working arrangements

(2) Outline mutual obligations of the Council and the employee

(3) A review date (suggested initial 6-month period)

(4) Remind the employee that, once any agreed review period has expired, the flexible working arrangement will be contractually binding and may not be unilaterally withdrawn from/by the employee. As with all contracts, working hours may be subject to review in light of changing operational service needs. At such times, the Council may, following employee consultation and agreement, end the existing arrangement and explore other alternative working arrangements.

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Page 130

Argyll and Bute Council – Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme – Property Opportunity Assessment

1


Argyll and Bute Council Process for Change

Appendix 3 - Property Opportunity Assessment

Author: Craig Houston

October 2009

Page 131


2

Contents

Page No

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Scope 3

2.1. Space Utilisation Study 3

2.2. Provision of Business Case Data 5

2.3. Property Savings Opportunities 8

2.4. Property Utilisation Lists 11

Appendix A Report on Occupancy Study 12

Appendix B Detailed Analysis at Argyll House and Manse Brae Offices 14

Appendix C Meeting Room Usage Analysis at Argyll House and Manse Brae 15

Appendix D Annual OPEX Costs 17

Appendix E Feuhold/Leasehold Status, Lease Costs and Market Values 17

Appendix F Customer Service Point Layout 18

Appendix G Property Utilisation Lists 19

Appendix H Desk Layouts at Lorn House, Municipal Building and

Soroba Road Office 23

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3

1.0 Introduction

Argyll & Bute Council (the Council) is developing a detailed business case and implementation plan for the large scale adoption of new agile working practices. The programme is part of the Process for Change Programme and is called the Workforce Deployment Study.

It is anticipated that at approximately 1300 staff throughout the Council will adopt one of three new work styles defined as Flexible, Mobile and Home. It is likely that the majority of staff who adopt the new work styles will be based at the major centres of Helensburgh, Oban, Lochgilphead, Campbeltown, Rothesay and Dunoon but the scheme will be open all staff subject to operational policies and management approval.

The move from fixed work to agile workstyles will have significant impact on the Council’s property and office accommodation requirements. It opens up new property opportunities that need to investigated and considered as part of the Council’s overall property strategy.

This report provides the key deliverables from a Property Opportunities Assessment to support the Workforce Deployment Study.

2.0 Scope

There are several parts to the Property Opportunity Assessment

• Space Utilisation Study

• Provision of Business Case Data

• First Year Property Savings

• Property Utilisation Lists

2.1 Space Utilisation Study

Within the Space Utilisation Study information will be gathered to allow comment to be made on the following

• Desk Utilisation

• Workstation per Employee

• Workstation per Square Metre

• Use of Meeting Rooms

• Use of Shared Meeting Spaces

2.1.1 Desk Utilisation

In November 2008 the Council conducted a Desk Utilisation Study in Helensburgh (Blairvadach, 29 Lomond Street and 13 East King Street). The study involved a one day activity sampling pilot in each location which was carried out using direct observation. The results of this study are regarded as being representative of all Council properties and these show that the occupancy ranges varied from 40.72% to 58.50%. The details of the study can be found at Appendix A.

2.1.2 Workstation per Employee

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A detailed investigation of desk utilisation at Argyll House, Dunoon and Manse Brae, Lochgilphead was undertaken along with a more general investigation of staff lists throughout the Council. There are a very small number of officers who share the same workstation but this is less than 0.5% of the total staff number. In addition there is an assumption that officers who job-share have use of the same workstation. The detailed analysis at Argyll House and Manse Brae is shown in Appendix B.

From these investigations it can be concluded that the current situation is that each employee has their own workstation. This is on the assumption that officers who job-share have use of the same workstation.

2.1.3 Workstation per Square Metre

A detailed investigation of the area per workstation was undertaken at Argyll House, Dunoon and Manse Brae, Lochgilphead. This was based on usable space which was taken as the net internal floor area for each defined working area less an allowance for circulation. The detailed results are shown in appendix B and are summarised as follows

Argyll House, Dunoon

Minimum Area per Workstation 2.91m2

Maximum Area per Workstation 24.21m2

Average Area per Workstation 6.01m2

Manse Brae, Lochgilphead

Minimum Area per Workstation 3.20m2

Maximum Area per Workstation 19.20m2

Average Area per Workstation 6.62m2

The workplace regulations identify the minimum volume per member of staff of 11m3 with a maximum ceiling height of 3.0m. This equates to a minimum area of 3.66 m2. In any relocation of staff it would be prudent to allocate a net usable area of 6m2 per workstation based on Argyll House.

2.1.4 Use of Meeting Rooms

As part of the Customer Management theme of Process for Change data is being collected which will indicate the number of meeting rooms in buildings. In order to give an indication of the average use of meeting rooms a detailed analysis of the bookings was carried out at Argyll House, Dunoon and Manse Brae, Lochgilphead for the period 05 January 2009 to 04 September 2009. The results are based on bookings only i.e. there is no confirmation that the booking was actually used. The detailed results are shown in appendix C and are summarised as follows assuming rooms are available for 40hrs per week


Average Number of Bookings per week 4.51

Average Duration of Bookings 3.82hrs

Average Utilisation of Meeting Rooms 43.1%


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Average Number of Bookings per week 7.05

Average Duration of Bookings 4.47hrs

Average Utilisation of Meeting Rooms 78.9%

2.1.5 Use of Shared Meeting Spaces

Within buildings there are various ad hoc arrangements for booking meeting rooms however there is no data available to allow any meaningful comment on the use of shared meeting spaces.

2.2 Provision of Business Case Data In order to assist with the production of the Business Case the following property data has been produced

• Annual OPEX Costs

• Feuhold/Leasehold Status

• Annual Cost of Lease (Leasehold Properties)

• Estimated Market Value (Feuhold Properties)

• Floor Area Usable Space

• Desk Rearrangement Costs

2.2.1 Annual OPEX Costs

The costs for the properties have been provided by the Finance Section and have been broken down into utility costs and facilities management costs. Some of the properties form part of a larger establishment and it is therefore difficult to extract costs for specific areas. The annual OPEX costs are shown in appendix D.

2.2.2 Feuhold/Leasehold Status

The ownership/lease status for the main buildings in the main towns has been provided by the Council’s Estates section. The majority of the buildings are within the Council’s ownership. The ownership/lease details associated with each of the properties is shown in appendix E

2.2.2.1 Annual Cost of Lease (Leasehold Properties)

Where a building is leased the Council’s Estates section has provided details of the rental costs, the lease termination date and any lease exit costs. This information is provided in appendix E.

2.2.2.2 Estimated Market Value (Feuhold Properties)

Where a building is owned by the Council the Estates section has provided details of its current market value. This information is provided in appendix E.

2.2.3 Floor Area Usable Space

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The amount of usable space in each building is not available for all buildings. In an attempt to estimate the usable space in buildings a ratio of usable space to total gross internal floor area will be established from a detailed analysis of Argyll House, Dunoon and Manse Brae, Lochgilphead.


The gross internal floor area, for each of the four floors, in Argyll House is as follows

Ground Floor 410 m2

First Floor 350 m2

Second Floor 350 m2

Third Floor 194 m2

This gives a total gross internal floor area of 1,304 m2

The usable floor area, for each of the four floors, in Argyll House is as follows

Ground Floor 171 m2

First Floor 156 m2

Second Floor 173 m2

Third Floor 94 m2

This gives a total usable floor area of 594 m2

Therefore, for Argyll House, the ratio of usable floor space to gross internal floor area is

594/1,304 = 45.6%


The gross internal floor area, for each of the two floors, in Manse Brae is as follows

Ground Floor 585 m2

First Floor 586 m2

This gives a total gross internal floor area of 1,171 m2

The usable floor area, for each of the four floors, in Manse Brae is as follows

Ground Floor 241 m2

First Floor 354 m2

This gives a total usable floor area of 595 m2

Therefore, for Manse Brae, the ratio of usable floor space to gross internal floor area is

595/1,171 = 50.8%

It is worth noting that whilst Manse Brae is a more modern office than Argyll House the ratios are much the same. Therefore when dealing with other buildings where the amount of usable space is unknown, it should be taken as 50% of the gross internal floor area.

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2.2.4 Desk Rearrangement Costs

The cost of rearranging desks has been provided by the Council’s Property Services Maintenance Team and is generally based on actual costs based on recent moves/rearrangements. The costs are provided for simple, medium and complex rearrangements.

2.2.4.1 Simple Rearrangement Costs

The assumptions associated with a simple rearrangement are as follows

• Staff are moving between buildings

• Staff receive new furniture

• The area within the building where staff are moving to gets redecorated

• The costs of reconnecting to existing IT points is not included

• The costs of loss of service are not included

• The costs assume that staff are moving in to an already vacated office

The break down of costs is as follows

Cost Summary per Person for a Simple Move between Buildings

Moving Costs £93.26

Decoration Costs £750.54

Furniture Costs £350.00

Total £1,193.80

On this basis, the cost of a simple rearrangement of desks should be taken as £1,200 for staff moving between buildings and £1,100 for staff moving within the same building.

2.2.4.2 Medium Rearrangement Costs

The assumptions associated with a simple rearrangement are as follows

• Staff are moving between buildings

• Staff receive new furniture

• The area within the building where staff are moving to gets redecorated

• The costs of reconnecting to existing IT points is not included

• The costs of loss of service are not included

• The costs assume that staff are moving in to an already vacated office

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The break down of costs is as follows

Cost Summary per Person for a Medium Move between Buildings

Moving Costs £93.26

Building & Electrical Costs £1,480.68

Decoration Costs £750.54

Furniture Costs £350.00

Total £2,674.48

On this basis, the cost of a medium rearrangement of desks should be taken as £2,700 for staff moving between buildings and £2,600 for staff moving within the same building.

2.2.4.3 Complex Rearrangement Costs

The Property Services Maintenance Team has no historic unit cost data for a complex move. However if compared with the medium rearrangement referred to in 2.2.5.2 there is likely to be additional building and electrical costs. Additionally IT costs of a similar value to the Building and Electrical costs will also be required. Therefore the cost of a complex rearrangement of desks should be taken as £5,000 for staff whether they are moving between buildings or within the same building.

2.3 Property Savings Opportunities

A Property Workshop was held on 21 September 2009 and its primary purpose was to test out the BT Model, to give confidence that it can be applied across the Council’s existing office estate in all locations, and that it can provide a sufficiently robust assessment of property savings opportunities, that can feed into the overall Workforce Deployment Business Case.

Having identified Oban and Dunoon as the pilot areas further analysis and research was carried out and the following information was produced for the Oban offices to allow it to inform the Workforce Deployment Business Case

• Customer Services Space Requirements

• Net Internal Areas

• Options/Moves to vacate Kilbowie House

• Property Cost Assessment of Options

• Other Risks/Issues

2.3.1 Customer Services Space Requirements

The customer services space requirements were confirmed by Charles Reppke, Head of Democratic services and Governance, as being 70m2. A typical layout, assuming the facility was provided in the Municipal Building is shown in appendix F.

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2.3.2 Net Internal Areas

For each of the offices there are various sources for the net internal area which include records held by the Council’s Estates section and the Council’s Property section. The net internal areas to be used are as follows (these figures are rounded down to the nearest 10m2).

Property Gross Internal Area (m2)

Kilbowie House, Gallanach Road, Oban, PA34 4PF 820

Lorn House, Albany Street, Oban, PA34 4AR 470

Municipal Building, Albany Street, Oban, PA34 4AW (excluding 115m2 in basement)

600

Oban Education Office, Dalintart Drive, Oban, PA34 4EF 220

West Highland HA Bldg, Crannog Lane, Oban, PA34 4HB 110

Soroba Road Offices, Soroba Road, Oban, PA34 4JA (Offices Only) 520

Oban Area Community Centre, Drummore, Lower Soroba, Oban, PA34 4SB 160

Willowview Community Care Centre,Lower Soroba, Oban, PA34 4SB Unknown

2.3.3 Options/Moves to vacate Kilbowie House

In order to establish what moves are required to vacate Kilbowie House reference needs to be made to the Property Utilisation Lists referred to in section 2.4 and appendix G. This shows that the number of staff in each of the Oban properties is as follows

Property Number of Staff

Kilbowie House, Gallanach Road, Oban, PA34 4PF 32

Lorn House, Albany Street, Oban, PA34 4AR 24

Municipal Building, Albany Street, Oban, PA34 4AW 29

Oban Education Office, Dalintart Drive, Oban, PA34 4EF 17

West Highland HA Bldg, Crannog Lane, Oban, PA34 4HB 12

Soroba Road Offices, Soroba Road, Oban, PA34 4JA 27

Oban Area Community Centre, Drummore, Lower Soroba, Oban, PA34 4SB 10

Willowview Community Care Centre,Lower Soroba, Oban, PA34 4SB 36

Total 187

There is also one member of staff located at Market Street Centre, giving a total number of Oban staff, including an allowance for 2 Councillors, of 190.

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Of the 190 Oban staff we are really only interested in relocating the 32 staff in Kilbowie House in year 1.

In Lorn House, Municipal Building and Soroba Road Offices there are currently 80 staff. If those relocated from Kilbowie House are added there is a requirement to accommodate 112 staff. It is assumed that either due to the nature of the service being delivered or the type of building that the other offices are not deemed suitable for altering in year 1.

The proposed desk layouts are shown in appendix H and indicate that 40 staff can be accommodated in Lorn House, 41 staff can be accommodated in Municipal Building (assuming ACHA have moved out – the current indication is that ACHA will move out between January 2010 and March 2010), and Soroba Road offices can accommodated 39 staff. It is worth noting that if a net usable area to gross internal area of 50% is used (refer 2.2.3) and an allocation of 6m2 per workstation is used (refer 2.1.3) the potential number of workstations that can be accommodated in the three buildings considered is as follows

Property Gross Internal Area x 50%

Possible Number of

Workstations

Desk Layout Number of

Workstations

Lorn House 235 m2 39 40

Municipal Building (note 70m2 for Customer Services)

265 m2 44 41

Soroba Road Offices 260 m2 43 39

Total 126 120

This table validates the assumptions regarding space standards and confirms that the staff within Kilbowie House can be accommodated within Lorn House, Municipal Building and Soroba Road Offices.

One of the main assumptions is that civil wedding ceremonies involving bride, groom and 2 witnesses can take place in the Municipal Building but any wedding ceremony with greater numbers will take place in the Corran Halls.

It should also be noted that further investigation will be required to confirm that appropriate team zones can be achieved.

2.3.4 Property Cost Assessment of Options

The year 1 property costs should be taken as the move of 32 members of staff from Kilbowie House to be relocated elsewhere within the Oban offices. In addition there will be the cost of mothballing Kilbowie House and the cost of dealing with any necessary short term storage arrangements associated with a relatively quick vacating of Kilbowie House.

Moving of Staff (32 @ £1,200) £38,400

Mothballing of Kilbowie House £ 5,,000 (Note: There will be an ongoing annual cost of maintaining the intruder alarm, fire alarm and electrical supply of £1,000.

Short Term Storage £ 5,000 (Allowance at this stage)

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In addition to the costs above there will be additional cost associated with forming the Customer Services area within Municipal Buildings these costs are included within the existing capital programme and are therefore not included within this business case.

2.3.5 Other Risks/Issues

The Workshop Group also identified a number of risks and issues in relation to the implementation of the project:

• Identification and securing of the resources to plan and project manage implementation

• The greater task here is not actually the property task of arranging moves & decoration – but the work culture and change management issues which this will throw up.

• That applying the workstyle change to properties which would be unaffected by staff changes would be inefficient (and seen by staff as plain daft e.g. all that changes is that a desk is removed)

• That the Achievable option, which will be achieved by a series of simple moves: o would be viewed by staff not as a change in workstyle, but as an exercise in

squeezing them to the existing estate – prompting issues over space standards o would potentially disperse the Operational Services Team (located at Kilbowie)over

a no. of locations

2.4 Property Utilisation Lists

Property Services produced Phase 1 business cases for Office Rationalisation in 2006/07. As part of that study Property Services compiled a list of job titles and people names for each property that was included. As part of this report Property Services took the opportunity to update these lists for the main areas. The detail is shown in appendix G for the main six areas considered with their associated staff numbers, including an allocation of 2 Councillors per area, being as follows

• Campbeltown (155)

• Dunoon (251)

• Helensburgh (180)

• Mid-Argyll (529)

• Oban (190)

• Rothesay (73)

This gives a total number of 1,378 for the main 6 areas.

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APPENDIX A

ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL

OPERATIONAL SERVICES

Report on Occupancy Study

1. Introduction

Service Support received an enquiry from our Head of Service, asking if we could undertake an Occupancy Study of three buildings that are located in the Helensburgh & Lomond Area.

2. Aims

The aim of the study was to determine the overall building occupancy and utilisation of desk/ work stations in the following properties:

• Blairvadach House

• 29 Lomond Street

• 13 East King Street

3. Approach

The study involved a one day activity sampling pilot in each location which was carried out using direct observation. Two employees from Service Support undertook the study.

4. Results

The data from the Occupancy Study was entered into a spreadsheet database and was used to analyse the percentage of desk/workstations utilisation. Following the input of data the enclosed statistical results of the study were obtained (for further details see enclosed appendix).

Blairvadach

% of Occupancy

Working Day Periods

Ground Floor

Level 1

Mezzanine Floor

Level 2

First Floor Level 3

Second Floor

Level 4

All Floors

Full Day 43.75% 22.77% 37.50% 50.00% 40.72%

Lunch Break 12:00 – 14:00 excluded 44.74% 22.86% 35.81% 50.33% 40.66%

Lunch Break 12:30 – 13:30 excluded 46.36% 24.14% 38.59% 52.30% 42.67%

All core time excluded 49.67% 21.01% 41.46% 57.35% 45.48%

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29 Lomond Street

% of Occupancy Working Day Periods

Ground Floor

First Floor All Floors

Full Day 59.38% 43.04% 50.39%

Lunch Break 12:00 – 14:00 excluded 59.56% 44.00% 51.00%


All core time excluded 60.46% 46.79% 52.94%

13 East King Street

% of Occupancy Working Day Periods

Ground Floor

First Floor All Floors

Full Day 49.22% 55.00% 52.43%



All core time excluded 56.62% 60.00% 58.50%

6. Summary

The above information illustrates that there are occupancy ranges within each Building depending upon which working day period is used. The range is as follows:-

Blairvadach 40.72% - 45.48% 29 Lomond Street 50.39% - 53.36% 13 East King Street 51.78% - 58.50%

21st November 2008

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APPENDIX B

A detailed analysis for Argyll House, Dunoon & Manse Brae offices Lochgilphead was completed available from the project office on request

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Appendix C

Bookings for the Director of Community Services room in Argyll House

January to August 2009

Week Beginning (Monday)

Total Number of Bookings per week

Number of Hours for Whole Week

5 January 4 15 hours




22 94

2 February 4 19 hours




16 73

2 March 4 28 hours

9 March 10 30 hours

16 March 4 13 hours

23 March 3 17 hours

30 March 3 14 hours

24 102

6 April 4 9 hours

13 April 5 21 hours

20 April 8 28 hours

27 April 5 20 hours

22 78

4 May 6 21 hours

11 May 6 22 hours

18 May 7 18 hours

25 May 3 16 hours

22 77

1 June 3 6 hours

8 June 7 15 hours

15 June 5 21 hours

22 June 5 15 hours

29 June 2 5 hours

22 62

6 July 1 3 hours

13 July 3 8 hours

20 July 4 17 hours

27 July 5 14 hours

13 42

3 August 2 10 hours

10 August 2 7 hours

17 August 6 20 hours

24 August 2 3 hours


17 75

Total 158 603

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Bookings for the Manse Brae Conference Room

January to August 2009

Week Beginning (Monday)

Total Number of Bookings per week

Number of Hours for Whole Week


12 January 7 31.5 hours



31 127.5


9 February 8 39.5 hours

16 February 8 17.5 hours


29 124

2 March 5 25 hours

9 March 7 35 hours

16 March 8 36.5 hours



37 166.5

6 April 7 25.5 hours

13 April 7 35 hours



29 129.5

4 May 5 23 hours

11 May 8 38 hours

18 May 11 36.5 hours

25 May 6 30.5 hours

30 128

1 June 4 27.5 hours

8 June 5 27 hours

15 June 7 25.5 hours

22 June 6 25 hours

29 June 6 30.5 hours

28 135.5

6 July 6 21.5 hours

13 July 10 33 hours

20 July 6 30 hours

27 July 7 37.5 hours

29 122

3 August 7 37.5 hours





34 171

Total 247 1,104

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APPENDIX D

Annual Opex costs for all Council offices are available from the project office on request

APPENDIX E

A report into the feuhold/leasehold status, lease costs and market values for all Council offices is available from the project office on request

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APPENDIX F

POSSIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICES LAYOUT

Plan View

View of Reception Counter

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APPENDIX G

PROPERTY UTILISATION LISTS

The summary of staff in Campbeltown is shown in Table G.1

Frontline Backline

Admin / Clerical

Professional Managerial Admin / Clerical

Professional Managerial

CAMPBELTOWN PROPERTIES

Quay Buildings 5 2 0 0 4 1

Old Quay Head 6 23 6 0 0 0

Old Registers Building 1 0 0 3 1 0

Witchburn Road 0 0 0 54 17 3

Burnet Building 0 2 0 5 8 1

Town Hall 0 0 0 0 0 0

Councillors 0 2 0 0 0 0

Staff in Other Buildings 2 9 0 0 0 0

Total Number of Staff by Category 14 38 6 62 30 5

Table G.1

The Campbeltown members of staff in other buildings are all located at Kintyre CEC, giving a total number of staff, including 2 Councillors, of 155.

The summary of staff in Dunoon is shown in Table G.2

Frontline Backline

Admin / Clerical



DUNOON PROPERTIES

Argyll House 1 0 0 43 32 15

Church Street 4 7 1 2 0 0

Dunoon CEC 3 6 0 0 1 1

ASIST 0 2 0 0 0 0

Dolphin Hall 2 4 0 6 4 1

Dolphin Hall Annexe 1 0 0 8 5 1

Ellis Lodge 20 8 4 0 0 0

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Hamilton Street Depot 0 0 0 0 7 0

Hill Street Offices 8 6 1 1 1 0

Sandbank Library HQ 0 1 0 10 2 1

Milton House 4 6 0 0 6 2

Struan Lodge 0 0 0 5 1 4




Table G.2

The Dunoon member of staff in another building is located at Ballochyle House, giving a total number of staff, including 2 Councillors, of 251.

The summary of staff in Helensburgh is shown in Table G.3

Frontline Backline

Admin / Clerical



HELENSBURGH PROPERTIES

Emergency Planning 0 0 0 0 5 0

Blairvadach 3 20 5 7 15 4

Graham Williamson IT Centre 0 0 0 5 14 5

Scotcourt House 6 4 1 2 9 0

Social Work, 13 East King Street 0 1 0 5 5 4

Offices, 48 Sinclair Street 0 0 0 1 2 2

OT Office, 85 East Clyde Street 0 0 0 0 0 0

Social Work, 29 Lomond Street 1 24 4 12 1 0

Offices within Colgrain PS Community Wing 3 6 0 0 0 1




Table G.3

The Helensburgh member of staff in another building is located at Victoria Infirmary, giving a total number of staff, including 2 Councillors, of 180.

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The summary of staff in Mid-Argyll is shown in Table G.4

Frontline Backline

Admin / Clerical



MID-ARGYLL PROPERTIES

Kilmory Castle 35 36 2 73 113 34

Manse Brae Office 28 0 0 11 38 10

Manse Brae Area Office 2 10 3 0 0 0

Dalriada House 0 14 0 0 0 0

Whitegates Offices 7 4 0 20 13 4

Clydesdale Bank Buildings 0 0 0 2 3 1

Area Community Education Centre 1 6 0 0 0 0

Offices, 65-79 Chalmers Street, Ardrishaig 2 9 0 0 0 0

Union Street Office 1 1 0 0 0 0

Lochnell Street Office 2 0 0 0 0 0

Tigh Mhicleoid 0 6 1 0 0 0

Argyll House, Harbour Street, Tarbert 0 3 0 0 0 0

Front Street, Inveraray 0 0 0 0 0 0




Table G.4

The Mid-Argyll members of staff in other buildings are located at Mid-Argyll Community Hospital (31) and Argyll & Bute Hospital (1), giving a total number of staff, including 2 Councillors, of 529.

The summary of staff in Oban is shown in Table G.5

Frontline Backline

Admin / Clerical



OBAN PROPERTIES

Kilbowie House 6 5 0 0 16 5

Lorn House 6 12 3 0 2 1

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Municipal Building 7 21 0 0 0 1

Oban Education Office 3 0 0 3 10 1

West Highland HA Bldg 0 2 1 4 3 2

Soroba Road Offices 7 18 2 0 0 0

Oban Area Community Centre 2 7 1 0 0 0

Willowview Community Care Centre 8 23 5 0 0 0




Table G.5

The Oban member of staff in another building is located at Market Street Centre, giving a total number of staff, including 2 Councillors, of 190.

The summary of staff in Rothesay is shown in Table G.6

Frontline Backline

Admin / Clerical



ROTHESAY PROPERTIES

Ballochgoy Resource Centre 3 2 0 0 0 0

Bute Sub Area CEC 1 2 0 0 0 0

Eaglesham House 2 4 0 5 4 1

High Street Office 2 4 0 0 0 0

Rothesay Social Work 9 27 0 0 2 0

Bute CEC (Moat) 3 0 0 0 0 0




Table G.6

There are no Rothesay members of staff located in any another buildings so the total number of staff, including 2 Councillors, is 73.

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APPENDIX H

DESK LAYOUTS AT LORN HOUSE, MUNICIPAL BUILDING AND SOROBA ROAD OFFICE

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Pag

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Argyll and Bute Council Process for Change – Workforce Deployment Theme

Appendix 4 - Day-in-the-Life-Of (DILO) Survey

David Hogarth August 2009

Page 159

Argyll and Bute Council – Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme DRAFT - Confidential

2

Confidentiality Statement All information in this document is provided in confidence for the sole purpose of adjudication of the document and shall not be used for any other purpose and shall not be published or disclosed wholly or in part to any other party without BT's prior permission in writing and shall be held in safe custody. These obligations shall not apply to information, which is published or becomes known legitimately from some source other than BT. Many of the product, service and company names referred to in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks.

They are all hereby acknowledged.

Copyright, all rights reserved © BT 2009 Registered Office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ

Metrics All numbers listed in this document have been rounded to the nearest integer for ease of use. This is usually stated in the table where listed. Totals in tables may not appear to show the correct value, this is due to the rounding of the numbers and is not an error. For example, percentages may not always appear to add to 100%.

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Distribution

Title Argyll and Bute Council: DILO Survey

Author David Hogarth

Owner (Responsible for Approval of Issued Versions)

Name Role

Carol Turnbull Workstyle Programme Manager

Review Panel

Name Role / Company Review requirement

Morag Brown Argyll and Bute Council Review and approve

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Change History

Issue Date Author/Editor Details of Change

Draft 0.1 14 August 2009

David Hogarth Initial Draft for Review and Comment


David Hogarth Amended and updated to included M Brown / G Munro Comments


David Hogarth Document updated to reflect agreed changes from AandB meeting, 24/08/09


Gordon Munro Document updated to reflect agreed changes from AandB meeting, 28/08/09

Draft 0.5 4th September

2009 Dominic Sherry

Document updated to reflect agreed changes from AandB – data provided 03/09/09

Draft 0.6 13

th

September 2009

Dominic Sherry Document updated to reflect agreed changes from AandB – data provided 11/09/09

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Table of Contents

Management Summary ............................................................................................................. 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 8 Approach ................................................................................................................................... 8 Validity of Data......................................................................................................................... 10 Study Area Findings ................................................................................................................ 13 Department Findings ............................................................................................................... 24 Service Findings ...................................................................................................................... 28 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 35 Appendix.................................................................................................................................. 36

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Management Summary Argyll and Bute Council DILO Survey was conducted over a 10 day period in July 2009 with

the aim of quantifying the activities that would benefit from the implementation of new work

styles across the Council. All 1767 employees with access to the Council’s IT network

received an invitation to take part in a web based survey. Of this group, 516 employees were

formally targeted to complete the survey as they performed job roles which had been

identified previously as potentially benefitting from the adoption of new work styles. 68% of

this target group completed the survey and the average response rate across the organisation

was 31%.

Diagram 1 – DILO Survey Responses by Department

The survey asked staff to allocate time spent on a number of key activities during their

working day, these being travel, contact with customers, colleagues and other agencies,

administration and training. In addition, information on commuting to work was captured.

Diagram 2- Av. Time spent on DILO activities across the Council

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

commute

travel during work hours

f2f customers

telphone/email customers

f2f colleagues

telephone/email colleagues

f2f others

telephone/email others

admin tasks

training out of office

training in office

Activity

Overall Council Average

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The average time spent travelling during daily working hours across all Departments is 22

minutes. The study indicated that some Departments (Operational Services, Development

Services and Community Services) and some specific job roles involve large amounts of

travel. Some of this travel time could potentially be saved by using audio/web/video

conferencing in lieu of face-to-face internal meetings which currently take an average 83

minutes per day. This would reduce travel costs for the Council and reduce carbon emissions.

The average time spent commuting to and from work is 48 minutes a day across all

Departments. This time could be better spent if employees were given the opportunity to work

from home or from an office closer to home. In BT’s own experience and from the experience

of other organisations BT have worked with, a reduction in commuting time increases

productivity levels and improves the work/life balance of employees.

The average time spent per day communicating with external customers / service users is 56

minutes, around 14% of a 7 hour working day. The adoption of new work styles will lead to an

increase in time spent on customer facing activity thereby improving the overall standard of

customer service.

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Introduction Argyll and Bute Council (the Council) is developing a business case for the implementation of

new flexible, home and mobile work styles across its workforce as part of its corporate

transformation programme - Process for Change. An Outline Business Case and High Level

Design Report were presented to the Executive on 15th April 2009 with agreement to progress

to detailed design resulting in full business case and implementation plan. This is referred to

as the Argyll and Bute Council: Process for Change – Workforce Deployment Theme and will

be presented to the meeting of the full Council on 26 November 2009. This paper is one of

several specialist reports that inform the overall business case.

The adoption of new works styles will be a transformational process for the Council where

new ways of working, processes, behaviours, attitudes and technologies will come to the fore

and replace traditional norms.

This report describes the results of an online Day in the Life of (DILO) Survey conducted as

part of the business case.

A DILO Survey provides an independent assessment and understanding of current working

practices within the Council. The study requires participants to record online how they spend

their time each day, over five working days, against a number of different activity categories

(e.g. travel, customer meetings, internal meetings, administration, training etc).

The data gathered enables us to understand how a move towards new work styles will better

meet the needs of individuals, the Council, and ultimately its customers. It provides a view of

potential process and property improvements and insight into how the end customer

experience may be improved through new work styles within the Council.

In order to provide an insight and to inform the business case nearly 1800 Council employees

from across the organisation were requested to take part in this process. Of this number, 516

were targeted based on their previous identification during the high level business case and

were deemed to have the greatest potential to benefit from new work styles.

Approach The DILO survey took place over a period of ten working days from Monday 6

th July to

Friday 17th July 2009. The extended two week period was decided upon to accommodate

the start of the holiday period and ensure a higher response. Individuals were given the

choice of completing the survey in either week 1 or 2.

At the start of each week all participants received an email from the Chief Executive’s

Postmaster containing a link to a simple online form consisting of 20 questions. Associated

with most of these questions was a range of options from which to choose a response. The

full set of questions can be seen in Appendix D of this report.

Once the questions were answered, the form could be submitted online. It was suggested that

the participants completed their online diary form towards the end of their working day. A

further email was sent out each afternoon as a reminder to complete that day’s diary. If the

participant was not able to complete the diary form on that day, they were able to complete

the form retrospectively until the close of the Survey.

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A small number of participants did not have access to the internet / survey. These people

completed the survey in paper format and the results were entered online by the Council or

BT as appropriate.

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Validity of Data

Initially requests for participation in the DILO were issued to 1767 staff members

It was found that approximately 743 staff members participated in the DILO. Although, only

539 staff members, accurately completed the survey for the full week as requested. In order

to check that the survey gives an accurate reflection of the Council as a whole, it is important

to compare the average number of forms completed per day against the total number of

employees invited to participate.

A breakdown of participants per department is detailed in the table below.

Table 1: Response rate per department

Department Total Invited

Participants

Number of forms used in analysis

Total possible number of forms

Average Response Rate (nearest integer

%)

Chief Executive 106 256 530 48

Corporate Services 364 767 1820 42

Operational Services 274 431 1370 31

Development Services 171 267 855 31

Community Services 852 834 4260 20

TOTAL 1767 2555 8835 29

The average response rate was 29% across the Council.

In order to assess the accuracy of the data both the number of participants and the number of

forms completed by each Department should be taken into consideration. Not all participants

completed the diary form each day. Therefore it would be possible for a Department with

fewer participants to contribute more data to the study than a Department with more

participants.

During the analysis of the DILO data received by the participants a number of exceptions

were identified, these included;

• Where respondents had completed more than the requested 5 days

• Where respondents had duplicated entry data for a specific day

• Data received by Councillors

• Where respondents had recorded time against activities which was far and above

what they had recorded as their working day hours.

A decision was agreed with the Project Team to exclude these results from the Final Report

analysis. This represented 1146 forms completed (39% of responses).

Therefore, the survey was based on 2555 survey responses.

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The graph below indicates the contribution each Department made to the study. The

Departments most likely to influence the results were Community Services and Corporate

Services.

Diagram 1: Contribution to DILO survey data per Department

DILO Responses by Department

256

767

431267

834Chief Executive

Corporate Services

Operational Services

Development Services

Community Services

Despite this weighting, the data collected can provide a preliminary indication of the extent to

which the introduction of new work styles may benefit different groups.

For many job roles the time spent on each activity per day can vary to a large extent. Some

people will have regular meetings on particular days or will choose to avoid travel on a

Monday and Friday. This will affect the results of the DILO to an extent. The greatest

response rates are found on the first two days, Monday and Tuesday. This is typical of the

DILO study, as many people will want to complete the DILO on the first days to see what it is

like. After the first day, the initial excitement lessens and the response rate decreases.

Fridays often have the poorest response rates due to annual leave and flexi time off.

The overall response rate may have been affected by the DILO survey being carried out

during the school summer holidays.

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Caveats of this study

• The largest number of responses came from Community Services (33%) and

Corporate Services (30%). This can influence the findings when looking at the

Council overall.

• Some participants registered multiple diary entries for the same day. In order to make

participants comfortable and elicit a higher response rate the survey was made

anonymous; it was therefore not possible to eliminate all duplicate entries. This will

have a slight affect on the overall results.

• Some staff accidentally or by misunderstanding incorrectly entered their Service

details. As the data is anonymous it has been difficult to correctly assign all

respondees where this applied.

• Departments and Services will have a different mix of back office and front office staff

which may affect the results of the DILO survey. A higher ratio of back office staff

may skew the results to show less travel during working hours and more time on

administration work; whereas a higher proportion of front office staff may show more

travel during working hours and more interaction time with customers. In order to

target, in more detail, the areas that fall into these categories, job functions and roles

can be considered.

• Where it is suggested that time may be saved and productivity increased due to the

implementation of new work styles, this is assuming that:

* The job role/function allows this (i.e. the job does not require the person to

be physically on site due to carrying out public counter duties, etc).

* The individual is able and willing to work flexibly.

* Any constraints to remote working are addressed (e.g. paper based

processes are digitised; the required ICT infrastructure is in place).

• The diagrams in the sections below are all based on data collected with extreme

values removed, not the full results (as in the Validity of Data section above). These

raw results can be viewed in Appendix B. Some people recorded considerably more

time on individual tasks which totalled more than their working day. An arbitrary cut

off point was taken at anything 1.5 hours or greater than the working day and these

entries were removed.

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Study Area Findings Seven of the questions in the DILO Study were designed to discover the length of time

participants spend on certain activities: travelling, contact with others, training, and carrying

out administrative tasks. The following graphs represent the findings; they show the average

time spent by participants on each activity per day by Department. All times stated are

approximate to the nearest integer. The descriptions below consider how much of an average

working day is spent undertaking each activity. The Council’s standard working week is

currently 35 hours per week. The average working day is taken to be 7 hours.

Overall Council Results

The graph and table below shows the average time spent on the DILO activities (and on

inputting into key systems) by participants across the Council. The activity with the most time

recorded was administration tasks, followed by face-to-face interaction with Council

colleague. The Council may prefer to see a higher amount of time spent on customer

interaction than is currently shown (56 minutes in total).

Diagram 2: Average time spent on DILO activities across the Council

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

commute


f2f customers


f2f colleagues


f2f others


admin tasks

training out of office

training in office

Activity

Overall Council Average

Table 2: Average time spent on DILO activities across the Council

DILO Activity Time (minutes)

Commute 48

Travel during working hours 22

Face-to-face (f2f) with customers 24

Telephone / email customers 32

Face-to-face (f2f) with colleagues 83

Telephone / email colleagues 55

Face-to-face (f2f) with others 11

Telephone / email others 17

Administration tasks 107

Training out of office 3

Training in office 5

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Average time spent travelling to / from work Diagram 3: Time spent travelling to and from work per day

Commute

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Chief Exec Community Services Corporate Services Development

Services

Operat ional Services

Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent on the commute to and from work is 48 minutes a day across all

Departments.

There are a high number of regular commute times recorded in this survey of in excess of 1

hour per day which can be attributed to the geography of Argyll.

Looking at the most frequently recorded (mode) times it can be seen that most people spend

around 0.5 or 1 hour on their daily commute. This is shown in the diagram below.

Diagram 4: Total Responses across the Council

0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000

Number of entries

0.00.51.0

1.52.0

2.53.0

3.54.0

4.55.05.5

6.06.5

7.0

Tim

e (

ho

urs

)

Commute

The diagram above also shows that there were 904 responses of 1 hour or more for their

daily commute. This is approximately 36% of the total responses to the survey.

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15

If employees were able to work flexibly then it would be possible to decrease the average

commute time, as staff could work from home or a more local office at times. It has been

shown that when the average commute time is reduced, productivity levels increase and

employees benefit from an improvement in their work/life balance.

Average time spent travelling during working hours Diagram 5: Time spent travelling during working hours per day

Travel during working hours

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40


Services


Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent travelling during working hours in a day across all of the Departments

is 22 minutes. This is equates to similar findings from other Council’s that BT has worked

with.

The DILO survey shows that the highest travel during working hours was recorded by

Operational Services (35 minutes on average per day) followed by Community Services (26

minutes) and Development Services (21 minutes).

Diagram 6: Total Responses across the Council for travel during working hours

0 50 100 150 200 250

Number of entries

0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.05.56.06.57.0

Tim

e (

ho

urs

)

Travel during work hours

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16

To become more efficient we recommend focussing on job roles which involve a large amount

of travel during working hours. By allowing these people to adopt more flexible or mobile work

styles and providing them with the tools and support required we could potentially cut down

the amount of travel time.

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Average time spent communicating with external customers

a) face-to-face contact with Service Users or Customers external to the Council b) telephone and/or e-mail contact with Service Users or Customers external to the Council

Diagram 7a: Time spent on contact with Service Users or Customers per day

Face to face interactions with customers

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Chief Exec Community Services Corporate Services Development Services Operational Services

Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

Diagram 8b: Time spent on contact with Service Users or Customers per day

Telephone / email contact with customers

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Chief Exec Community

Services

Corporate Services Development

Services

Operat ional

Services

Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent per day on face-to-face contact with external Customers / Service

Users is 24 minutes across the Council. The Departments which spend the highest amount of

time on face-to-face contact are:

• Community Services (39 minutes)

• Operational Services (21 minutes)

The Chief Executive’s and Development Services Departments have less face-to-face contact

with customers at 6 minutes and 15 minutes respectively.

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The average time spent on telephone and/or e-mail contact with external Customers / Service

Users is 32 minutes per day across the Council. This is slightly higher than the average face-

to-face interaction, which is typical of other Councils.

The Departments which spend the highest amount of time on telephone and/or e-mail contact

with external Customers / Service Users are:

• Development Services (40 minutes)

• Corporate Services (36 minutes)

The study shows that, in total, the average time spent per day communicating with external

customers / service users is 56 minutes. This equates to 13% of a 7 hour working day. The

adoption of new work styles will increase the time spent on customer facing activity thereby

improving our customer service.

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Average time spent communicating with Argyll and Bute Council colleagues

a) face-to-face contact with Argyll and Bute Council colleagues b) telephone and/or e-mail contact with Argyll and Bute Council colleagues

Diagram 9a: Time spent on contact with Argyll and Bute Council Colleagues per day

Face to face interaction with colleagues

0

20

40

60

80

100

120


Services


Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent on face-to-face contact with Argyll and Bute Council colleagues is 83

minutes per day across the Council. This is around 20% of a 7 hour working day. There is

potential for some of these face-to-face meetings to be conducted virtually via audio / web /

video conferencing.

Diagram 10b: Time spent on contact with Argyll and Bute Council Colleagues per day

Telephone / email contact with colleagues

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Chief Exec Community Services Corporate Services Development Services Operat ional Services

Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent on telephone and/or e-mail contact with Argyll and Bute Council

colleagues is 55 minutes per day across the Council.

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The study indicates that, in total, the average time spent per day communicating with Argyll

and Bute Council colleagues is 128 minutes. This equates to 30% of a 7 hour working day.

Average time spent communicating with people other than customers or

Argyll and Bute Council colleagues

a) face-to-face contact with PEOPLE OTHER THAN customers or Argyll and Bute Council colleagues e.g. other agencies, Third Sector b) telephone and/or e-mail contact with PEOPLE OTHER THAN customers or Argyll and Bute Council colleagues

Diagram 11: Time spent on contact with others per day

Face to face interaction with others

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18


Services


Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent on face-to-face contact with people other than customers or Argyll

and Bute Council colleagues is 11 minutes per day across the Council.

The Departments which spend the highest amount of time on face-to-face contact with people

other than customers or Argyll and Bute Council colleagues are:



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21

Diagram 12: Time spent on contact with others per day

Telephone / email with others

0

5

10

15

20

25


Services


Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent on telephone and/or e-mail contact with people other than customers

or Argyll and Bute Council colleagues, across the Council, is 17 minutes.

The Departments which spend the highest amount of time on telephone and/or e-mail contact

with people other than customers or Argyll and Bute Council colleagues are:


• Development Services (18 minutes)

Time spent on administrative tasks

Diagram 13: Time spent on administrative tasks per day

Administration

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140


Services


Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

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22

The average time spent on administrative tasks per day is 107 minutes across the Council.

This equates to 25% of a 7 hour working day.

The Departments which spend the highest amount of time on administrative tasks are:


• Corporate Services (114 minutes)

A number of participants of the DILO survey list ‘admin’, ‘administrator’, ‘administrative’, or

‘administration’ in their job title or service area. These people will influence the findings as the

majority of their day will be spent on administrative tasks. There is a potential for the Council

to reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks by adopting new work styles and

new technologies. For instance mobile workers could reduce this non-core element of their

role by updating information in the field or at customer premises.

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23

Average time spent on training

a) in the office b) out of the office

Diagram 14: Time spent on training per day (in office)

Training in office

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8


Services


Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

Diagram 15: Time spent on training per day (out of the office)

Training out of office

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Chief Exec Community Services Corporate Services Development Services Operat ional Services

Directorate

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Overa l l Average

The average time spent on training in the office per day is 5 minutes across the Council. The

average time spent on training out of the office is 3 minutes across the Council. In total 9

minutes were spent across the Council per day training.

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Department Findings On completion of the study, the results of each participant’s daily diary entries were collated

and analysed according to Department. The next series of diagrams illustrate the breakdown

of an ‘average day’ for a staff member in each Department, based on the DILO diary entries.

The day represented includes only the time spent on activities which were listed in the DILO

survey and commuting time is added to this. There will be other activities undertaken during

the day that the DILO does not record.

The results are comparable across all Departments with the highest time spent on the

following activities:

o face-to-face contact with external customers

o administration

o commuting time

o telephone / email contact with the Council.

Chief Executive’s 46 respondees (8% contribution to Service Findings) Diagram 16: Time spent on DILO activities per day in Chief Executive

Chief Executive

55

10

616

94

61

7

77 13

15

commute


f2f customers


f2f co lleagues


f2f others

telephone/email o thers

admin tasks

training out of o ffice

training in office

On average, the Chief Executive’s Department spent most time on face-to-face interaction

with colleagues (94 minutes), administration (77 minutes), and telephone / email interaction

with colleagues (61 minutes). Administration takes up 18% of a 7 hour working day. By

adopting new work styles there is potential for making efficiency savings within this

department.

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Community Services 186 respondees (35% contribution to Service Findings) Diagram 17: Time spent on DILO activities per day in Community Services

Community Services

48

26

39

32

8056

119

7 6

17

17

commute


f2f customers


f2f colleagues

telephone/email co lleagues

f2f o thers


admin tasks

training out o f office

training in o ffice

Within Community Services, the DILO activities that have the highest time recorded against

them per day are: administration, face-to-face contact with Colleagues, and telephone / email

contact with Colleagues. On average 19% of a 7 hour working day is spent on face-to-face

contact with colleagues. This Department also shows the highest amount of time recorded on

face to face customer contact (39 minutes).

Corporate Services 156 responses (29% contribution to Service Findings) Diagram 18: Time spent on DILO activities per day in Corporate Services

Corporate Services

45

15

18

36

7253

516

114

1 4 5

commute


f2f customers


f2f colleagues


f2f o thers


admin tasks


training in o ffice

Ave. Hours

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26

In Corporate Services the highest proportion of time is spent on administrative tasks (114

minutes). The next highest proportion of time is attributed to face-to-face contact with

colleagues (72 minutes) followed by telephone/ email contact with colleagues (53 minutes).

Operational Services 95 responses (18% contribution to Service Findings) Diagram 19: Time spent on DILO activities per day in Operational Services


44

35

21

31

10057

13

20

94

2 3

commute


f2f customers


f2f colleagues


f2f o thers


admin tasks


training in o ffice

Operational Services spends the highest amount of time on face to face contact with other

Argyll and Bute Council colleagues (100 minutes). This department also shows a higher

amount of time travelling during the working day (35 minutes) than the other departments.

Development Services 56 responses (10% contribution to Service Findings) Diagram 20: Time spent on DILO activities per day in Development Services

Development Services

50

21

15

40

8746

10

18

98

0 7 5

commute


f2f customers


f2f colleagues


f2f o thers


admin tasks


training in o ffice

Ave. Hours

Page 184


27

Development Services spends the highest amount of time on administration (98 minutes)

followed by face-to-face contact with Colleagues (87 minutes).

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28

Service Findings A further breakdown of Departmental findings to Service level is shown in the series of

diagrams below. All times shown are approximate to the nearest integer.

The Service outlined in red is the one recorded as spending the highest amount of time on the

DILO activity. The Service in yellow is the one which spent the shortest amount of time on the

DILO activity.

Average commuting time Diagram 1: Time spent commuting per day (including any lunch time travel)

Commute

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Counci l Average

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29

Average time spent travelling during working hours Diagram 2: Time spent travelling during working hours per day

Travel during work hours

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Counci l Average

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30

Average time spent on customer contact a) face-to-face contact with external Customers / Service Users b) telephone and/or e-mail contact with external Customers / Service Users

Diagram 3a: Time spent on contact with external customers / service users per day

Customer interaction - face to face

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Face to face Customers

Council Average f2f

Diagram 3b: Time spent on contact with external customers / service users per day

Customer interaction tel/email

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Tel / email Customers

Council Average tel / email

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31

Average time spent on contact with Argyll and Bute Council colleagues

a) face-to-face contact with Argyll and Bute Council colleagues b) telephone and/or e-mail contact with Argyll and Bute Council colleagues

Diagram 4a: Time spent on contact with Argyll and Bute Council Colleagues per day

Colleague interaction - Face to Face

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Face to Face Co lleague Council Averge f2f

Diagram 4b: Time spent on contact with Argyll and Bute Council Colleagues per day

Colleague interaction - tel/email

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

telephone/email colleagues Council Average Tel / email

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32

Average time spent on contact with others a) face-to-face contact with PEOPLE OTHER THAN customers or Argyll and Bute Council colleagues b) telephone and/or e-mail contact with PEOPLE OTHER THAN customers or Argyll and Bute Council colleagues

Diagram 5a: Time spent on contact with others per day

Interaction with others

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Face to face Others Council Average f2f

Diagram 5b: Time spent on contact with others per day

Interaction with others

05

101520253035404550

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Tel / email Others Council Average Tel / email

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33

Time spent on administrative tasks Diagram 6: Time spent on administrative tasks per day

Administration

0

50

100

150

200

250

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Counci l Average

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34

Time spent on training:

a) in the office b) out of the office

Diagram 7a: Time spent on training per day

Training - Out of Ofice

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

Out of Office Council Average out o ffice

Diagram 7b: Time spent on training per day

Training - In Office

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Service

Tim

e (

min

ute

s)

In Office Council Average in o ffice

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35

Conclusions The information displayed in this report indicates that there is significant scope across the

Council for adopting flexible, mobile or home working work styles.

Services which spend a high proportion of time on administrative tasks and a low proportion

of time on face-to-face contact could benefit from home working. The average time spent on

administrative tasks per day is 107 minutes across the Council. This equates to 25% of a 7

hour working day. This suggests that there is potential to reduce the amount of time spent on

administration by adopting new work styles and introducing new technologies.

Many employees spend a lot of time travelling to and from work each day. This time could be

better spent if employees adopt a flexible work style, sometimes working from home or a

more convenient location closer to their home.

Those who spend large amounts of time travelling during working hours and in face-to-face

meetings with customers, colleagues, and others, will also benefit from new work styles. By

introducing audio/web/ video conferencing in place of internal face-to-face meetings (currently

83 minutes per day across all departments) the Council could reduce travel expenses and

help meet the requirements of the Council’s Carbon Management Plan.

Individuals from Departments which spend a high proportion of time in face-to-face meetings

are not generally using their desks at this time. This provides an opportunity to introduce desk

sharing and using the space saved to create more meeting rooms. This, along with other

property initiatives, will enable the Council to rationalise its property portfolio and thereby

deliver efficiency savings.

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Appendix A: Department and Service breakdown B: Raw Results – amended data C: DILO Survey Questions

Argyll & Bute DILO Survey Questionnaire.docx

Page 194

Steve Gillies | BT Consulting

WORK

STYLE

ARGYLL & BUTE COUNCIL

WORKFORCE DEPLOYMENT THEME

APPENDIX 5– SOLUTION DESIGN WORKSHOP REPORT

Page 195

Argyll & Bute Council/BT Confidential

Steve Gillies, BT Workstyle Transformation – September 2009

1.0 Introduction.......................................................................................... 3

2.0 Solution Design Workshops .................................................................. 4

3.0 Workstyle Adoption Profiles ................................................................. 5

4.0 Personal Preferences ............................................................................ 8

5.0 Gain Assessment................................................................................... 9

6.0 Solution Design Assessment................................................................ 14

7.0 Blockers Assessment........................................................................... 18

8.0 Conclusions & Summary...................................................................... 19

Appendix A – Design Elements..................................................................... 20

Appendix B – Workshop Pre-Read Material ................................................. 24

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1.0 Introduction

Argyll & Bute Council (the Council) is considering a series of themed change programmes as part of its ‘Process

for Change’ initiative.

There are several theme based initiatives

each interlinked as shown in Figure 1

including the Workforce Deployment

Programme. The Workforce Deployment

Programme is focused on the introduction

of modern agile working practices across

the Council. The large scale adoption of

agile working practices is being driven by

new on-line technologies, management

attitudes to remote working, employee

needs for improved work life balance and

by cost challenges.

A high level business case and solution

design was developed by the Council which

culminated with the publication of the High

Level Design Report on 20th

February 2009. This recognized the need for a more detailed analysis of the

Council’s specific requirements.

In July and August 2009 seven Solution Design Workshops were provided in which 85 staff participated. The

aims of the workshops were to validate staff requirements for agile working, validate the job role matching

exercise and to assess the appetite for adoption.

This report describes the findings, conclusions and recommendations from the Solution Design Workshops. It

should be read in conjunction with the Work Force Deployment Financial Report.

Additional information can be obtained from Morag Brown, Business Improvement Manager; Gordon Munro,

Performance Improvement Officer; or Laura Cameron, Service Standards Officer. The workshops and report

were developed with assistance from the BT Workstyle Team – contact [email protected] for further

information.

Figure 1: Work Force Deployment Context

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2.0 Solution Design Workshops

A total of 7 workshops in 5 locations were conducted involving 85 staff as shown in Table 1 - Workshops. Each

workshop was managed by experienced facilitators. One of the workshops, Lochgilphead 7th

August, was

focused on managers.

Table 1: Workshops

Workshop Date # of Attendees Facilitators

Lochgilphead 27th

July 2009 11 Steve Gillies, Dominic Sherry, Colin Bromley, Lewis

Preston, Susie Thomson, Laura Cameron

Dunoon 28th

July 2009 9 Steve Gillies, Colin Bromley, Shirley Johnstone

Lochgilphead 3rd

August 2009 17 Dominic Sherry, Laura Cameron, Lewis Preston, Ernie

Brown

Campbeltown 4th

August 2009 13 Dominic Sherry, Laura Cameron, Shirley Johnstone, June

Graham

Oban 5th

August 11 Colin Bromley, June Graham, Laura Cameron

Helensburgh 6th

August 10 Shirley Johnstone, June Graham

Lochgilphead - Managers 7th

August 2009 14 Steve Gillies, Dominic Sherry, Morag Brown, Willie Young,

Laura Cameron

Pre-read material was made available to participants and each workshop consistently followed the same

agenda comprising of a discussion based presentation on the benefits and challenges of introducing new agile

based ways of working and a set of exercises. The pre-read material provided can be found in Appendix B. A

Facilitators Guide was also produced and this can be found in Appendix A. The agenda for each workshop is

shown in Table 2 - Agenda.

Table 2: Agenda

Introductions

Work Style Transformation Presentation

Exercise 1 – Job Role Matching

Exercise 2 – Solution Design Element Assessment

Exercise 3 – Personal Style Evaluation

Exercise 4 – Gain Assessment Exercise

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It should be noted that the workshops were very well attended and staff enthusiastically participated in the

exercises and discussions. Feedback has been very positive from participants. A list of the job roles that

attended each workshop is provided in Appendix C.

3.0 Workstyle Adoption Profiles

Following an in-depth discussion on agile working and detailed definitions of the various agile work styles –

home, flexible, mobile, fixed and on-line fixed – participants were asked to nominate which style best matched

their job role. The findings for Exercise 1 are provided in Table 3 – Work Style Matching Results.

Table 3: Work Style Matching Results

Workshop Date Fixed Work Style Flexible Works Style Mobile Work Style Home Work Style

Lochgilphead 27-Jul 2 8 1 0

Dunoon 28-Jul 0 8 1 0

Lochgilphead 03-Aug 2 14 0 1

Campbeltown 04-Aug 3 9 0 0

Oban 05-Aug 6 4 0 1

Helensburgh 06-Aug 1 8 1 0

Lochgilphead 07-Aug 0 15 0 0

14 (16%) 66 (78%) 3 (4%) 2 (2%)

Based on evidence provided by the Services the High Level Design Report concluded that 29% (474) of Council

staff could adopt one of the new agile work styles (Flexible, Mobile, Home). Extrapolating from the workshop

data would suggest a profile as shown in Table 4 – Work Style Profile.

Table 4: Work Style Profile

Total Target Population Flexible Works Style Mobile Work Style Home Work Style

100% 93% 4% 3%

474 441 20 13

However, it should be noted that representation at the workshops was heavily orientated towards the flexible

work style. The mobile work style is probably much understated. Similar studies with other Councils suggest a

profile of 70% flexible, 25% mobile and 5% home.

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The Council pilot has already identified a number of Mobile Workers resulting in less representation at the

workshops.

The job role matching exercise does reveal some differences between the workshops as shown in Figure 2 –

Workshop Works Style Matching Breakdown.

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18%

0%

12%

25%

0%

55%

10%

73%

89%

82%

75%

100%

36%

80%

9%

11%

0%

0%

10%

6%

9%

0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

27-Jul

28-Jul

03-Aug

04-Aug

07-Aug

05-Aug

06-Aug

Lochgilphead

Dunoon

Lochgilphead

Campbeltown

Lochgilphead

Oban

Helensburgh

Fixed

Flexible

Mobile

Home

Figure 2: Workshop Work Style Matching Breakdown

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4.0 Personal Preferences

At each workshop participants were asked to evaluate their personal preference towards agile working. The

overwhelming majority, nearly 100%, said that they felt they had the necessary skills to work remotely and

that they had a desire to work remotely ‘for some of the time’.

In addition a set of every day work activities were provided that are typical of the ‘remote’ worker. The

participants evaluated their work activities as shown in Figure 3 – Activity Results.

On average 40% of the activities were rated as ‘high or very high’ as a part of everyday work. This suggests that

many of the work activities of those who responded to this set of questions can be done remotely.

It should be noted that the activities included in this analysis are ones that are considered appropriate for

‘remote working’.

Figure 4: Activity Results

Figure 3: Activity Analysis

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5.0 Gain Assessment

At each workshop participants were asked to estimate the percentage gain if they were to adopt one of the

agile work styles against face-to-face meetings, business travel, commute and administration. The total gain is

shown in Table 5 – Total Gain Assessment Results.

Note 1: The Total Gain Assessment excludes any gain from commute as this is generally perceived as an

employee benefit.1

Note 2: The Total Gain Assessment is based on agile working being able to impact 50% of Administration time

recorded from the DILO Survey. The DILO Survey concluded that 211 minutes per day were spent on tasks that

could be done by an individual without any support or assistance from a colleague. Examples of activities

included in this category are eMail, report writing, financial analysis, developing presentations, proof reading

and research. We have included 105.5 minutes per day in this analysis as the DILO Survey definition of

‘administration’ was ambiguous leading to a medium to low confidence level in the data gathered. For this

reason we have only included 50% of the total time spent on administration activities as gathered by the DILO

Survey.

Table 5: Total Gain Assessment Results

Workshop Date Total Gain Percentage Estimates

Lochgilphead 27-Jul 9.65%

Dunoon 28-Jul 12.04%

Lochgilphead 03-Aug 17.72%

Campbeltown 04-Aug 5.56%

Oban 05-Aug 3.32%

Helensburgh 06-Aug 3.67%


All Workshop Average 10.01%

The total estimate of 10.01% is similar to but lower than the efficiency gains reported by many commercial

organizations who have invested in large-scale work style transformation and typically report a gain of

1 Several commercial organisations (e.g. Cisco) have reported gains from the reduction of employee commute time at 60% of the total

commute gain from reduced travel. Also, some commercial organisations have included a time reduction known as ‘decompression time’.

Studies have shown high stress levels from commuting and that it subsequently takes time for an employee to become productive on

arrival at the office – it can be argued that this decompression time can be recovered in part via agile working.

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between 10% and 20%. It is also similar to but lower than the efficiency gains planned by several Scottish and

UK Local Authorities who typically estimate efficiency gains of between 15% and 25%. The gains estimated are

further broken down into face-to-face meetings, business travel, commute and administration.

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Face-to-Face Meetings: A significant amount of time can be saved by substituting face-to-face meetings with

on-line web based meetings. There are three forms of on-line meeting to consider – audio only, web based

without video, and web based with video.

On-line meetings can often be used for information or knowledge exchange type meetings, especially those

with standard agendas and templates. It is more difficult, but growing in popularity, to also use on-line

meeting facilities for dialogue based meetings such as negotiations or team explorations. The nature of these

latter meetings, being less structured, makes them more difficult to replace the face-to-face element and

therefore they can require high quality, expensive video conferencing components.

Workshop attendees were asked to estimate what percentage of their face-to-face meetings could be replaced

by on-line meeting. The results are shown in Table 6 – Face-to-Face Meeting Gain Results.

Table 6: Face-to-Face Meeting Gain Results

Workshop Date Face-to-Face Gain Percentage Estimates


Dunoon 28-Jul 6.56%



Oban 05-Aug 1.53%




Business Travel: In addition to a reduction in travel time by substituting face-to-face meetings with on-line

meetings a reduction in business travel can be achieved simply by making the corporate network accessible

from any Council location.

We call this the ‘proximity advantage’ and each workshop participant was asked to estimate what percentage

reduction in travel time would be gained from it. The results are shown in Table 7 – Business Travel Gain

Results.

Table 7: Business Travel Gain Results

Workshop Date Business Travel Gain Percentage Estimates


Dunoon 28-Jul 0.47%



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Oban 05-Aug 0.19%




The gain estimated is low compared to other organisations at only 0.30% of a 7 hour working day, equivalent

to 1.26 minutes per day. This is owing to the geography the Council operates in. The long distances and travel

time between Council sites encourage staff to live local to their base location and to batch up meetings that

require travel. The net result is that the workshop participants have only estimated a small daily gain as they

are already efficient in this regard.

Commute: The ‘soft’ benefits of being able to work from home are very significant for many employees. In

addition a significant amount of time can be saved. The workshop participants estimated the reduction in

commute time as shown in Table 8 – Commute Gain Results.

Table 8: Commute Gain Results

Workshop Date Commute Gain Percentage Estimates


Dunoon 28-Jul 3.43%



Oban 05-Aug 0.94%




The estimate of 2.09% is equivalent to 8.76 minutes per day. There is a significant variation from person to

person, with some employees gaining considerable commute time.

As noted above in Note 1 of the Gain Assessment section we have not included any commute benefit in the

overall gain assessment calculation.

Administration: It is well recognized that some work activities can be better accomplished in a quiet,

uninterrupted environment. Employees, for example, will often work from home for activities (e.g. handling

email, writing reports) that can be completed more efficiently.

The amount of gain estimate by the workshop participants for these kinds of activities (labeled

‘Administration’ in the DILO Survey) is shown in Table 9: Administration Gain Results.

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Table 9: Administration Gain Results

Workshop Date Administration Gain Percentage Estimates


Dunoon 28-Jul 5.02%



Oban 05-Aug 1.60%




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6.0 Solution Design Assessment

At each workshop participants were asked to evaluate 35 elements of the solution design. These ranged from

technology options to education, training and office layouts. They were organized into 10 design areas as

shown in Table 10: Design Areas.

Table 10: Design Areas

Each element was assessed by workshop participants for

Importance, Efficiency and Satisfaction. The summary results

are shown in Table 11: Design Element Evaluations. Detailed

results are shown in Appendix X.

The assessments were conducted in small groups of 2 or 3

employees but scores were gathered from individuals.

The Furniture and Equipment (F&E) and the Systems Access

(SA) design areas were assessed by all workshop attendees

and the rest were split into groups.

Importance: in this evaluation participants were asked to rate

the design element for its level of relative importance to the

Council as an organization. In answering the question the

options were essential; important; of some value; of little

value; and unnecessary.

The top ten evaluated design elements for importance’ are

summarized in Table 11 – Importance Top Ten.

Table 11: Importance Top Ten

Design Element Summary Areas

F&E1, F&E2 Computer equipment and furniture (for permanent home bases employees)

SA1, SA3, SA4, SA5, F&E3,

F&E6

Secure network access to common systems such as email internet, intranet; and to specialized line of

business systems

PD2 Programme management arrangements, particularly the need to work across the Council and involve all

Services and all levels of management in the change process.

OSS1 Employee support through the transfer process and after they adopt and start to practice agile work

styles – support can take many forms including self service support via on-line systems.

Efficiency: in this evaluation participants were asked to assess the design element for how much it would

contribute to their work efficiency. They were asked to state if they agree with the statement “this design

element will improve my efficiency”. In answering the question the options were strongly agree; agree; neither

agrees nor disagrees; disagree; and strongly disagree.

Label Design Area

F&E Furniture & Equipment

A&I Accommodation & Infrastructure

SA Systems Access

OM Outcome Measures

BP Best Practice Support

H&S Health & Safety

PD Programme Delivery

OSS Operational Support Systems

E&T Education & Training

P&P People & Policy

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Table 12: Efficiency Top Ten


SA1, SA3, SA4, F&E3, F&E6 Secure network access to common systems such as email internet, intranet; and to specialized line of

business systems

E&T1 Education, training and coaching on the use of tele-working technologies; and on practices, behaviours

and policies re agile working.

PD2 Programme management arrangements, particularly the need to work across the Council and involve all

Services and all levels of management in the change process.

F&E4, F&E5, A&I1 Computer equipment, furniture (for permanent home bases employees) and reconfigured office space

Satisfaction: similarly participants were asked to evaluate how much the design element would contribute to

their work satisfaction. They were asked to state if they agree with the statement “this design element will

improve my work satisfaction”. In answering the question the options were strongly agree; agree; neither

agrees nor disagrees; disagree; and strongly disagree.

The results of the solution design assessment clearly indicate that equipment, infrastructure, governance and

training are all important aspects of making a success of work style transformation.

Table 13: Satisfaction Top Ten


SA1, SA7, SA8, F&E3 Secure network access to common systems such as email internet, intranet; and to specialized line of

business systems

E&T1 Education, training and coaching on the use of tele-working technologies; and on practices, behaviours

and policies re agile working.

OSS1 Employee support through the transfer process and after they adopt and start to practice agile work

styles – support can take many forms including self service support via on-line systems.

F&E2, F&E4, F&E5, F&E6 Computer equipment, furniture (for permanent home bases employees) and reconfigured office space

There are several common elements between importance, efficiency and satisfaction as shown in Figure 4 –

Top Ten Summary.

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Figure 5: Top Ten Summary

The detailed responses to the solution design elements are provided in Appendix A. The top ten summary

clearly indicates that a holistic and comprehensive approach is required to be successful with a work style

transformation programme.

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7.0 Blockers Assessment

Workshop participants were asked to list the ‘blockers’ they perceive to adopting agile work styles. These are

summarized in Figure 6 below.

Sutability of Technology/IT Support

Colleague Interaction & Communications

Paper Files Needed

Office Facilities, Layout, Storage Space

Network, Systems or Information Access

Attitude of Management & Colleagues

Visibility & Performance Measurement Concerns

Personal Work Style Preferences

Domestic Constraints

Security/Confidentiality

Figure 6: Blockers Assessment

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8.0 Conclusions & Summary

From the level of interest and enthusiastic debate at the Solution Design Workshops it is clear that many

employees view agile working as a potential and significant benefit to them.

The overwhelming majority rates themselves as being capable of working more in an agile fashion and stated a

desire to ‘for some of the time’.

It is clear from the activity analysis that a significant amount of day to day work can be done remotely from

any location providing they have access to the council network, systems and data records.

Many employees feel there is a cultural challenge and that both executive level and middle management need

to take a leadership role to successfully implement agile working Council wide. This is evidenced in the ‘top ten

analyses where education, training, coaching, programme management and governance were all cited as

important. They also feel that ICT equipment and services are important and vital to benefit realization.

The 85 workshop attendees provide the Council with confidence that they are heading in the right direction

and that the proposed agile working programme can be successful if these issues are addressed.

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Appendix A – Design Elements

Each activity was scored according to the rules shown in Table 14. All scores were multiplies by 100

to achieve data separation.

It should be noted that the minimum score for each solution design element is zero and the

maximum score possible is 500.

Table 14: Scoring Rules

Criteria2 Essential Important Of Some

Value

Of Little Value Unnecessary

Score 5 4 3 2 1

Criteria3 Strongly

Agree

Agree Neither Agree

nor Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Disagree

Score 5 4 3 2 1

Table 15: Design Element Evaluations

Design

Element Importance Efficiency Satisfaction Short Description

F&E2 436 381 400 Home Workers require a desktop computer, printer, flat screen

monitor, keyboard and mouse as standard.

F&E3 432 392 397 A broadband service is required at the homes of Home Workers,

Flexible Workers and Mobile Workers.

SA1 431 411 390 Agile Workers require secure access to the corporate network

and to their critical Service Department systems from any

location.

F&E5 406 387 384 Mobile Workers require a Laptop PC and a printer located at

their home location.

F&E4 406 393 381 Flexible Workers require a Laptop PC and a printer located at

their home location.

SA8 398 384 378 Agile Workers will have access to an online support application

providing a range of support services and content.

2 Used to assess the importance to of the solution design element to the Council

3 Used to assess the contribution the solution design element can make to employee efficiency and job satisfaction

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F&E6 429 391 376 All Agile Workers will require on-line data back facilities

E&T1 412 396 376 Agile Workers require education, training and knowledge

exchange services. Examples that may be included in the

programme are online line training modules covering the main

aspects of home enabled working (accessed via the Work Style

Support Portal) including key ordering, authorisation and audit

procedures; class room based adoption course addressing the

features of the flexible working support environment, useful

contacts, suggested ways of working, and advice on working

practices and special tools (e.g. virtual team meeting software);

and advice on how to set up informal on-line knowledge sharing

and best practice exchange communities.

SA7 394 383 375 On line collaborative working tools will be made available to all

Agile Workers and to Online fixed Workers. These tools are used

to work with colleagues and can substitute a significant number

of face to face meetings.

OSS1 410 382 373 Agile Workers will have access to an on-line support services

tailored to their needs.

SA4 430 398 373 All Agile Workers will have on-line access to email, intranet, an

electronic document and records management system (EDRMS),

shared files and the internet.

SA3 422 393 370 Council sites will have Local Area Networks installed and

configured for use by all Agile Workers. This allows Agile Workers

to connect to the corporate network and systems from any

location with access points.

SA2 399 381 368 Council sites, located in areas of frequent ‘footfall’, will have a

wireless network installed allowing Agile Workers with the right

equipment (e.g. a laptop computer) to access the corporate

network and systems providing they have the right

authorisations.

OSS2 364 350 366 Agile Workers require access to an on-line community to share

ideas, knowledge and approaches with other Agile Workers.

SA5 420 381 362 A selection of key corporate applications will be made available

to all Agile Workers provided they have the right access

authorities. For example, Social Workers will have access to their

key social work applications.

F&E1 431 386 355 Home Workers will require a selection of Council provided

furniture including a desk, chair, and computer pedestal for use

at home. The furniture funded by the Council subject to business

case, affordability and approvals. The Council will retain

ownership of provided furniture. Furniture to be delivered

directly to the employee’s home address. Employees require the

ability to purchase additional furniture at their costs. In this case

the supplier will invoice the employee directly and be responsible

for the collection of any debt or for resolving issues.

F&E7 361 353 353 Agile Workers will require the ability to order stationery, forms

and consumables (e.g. printer cartridges) via an on-line self

service application. Home Workers will be able to have these

items delivered to their home office location.

A&I1 401 392 352 Agile Workers require Council sites equipped with flexi-centres

where all Agile Workers can work and access systems and data.

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OSS3 381 382 350 All new applicants wishing to become Agile Workers be provided

with access to an on-line support application that will provide a

variety of support services for new applicants including sources

of information and guidance for individuals considering a change

to their work style; sources of information and guidance to

explore the implications and impact of this new way of working

and to see what support packages are available; and advice and

guidance that support the application and setup processes.

OM1 392 366 349 Agile Workers will be expected to work with their line and/or

people manager to implement outcome based measures for their

job role where possible.

SA6 366 354 347 A list of optional computer applications (e.g. Visio) will be made

available to all Agile Workers at an additional charge to the

appropriate service department. The list will be agreed between

the Services and the Work Force Deployment Programme.

PD1 396 373 347 A central programme delivery team will be set-up to develop and

execute implementation and operational plans required to

support the Work Force deployment Programme – the team

would be formed following approval of their full business case by

full Council in Nov 2009.

P&P1 389 358 347 All employees may apply to adopt one of the agile work styles -

an authorisation process and criteria will be published. A process

and set of criteria will be defined for acceptance. Explanations

will be provided if an application is rejected.

PD3 379 382 345 The Programme Team will regularly produce progress reports for

all stakeholders including employees, Council managers and

Councillors.

P&P2 383 348 341 A notice period will be required for employees who want to exit

the programme.

PD2 407 387 339 The central programme management team will work in

cooperation with Services and other Council entities to ensure

the smooth development, adoption and operations of the work

style environment.

BP1 415 356 332 Agile Workers will have access to guidelines covering subjects

such as the use of equipment, flexible working practices,

implementing security policies, and virtual community

development and participation.

E&T2 321 331 329 Agile Workers will be provided with a regular news letter with

editorials, articles, special features and news of interest to the

community.

H&S1 398 331 325 Agile Workers who are provided home based Council furniture or

equipment will be required to comply with the Councils health

and safety policies and procedures and in accordance with

relevant UK and European legislation.

A&I3 394 368 324 Existing desk space will be reconfigured so that it supports agility.

This means that there will be workstations designated as ‘flexi-

desks’ that can be used by all Agile Workers.

A&I2 370 359 323 It is envisaged that each flexi-centre will consist of a mix of

spaces – including individual work stations, team zones and quiet

areas, but the mix and actual amount will depend on demand

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and space available.

P&P4 393 355 322 Guidelines and policy on the use of home based broadband will

be published and adhered to by all employees.

OSS4 383 353 321 All managers of Agile Workers will have access to an online

supports application that will provide a variety of support

services specifically for managers.

A&I4 380 355 312 All computers supplied to Agile Workers will be ‘locked down’ to

ensure security, performance and software licence legal

compliance. The Council require that all computer provided to

Agile Workers will be able to be remotely diagnosed, repaired

and updated. In addition users will be able to download the latest

releases or versions of client side applications (e.g. Microsoft

personal productivity tools) provided by the Council.

P&P3 341 300 286 Any equipment or furniture supplied is owned by the Council, if

an employee leaves the Council all equipment and furniture must

be returned.

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Appendix B – Workshop Pre-Read Material

Introduction

Argyll & Bute Council (the Council) is conducting a major study into modern, flexible working practices. The

aim of the study is to determine the potential and feasibility of adopting agile working practices across the

Council.

For the study to be successful it needs to be highly inclusive and involve as many staff as possible. For this

reason we are providing a series of Workstyle Solution Design Workshops. This paper is the workshop briefing

guide.

The workshops have three specific aims. First we want to assess job roles against four agile work styles – Fixed,

Flexible, Mobile and Home – and determine the potential for adopting these new work styles across the

Council. Secondly we want to identify the benefits and advantages of adopting new agile work styles to both

staff and the Council. And, thirdly, we want to identify any issues or concerns that staff may have if the Council

was to provide agile work styles where it is appropriate to do so across its operations.

There is no need to prepare for the workshop but we have attached three papers that are useful background

reading. ‘Appendix A - Workstyle Archetypes’ is a document describing the four work styles we will focus on in

the workshop. ‘Appendix B - Workstyle Transformation in the Scottish Public Sector’ is a short paper describing

the benefits associated with agile working to the public sector. It also provides a brief description of the new

work styles being considered as part of the study. ‘Appendix C - Solution Elements’ is a list of the design areas

to be discussed at the workshop.

Many thanks for your planned participation. If you have any questions about the workshop please contact

Laura Cameron on 01546 604325 or [email protected].

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Fixed Worker Archetype

Fraser is a Fixed Worker. He is required to be at his desk and

available from 9am to 5pm. He continually needs to interact

with colleagues and his daily tasks tend to be reactive. For

example, citizens may contact him at any time and he needs

to be able to react and prioritize his tasks on an hour by hour

basis.

The requests he receives are unpredictable and therefore it is

difficult to plan or schedule appointments.

Fraser likes working in a fast, busy environment and feels a

sense of satisfaction at helping citizens to solve problems. He

has a Desk Top PC and a work-station specifically allocated to him.

Fraser is a natural networker and enjoys the face to face interaction with colleagues on a day to day basis. He

recognizes that he is easily distracted and needs the constant ‘buzz’ of the office environment to keep him

focused. Also Fraser sometimes works with difficult stressful client situations and having the support of his

colleagues close-by can help him cope through difficult periods.

He requires immediate access to corporate systems to perform his duties and needs a fixed telephone which

has excellent sound quality. His ability to respond quickly depends on having access to all of his equipment

including ‘emergency’ numbers that he has posted in a prominent position on his workstation. Fraser spends

over 90% of his time in the office at his desk.

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Flexible Worker Archetype

Fiona is a Flexible Worker. She is a middle manager who

spends much of her time researching data, meeting with

colleagues in a variety of locations, problem solving, handling

complex citizen issues and coming up with new ideas.

She also has report writing duties and meets regularly with

senior management, elected members and community

representatives.

Before she became a Flexible Worker one of her biggest

frustrations was that she had to go back to the office at the

end of each day to report on her progress and to pick up

papers for the following day.

Fiona has a Laptop Computer and can access her data, email and key systems from anywhere that has network

access. She often drops into an area office, sometimes at a library, and accesses her systems to arrange

meetings and to research her databases. She also has a mobile smart phone that can be used to receive and

send emails, access the internet and text messaging.

She needs access to email, internet and document databases from as many places as possible and there are a

few corporate systems that she occasionally needs access to from Council offices. Typically she is in Council

offices 2 to 3 days per week and the rest of the time she is ‘on the move’ or at home working.

She has a Council office assigned as her home base and uses the shared workstation space and shared desks.

She can book a desk or private meeting rooms if she needs to. Her assigned office also acts as a ‘virtual postal

address’ and she can have mail forwarded to her home address if required.

She is a regular user of tele-conferencing facilities and about four times a week chairs a tele-meeting that

other flexible and fixed workers participate in. Recently she has also started using the new application sharing

facility where she can update planning spreadsheets from her Laptop PC and her colleagues can see and

comment on the changes instantaneously no matter where they are based. Since becoming a flexible worker

her travelling time has reduced significantly and her overall productivity is higher.

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Mobile Worker Archetype

Mike is a Mobile Worker. He is an inspector and supervisor

often travelling, working in the field, or providing advice at

commercial premises throughout the Council area.

In the past he used to have to go to Council offices to meet

his team every morning and also to pick up job schedules,

reports and instructions. Now he is able to spend less than

50% of his time in offices and has therefore been able to

increase his face to face time with citizens and his team.

He requires access to some special corporate systems,

particularly works scheduling and records management

applications. He also needs access to email and the internet whilst he is in the field.

Mike is a very ‘hands on’ supervisor and therefore only occasionally uses tele-conferencing facilities preferring

to conduct face to face sessions with his team. In fact, he was quite uncomfortable with tele-conferencing to

start with but thanks to the training provided he now uses it with ease when it helps him to do his job.

Whilst most of Mike’s work is predictable and can be planned in advance he occasionally has to drop

everything and attend ‘emergency’ situations when he and his team need to work very dynamically and closely

together. He finds the use of a Personal Digital Assistant and Mobile Phone invaluable in these circumstances

so has opted for these rather than a Laptop PC. If he needs to do report writing he will typically use one of the

Desk Top PC’s available in the new drop in centres.

Mike, by his own self admission, was very skeptical about the benefits of mobile working but has become a bit

of a convert over time. He puts this down to the practical nature of the solution and the ability for staff to opt

in and self select, to some extent, their preferred tool set. He does have a building assigned as his official base

and this is where his post gets delivered. However, he rarely goes there and is alerted if there is any mail to

collect. Mike reckons his productivity has increased significantly, not just from reduced travelling time but also

from better access to data and systems.

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Home Worker Archetype

Helen is a Home Worker. She is able to do the majority of her

work from home and spends 9 days out of 10 working from

home. She is a ‘case worker’ and her duties include gathering

information, checking facts, gaining authorizations, and

making judgments on citizen applications.

Citizens depend on the judgments she makes and she takes

her duty very seriously, exploring every angle on an

individual case before coming to a conclusion. Because of this

the amount of time to complete a case can vary wildly:

anything from 10 minutes to half a day of effort spread over

a lapsed time from 1 day to 20 days. Balancing all this and

meeting deadlines is quite a task, best done with full concentration and no interruptions.

In the past she was often distracted from the task at hand through interruptions from colleagues as she was

seen as an expert in one specialist area. This was frustrating as she didn’t seem to gain any recognition for the

contribution she was making. In fact, her daily output was less than average because of these interruptions.

Now she organizes a monthly tele-conference and cascades her specialist knowledge to other colleagues.

Recently she has been recognized as having helped new starts who are also home workers settle into their job.

This has given her the idea of setting up a Home Worker Community within the Council to share ideas,

knowledge, working practices and issues.

Her job is repetitive and her output can be measured. Whilst it is important to do things in a timely fashion she

can decide the priority of work and it doesn’t usually matter if she works flexibly at times more suitable to her

domestic situation.

She has a small office space at home, but it has been surveyed by the Council as fit for purpose and someone

visits regularly to conduct electrical equipment safety checks. She has a Desk Top PC, low carbon footprint

monitor, desk, chair, fixed telephone and printer all supplied by the Council.

She was always keen to work from home but was concerned about the psychological impact of feeling isolated

from the working community. To address this she visits her local office once every two weeks to network with

colleagues. Helen finds it hard now to imagine doing her job in the old way and has turned down approaches

from other companies who weren’t able to offer the same kind of working environment

Page 222



Workstyle Transformation in the Scottish Public Sector

Introduction

In common with Governments throughout the World the Scottish Public Sector faces its most challenging

period for decades. Increasing costs, changing demographics, funding restrictions and a poor economic

outlook are forcing Government to look for new ways of working. The pressures are evenly distributed across

all of the public sector including health, police and local authority.

Agile Working is proving to be an effective way of tackling these issues. It reduces travelling costs, increases

efficiencies and can increase employee satisfaction and skills. In addition work style transformation is seen as

an effective tool to reduce carbon emissions and to improve employee work life balance.

Ultimately it is the citizens that benefit as agencies develop their capability and capacity through the adoption

of agile working practices.

Argyll & Bute Council are investigating the potential for Agile Working and can possibly gain more than most

because of its remote geography. This paper is provided as a briefing for Argyll & Bute employees interested in

Agile Working and participating in the Workforce Deployment Programme.

What do we mean by Agile Working?

Today most Council employees work at the same location and have a permanent desk allocated to them. For

many employees this is unnecessary as they often visit other locations, for example Council offices, client’s

homes, or other premises on a regular basis. This means that desks are often used for only 50% to 60% of the

working day.

Also, when employees visit other locations they often can’t gain access to the corporate network, systems,

shared files or print facilities. This can cause unnecessary travel and delay in responding to requests.

Agile Working addresses these issues by implementing new technologies that can be accessed from a wide

variety of locations including employee’s homes where it is appropriate to do so. It also provides new tools

such as audio and web conferencing that help to reduce travel. Whilst these will never replace all face to face

meetings many meetings can be performed on-line and some are actually better conducted on-line.

It isn’t only the technology that needs to be changed to enable agile working – office accommodation also

needs to be reconfigured. Today almost all Council employees have a desk. Agile Workers will share desks

located at ‘drop-in’ centres. These will be bookable modern workstations designed to support Agile Workers

and the technology they use.

There are four types of Agile Worker to consider – Fixed, Flexible, Mobile and Home. These are explained

further.

A Fixed Worker has a permanently allocated work station at a given location. Typically they work in the same

place most days and have a fixed desktop computer and dedicated telephone line. Whilst their work station is

permanently allocated to them visitors can use it if it is available but their desk is not bookable and is expected

to be returned to the Fixed Worker on request.

Fixed Workers desk are usually in a team zone, a collection of workstations organized around a team or service

area. Fixed Workers are included within the scope of the ‘agility definitions’ as they are often provided with

the same on-line tools, for example web conferencing tools, as agile workers.

Page 223



A Flexible Worker can work at any Council location that provides shareable work stations. Typically they have

a laptop computer and a mobile telephone. They can also ‘log on’ to a desktop telephone and have their

incoming calls routed to them. A Flexible Worker does not have a permanently allocated desk – they use desks

in drop-in centres or book shareable desks in advance. Desks cannot be booked for more than a few days at a

time. Flexible Workers can work at a variety of Council locations, from home, client premises or ‘on the move’

from locations that provide wireless connections to the Internet.

A Mobile Worker is similar to a Flexible Worker but they spend a significant amount of their week ‘in the field’

or ‘on the move’. They may have a laptop computer, specialized device or a PDA/Smartphone type of device.

They can work at any Council location that provides shareable work stations. They can also ‘log on’ to a

desktop telephone and have their incoming calls routed to them. A Mobile Worker does not have a

permanently allocated desk – they use desks in drop-in centres or book shareable desks in advance. Desks

cannot be booked for more than 1 day at a time. Mobile Workers can work at a variety of Council locations,

from home, client premises or ‘on the move’ from locations that provide wireless connections to the Internet.

A Home Worker is able to work permanently from home but may choose to work occasionally from a Council

office. Home Workers typically have a desktop computer and a desktop telephone. They work remotely from

their colleagues and managers. Home Workers do not have workstation in Council premises but can use a

drop-in centre desk or book a shareable desk.

What are the Benefits of Agile Working?

There are several anticipated benefits and advantages for the Council and its employees leading to improved

citizen services and new ways of working.

Flexible work styles drive efficiency - Agile working increases our efficiency. It frees up unproductive time such

as travelling to meetings. It makes systems, knowledge and data available from any location making it easier

and quicker to respond to requests for information from colleagues.

Office space reduction - Most organisations can significantly reduce their requirement for office space through

the adoption of flexible working practices. It is common for modern office space to be designed with enough

capacity to accommodate only 60% of the workforce associated with the building. Agile working can release

significant office space allowing authorities the possibility of rationalizing properties and reducing their overall

property costs.

Reduced absenteeism - Many organisations in both the public and commercial sectors have found that agile

working practices reduce absenteeism. For example BT has over 70,000 flexible workers and 13,000 permanent

home workers in the UK. They have discovered that home working staff experience improved well being and

reduced absenteeism.

An empowered workforce - Agile working can be daunting for many individuals, especially those who may be

remote from colleagues for more than a few days. However, it also provides a feeling of self sufficiency and

empowerment if it is combined with a move from ‘input performance measures’ to ‘outcome performance

measures’. Middle managers can initially feel uncomfortable with the idea of not seeing their employees every

day. Empowerment to get the job done goes hand in hand with the adoption of new work styles if combined

with the implementation of outcome based measures at the team and individual level where possible. Many

organisations have reported increased staff satisfaction with their job resulting from an increase in agile work

styles.

Operational Resilience - Flexible working on a large scale introduces many opportunities for working in a

different way and delivering operational benefits. For example, one Council has a well developed continuous

Page 224



improvement programme that is able to take new ideas generated from the adoption of flexible working

practices and explore process reengineering opportunities. Winter snow storms can mean that Council staff is

stranded unable to get to work easily. The ability to work from home or from any location (e.g. library based

drop in centres) means that the Council can quickly adapt to unusual situations more effectively building upon

current arrangements the Council has in place to cope with adverse conditions.

Workforce Sustainability - Flexible work arrangements will help to sustain the Scottish Public Sector

Workforce. There is strong evidence from European wide surveys that flexible working arrangements are

attractive to potential employees. It can be an effective tool for recruitment and retention especially for

employees with special needs such as home care arrangements. Also, it can be used as a way of providing

highly flexible working hours to combat, for example, peaks in contact centre work load. By providing home

based call centre technology peak workloads can be handled by home based staff. All of these factors can be

addressed by the provision of agile working arrangements leading to a more engaged and sustainable

workforce.

Summary

Many trends that rely on a mix of elements take a while to mature. New flexible work styles started over 10

years ago with tele-commuting. The Scottish Public Sector has explored flexible working but moving beyond

the pilot stage has proved challenging. The method, tools and technologies are now well developed.

Attitudes to work are changing. Employees seek more flexible arrangements and demand the best tools for the

job. They also want to feel empowered to get the job done. New management approaches based on outcomes

are required that build upon the effective management approaches currently practiced.

The way we work is changing dramatically. The Scottish Public Sector has an opportunity to re-invent the way

the public sector works. The methods, tools and technologies have all reached a stage of maturity where large

scale adoption is a realistic option. The Scottish Public Sector can now look forward to a new period where

agile working becomes more common practice.

Page 225



Appendix C - Solution Elements

Furniture & Equipment

Furniture & Equipment Supply

F&E1 § Type of furniture for Home Workers

§ Type of equipment for Home Workers

§ Provision, supply and ownership of equipment and furniture

§ Additional furniture arrangements

F&E2 § Type of technology for Home Workers (e.g. computers, printers)

F&E3 § Network arrangements for Home Workers, Flexible Workers and Mobile Workers.

§ Security considerations

§ Private use considerations

F&E4 § Type of technology for Flexible Workers (e.g. computer, printers)

F&E5 § Type of technology for Mobile Workers

§ Special requirements

§ Cost considerations

§ Approval processes

F&E6 § Data and record back up

§ Records and document storage

F&E7 § Stationery, forms and consumables

§ Delivery options

§ Ordering and delivery arrangements (e.g. on-line self service ordering

F&E8 § Security considerations

§ Network access

§ Systems and applications access

Accommodation & Infrastructure

Office Accommodation & Infrastructure Changes

OA&I1 § Wireless connection

§ Criteria for site selection

OA&I2 § Local networks within sites

OA&I3 § Drop-in centres (e.g. how many, locations, furniture options)

§ Team zones

§ People to desk ratios

OA&I4 § Workstations

§ Power points

§ Network access points

§ Workstation options

§ Concierge services

§ Workstation booking policies

OA&I5 § Impact on existing desks

OA&I6 § Computer authorization considerations

§ Computer diagnostic, repair and update considerations

§ Software supply

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Systems Access

Systems Access (Networks, Data Stores, Document Stores, Tools, Applications)

SA1 § Document and records access.

§ eMail

§ Intranet

§ Internet

§ Corporate Applications

SA2 § Corporate applications considerations

SA3 § Personal computer applications (e..g. Microsoft Office)

§ Standards

§ Costs

§ Funding arrangements

SA4 § On line team working tools

§ Instant messaging

§ Social networking tools

§ Audio conferencing tools

§ Web conferencing tools

§ Live meetings (e.g. applications and white board sharing)

SA5 § Online work style support tools

Outcome Measures

Outcome Measurements

OM1 § Performance measurement considerations

Best Practice Support

Best Practice Support

BP1 § Support considerations (e.g. equipment use, software guides, issue resolution)

§ Management support

§ Specialist support

§ Out of hours support

§ Peer to peer support

§ Self help

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Health & Safety

Health & Safety

H&S1 § Health & Safety considerations (e.g. electrical safety, ergonomics, temperature, space)

H&S2 § Health and Safety Procedures.

Programme Delivery

Health & Safety

PD1 § Remit and make up of delivery management

§ Responsibilities

§ Resources required

§ Delivery arrangements and measurements

§ Project management

§ Benefits realization

PD2 § Service department alignment

§ Programme alignment

PD3 § Reporting

§ Communications

§ Stakeholder management

Operational Support

Operational Support Services

OSS1 § On-line self service support

§ Workstyle selection guidance

§ Equipment and consumables order tracking

§ Facilities booking

§ Templates (e.g. Health & Safety Checks, Agile Working Agreements)

§ Agile Working Coordinator

OSS2 § On-line community support

§ FAQ’s

§ Best Practice Library

§ Case Studies

OSS4 § Manager support considerations

§ Manager training and coaching

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Education & Training

Education & Training Support

E&TS1 § Training needs

§ On-line training

§ Classroom training

§ Coaching

§ Advisory services

E&TS2 § Communications

§ Newsletters

§ Intranet Pages

§ Case Studies

§ Stories

People & Policy

People & Policy

PP1 § Authorization processes and criteria

PP2 § Exit notice and policy

PP3 § Equipment and furniture ownership

§ Leaving policies

PP4 § Home based broadband usage policies

PP5 § Meeting attendance policies

PP6 § Funding policies (e.g. utilities, own use broadband service)

PP7 § Flexi-time policies

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Appendix C – Job Roles, Characteristics & Blockers

Table 16: Lochgilphead 27th July 2009

Job Role Characteristics Blockers Selected Work

Style

Policy

Development

Manager

Research Analysis, Policy

Development, Attending Meetings,

Managing Staff

Opportunity for face to face discussion

with colleagues, Technology

Flexible

Performance

Manager

Mainly Computer Based, Outcome

Focused, Mostly Online Work

Closely Linked To Colleagues Output,

Managing Others Closely, Collaboration

At The Drop Of A Hat

Flexible

Housing Benefits

Payment Officer

More Work Done, Less Stress, Own

Working Hours

Flexible

Environmental

Protection Officer

Home Near Office, Use Of Paper For

Guidance, No Travel, External Visits

Tend To Be Remote

Fixed

IT Engineer

Can Rotate Call Duty, Most Work Is

Done Via Phone, Mainly Project Work,

High Availability Of Systems Remotely

Sometimes Urgent Attention Is

Needed, Storage Of PC's

Flexible

Senior Clerical

Officer

Monitoring Stock Supplies, Receiving

Delivery Goods, Mainly Project Work,

Could Do Order Processing From

Home

Workload Unpredictable, Need To Be

There When Goods Arrive, Need

Signatures & Original Documentation

Fixed

Trainee Technician On Construction Sites, Potentially A

Lot Of Travel, Manager Is Remote,

Mainly Phone Calls, More Than 1 Hour

Commute

Still In Training, Need To Work With

Others, Enjoy Social Interaction In

Office, Don't Stay In Own Home

Mobile

Adult Education

Development

Worker

A Lot Of eMail Work, Part Time,

Variable Work Load, Meetings Can Be

Planned, Limited Team Input

Too Difficult To Be Outcome Based,

Clients Use Office, Team Work Would

Diminish, Work Satisfaction Comes

From Social Contact At Office,

Flexible

Transport

Planning

Technician

Report Writing - Need To Focus, Lots

of eMail and Phone Work, Work Can

Be Planned In Advance

Learning From Colleagues, Talks

Around Maps & Plans, Need To

Reference Files Regularly

Flexible

Public Transport

Assistant

Work Received Electronically, Lots of

eMail and Phone Work, Work Can Be

Planned In Advance

Contractors Not On eMail, Need Access

To Documents, Contract Files Need To

Be Online

Flexible

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Assistant

Operations Waste

Management

Travel 1 or 2 Days Per Week, Need

Peace To Write Reports, Lots of eMail

Work Life Separation, Colleague

Dialogue Needed, Council Systems,

Files etc,.

Flexible

Table 17: Dunoon 28th July 2009


Style

Assistant Property

Officer

Site Visits, Phone & eMail, Problem

Solving, Solution Analysis

Culture, Trust, IT Systems, Access To

Systems Support Information, Control

Culture, Understanding Of Key Outputs

Flexible

IT Manager

Travel, Planned Meetings, Lots of

eMail, Design & Planning Role,

Measurable Staff Supervision

Network Coverage, Network Speed,

Data Transfer In Remote Areas

Flexible

Property Officer

Site Visits, Site Audits, Full

Geographical Area, Information

Gathering, Updating Records

Restricted Access To Databases,

Restricted Access To Records and

Information, Lack Of Geographical IT

Connections, Two Council Networks -

Education & Corporate

Mobile

Electrical

Technical Officer

Design of Electrical Installations,

Production Of AutoCAD Drawings, Site

Meetings & Visits, Contractor

discussions, phone and email

Large Amounts Of Technical Literature

Required, Specialist (AutoCAD) Desk &

Workplace Requirements, Access to

Council Databases & Networks

Flexible

Health & Safety

Manager

Site Visits, Communication With

Colleagues

Culture, Output Measurements Flexible

Architectural

Technician

Regular Site Visits, Design Work Using

CAD SW, Lots Of Administration Tasks,

Liaison With Clients (e.g. Schools),

Liaison With Other Specialists

Lack Of Access to Experienced

Members of Staff, Access To Files and

Drawings, Other Staff Attitudes &

Beliefs

Flexible

Finance Officer

Regular Meetings At Other Sites, Daily

Use OF IT Packages, Not Client Facing,

Autonomy Over Work, Travel &

Commute High, Know Of Meetings In

Advance, Most Of Work Computer

Based, Not Front Line Service

Line Management, Other Employees,

Personal Motivation At Home,

Contactable, Line Management

Responsibilities, Loss Of Team

Communications, Fear Of Losing Team

Spirit, Need To be Available Attitudes

Flexible

Transport

Planning

Technician

Report Writing - Need To Focus, Lots

of eMail and Phone Work, Work Can

Be Planned In Advance

Learning From Colleagues, Talks

Around Maps & Plans, Need To

Reference Files Regularly

Flexible

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Table 18: Lochgilphead 3rd August 2009


Style

Service Desk

Operator

Data Entry - Phone Calls & eMail,

Video Conferencing Booking,

Communicating with Colleagues

Technology, Applications Access Flexible

Data Systems

Supervisor

Database management, Report

Writing, User Support, Research, User

Training

Management Meetings, Training Users Home

Risk

Management

Proof Reading, Document Editing,

eMail, Minute Taking, Writing,

Training, Data Input, Information

Gathering

No access to networks, office cover, no

face to face contact

Flexible

Litigation

Assistant

Research, Reading Legislation, Report

Drafting, Legal Research

Office Presence Required, IT Issues,

Support to Solicitors

Fixed

Rent Roll

Administrator

IT Maintenance, Generating Invoices,

Paying & Updating, Data Input, eMail

Space, IT Set Up Flexible

Services Officer

Systems

Software Maintenance, Software

Training, Report Writing, Field

Training, Field Work

IT Hardware, No Space at Home, Bad

GPRS, Social Interaction

Flexible

Community

Learning and

Regeneration

Worker

Field Visits, Meeting Clients, eMail,

Research/Reading, Thinking, Teaching

Training Young People, Field Visits,

Noisy Office – Constant Interruptions

Constraints for face to face meetings,

Inadequate IT

Flexible

Road Space

Manager

Management of Staff, Designing

Systems and Process, Compliance

Duties, Liaison with External

Organisations, Work in Various Offices

Limited resources, Paper Files Access,

Trust

Flexible

HR and

Performance

Manager

Planning, Thinking Improvements,

Service Delivery, Report Writing,

Advice to Managers, Face to Face

Meetings,

Visibility & access to managers and

staff, Immediacy of Response, Access

to Employee Records, Technology,

Slow Broadband

Flexible

Senior Audit

Assistant

Planning Audit Work, Meeting with

Auditees, Field Work, Reporting

Traveling, Unavailability of Auditees,

Meeting Rooms, Network Access,

Paper Files

Flexible

Learning and

development

assistant

Research, Materials Development,

Organizing Events, Training Delivery,

Research

Departmental communications, Access

to eMail & Systems, Motivation,

Personal Development Issues,

Flexible

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Technology

Accounting

Assistant

Accounting, Auditing, Reference

Checking, Evaluations, Telephone

Calls, eMail, Proposal Writing,

Accounting, Auditing

Paper Files, Technology, Client Contact Fixed

Finance Office

Budget Preparation, Accounting, Copy

Writing, Client Files, Issuing Contracts,

Checking Outputs

Technology, Paper Files, Client Contact Flexible

Telecare

Coordinator

eMail, Planning, Accounting,

Programme Review, Scheduling,

Planning, Project Management

Access to Systems, Access to Phone &

eMail

Flexible

Trainee

Accountant

Field Work, Report Writing,

Information Gathering, eMail, Site

Visits

Lack of Space, Technology Flexible

Policy Assistant

Proof Reading, Document Editing,

Research, Team Support, eMail.

IT Setup, Designated Work Space,

Meeting Managers & Councilors

Flexible

Performance &

Development

Manager

Staff in Different Locations, eMail Lack of Space, Technology Flexible

Table 19: Campbeltown 4th August 2009


Style

Fraud Officer

Spreadsheets, Procurator Fiscal Cases,

Data Analysis, Management Checks,

Prepare Statistics

Paper Files, Interviews Flexible

Accounting

Assistant

Spreadsheets, Data Analysis,

Government Legislation Review, Data

Input

Paper Files, Access to Systems, Space at

Home

Flexible

Payroll

Supervisor

Typing, Checking, Monitoring Records,

Staff Supervision

Fixed

Senior Payroll

Assistant

Ongoing Training, Checking, Records

Maintenance, eMail

Flexible

Creditors

Supervisor

Dealing with Departments, Public

Facing, Monitoring Performance, Link

to Management

Staff Supervision, Systems Access,

Paper Files

Fixed

Trainee Purchase Word Processing, eMail, Report Paper Files Flexible

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Officer Updating, Word Processing

Senior Clerical

Assistant,

Creditors

Word Processing, eMail,

Spreadsheets, Report Updating

Paper Files Fixed

Finance Officer Word Processing, Research, eMail Colleague Interaction Flexible

Transport

Planning

Technician

Supervision, Spreadsheets, eMail,

Accounting, Legal Research

Receipts of Data, Receipts of Cheques

from Public

Flexible

Best Value and

Accounting

Supervisor

Accounting, Budgeting, Programme

Review, Scheduling, Planning, Word

Processing

Departmental & Management Policy,

Management & Team

Communications, Supervision of Team

Flexible

Systems

Administrator

Program Review, Software

Maintenance, Scheduling, Planning,

Word Processing

Hands on Servers Daily, Daily Back Ups Fixed

Council Tax

Supervisor

Legal Research, Proof Reading,

Scheduling, Planning, Word Processing

Flexible

Benefits Officer Proof Reading, Document Editing,

Legal Research, Word Processing,

Scheduling, Planning

Flexible

Table 20: Lochgilphead 7th August 2009


Style

Networking &

Environment

Manager

Access To Files & Drawings, Open

Door to Staff, Independent, Need

Access to Library, Access to Files &

Drawings

Need To Meet Staff & Public, Family in

House

Flexible

Building

Standards

Manager

Ability To Plan Outside Office

Environment, Thinking Time, Time

Management, Report Writing,

Analysis, Ability to Interact With Staff

Poor IT, Fixed views of Staff,

Geographical Constraints, Isolation

Worries, Promotion Concerns

Flexible

Head Of Planning

Services

Mix Of Office & Field Work, High

Work Mileage, High Number of

Meetings, Need to be Accessible to

Staff, Team Working

Customer Perspective, Member

Perspective, Personal Attitude to Work

(leave work in office), Need to be

Visible Leader, High Number of F2F

Meetings

Flexible

Revenues &

Benefits Manager

Report Writing, Budget Preparation,

Consultation, Managing Staff, Design

Reviews & Analysis

Communications With Managers &

Supervisors

Flexible

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IT Infrastructure

Manager

Variable Means Of Communications,

Meeting Deadlines & Service Levels,

Team Meetings & Management,

Report Writing, Reading &

Responding, Customer & Supplier

Management

Social Business Network, Interaction

With Frontline Staff, Volume of

Meetings, Customer Expectations

Flexible

Community

Resources

Manager

Lots Of Meetings, Very Little Public

Contact, Dispersed Staff Team,

Statutory Services Responsibility,

Service Innovation Planning

Distances Involved, Handling

Complaints, Technology, Operational

Needs, Need A Better Web Site

Flexible

Area Community

Learning &

Regeneration

Manager

eMail, High Number of Meetings,

Staff Management & Support, Report

Writing, Monitoring & Evaluation

Isolation, Measuring Outcomes, Staff

Support Meetings, Attitudes & Culture

Flexible

Operations

Manager

Travel, Team Work, Client Contact,

Staff Confidentiality

Reliability Of Back Office Services, IT

Support, Paper Records

Flexible

Strategic

Transportation

Manager

Time Lost Due To Travel,

Concentrated Working, Time Lost Due

To Commute, Family Circumstances

Home Internet Connection, Team

Management, Mobile Coverage, Senior

Buy In Concerns, Loss Of Room, Staff

Confidential Meetings Space

Flexible

Health & Safety

Manager

Responsive Service, Council Wide

Provision, Out Of Hours Work

Potential

Paper Records, Equipment access,

Communication Concerns, Security

Concerns (Information & Equipment)

Flexible

Policy & Strategy

Manager

Flexible

HR Strategy

Manager

Mostly Single Location Face To Face Contact, Confidentiality Flexible

Service Standards

Officer

Report Writing, Research & Reading,

Publications, eMail

IT Infrastructure, Management Will,

Getting Used To Not Having A Desk,

Paper Files

Flexible

Principal Leisure

Officer

Strategic Thinking, Programme

Delivery, F2F Meetings, Motivation

Technology, Paper Files, Reporting

Mechanism

Flexible

Business

Improvement

Manager

Project Management, Programme

Management

Paper Storage, Door Stepping

Opportunities

Flexible

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Table 21: Oban 6th August 2009


Style

Street Scene Area

Manager

Scheduling, Planning, Budgeting,

eMail, Word Processing, Scheduling,

Planning

Technology, Corporate Will Flexible

Social Worker -

Family Placement

Visiting Clients in their Homes, Report

Writing, eMail, Phone Calls

Difficult to work at home with no

access to email, Confidentiality -

taking files out of the office/making

calls, Access to desk/computer in other

locations, Access to systems, (e.g.

Carefirst), Buildings only open 9-5

during the working week

Flexible

Care Coordinator Visit Service Users, Fixed Building -

Resource Centre, Benefit System

Existing Day Service Structure Fixed

Technician

Design of Schemes, Word Processing

– Tenders, Project Management

Technology, Cost of Software Licenses Fixed

Adult Education

Development

Worker

Data Entry, Printing/Copying,

Programme Review, eMail, Research

No space at home, printer/copier

access, Need for group discussion

Fixed

Senior Clerical

Assistant

Dealing with public and clients,

Reception and office management,

receiving payments/banking income,

managing schedules and lets, assisting

office manager

Need to be present to assist clients,

unpredictable schedule, paper files,

F2F team time, client assistance

Fixed

Protective

Services Officer

On site work, Home starts 20% of

week, Travel time, responding to

queries, liaising with others

Paper Files, IT Systems, Public

Enquiries (F2F), Quick Response Often

Required

Fixed

SVQ Assessor

Home based administration, meetings

with candidates, travel, team

meetings

Accommodation, Technology,

Isolation, Access to Council Buildings

Home

Team Leader -

Benefits

Most staff call or email - could be

done at home, Flexibility

Technology Fixed

Area Finance

Assistant

Multiple Work Sites, Flexibility, No

Direct Manager

Technology, Line Management, No

Space At Home

Flexible

Assistant

Operations Waste

Management

Need peace To Write Reports, eMail Work Life Separation, Colleague

Dialogue Needed, Paper Files, Access

to Systems

Flexible

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Table 22: Helensburgh - 6th August 2009


Style

Practice

Teacher/Training

Officer

Report Writing,

Reading/Preparation, Not a fixed

pattern of activity, Extensive travel,

Networking with external agencies,

Report Writing

Absence of technology, Need for

rapid access to meeting space, access

to sensitive information/security?

Must have admin support geared for

the post, Access to sensitive

information/security? Must have

administration support geared for the

post, electronic flexi system does not

cope with absence, personal

safety/insurance etc.

Flexible

Estates Surveyor

Report Writing, Collection of Data,

Liaison with third parties, Report

Writing

Paper Files, Administration Support,

Colleague Perceptions, Colleague

Communication

Flexible

Area Manager -

Catering and

Cleaning

Site Visits, Client Contact Lack if IT Support, Loss of Contact

with Staff, Paper Files, Loss of Storage

Space,

Flexible

European Officer

Reading/Researching Background

Information, Drafting Reports and

Funding Applications, Budget,

Finance, Number Crunching

Insufficient IT, Colleague Interaction,

Paper Files, Feeling Isolated

Flexible

Administrative

Assistant

Minute Taking

Home Circumstances - shift workers

Fixed

IT Officer -Telecoms

Work with Multiple Internal and

External Clients, Network Based

Resources, Distributed Team,

Multiple Sites

Variable Work Issues. Office Based

Requirements, Office Based Problems

(e.g. training, consultation)

Flexible

Senior IT Engineer

Phone. eMail, Electronic

Documentation, Remote IT Systems

F2F Communications, Paper Files Flexible

Community Learning

and Development

Worker - Home Link

Administration, Report Writing,

Background reading, Reduce Travel

IT Facilities, Access to Telephone,

Lack of Management Support,

Colleague Attitudes, Paper Files

Flexible

Quality

Improvement

Officer - Education

Report Writing, Reading, Travel,

Little Time Spent at Base and reading

IT, Material Storage, Administration

Support, Colleague Interaction

Mobile

Page 237



Debt Counselor

Letter Writing, Report Reading,

Research, Travel, Client Interviews

Noisy Environment, Interruptions,

Travel Time, Suitable Meeting Points

Flexible

Page 238

Argyll and Bute Council – Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme – Risk Log

1


Process for Change

Appendix 6 - Risk Log

Authors: Morag Brown

October 2009

Page 239


2

Ref Risk Area of Risk Inherent Inherent Inherent Risk Mitigation Residual Residual Residual Actions Planned

risk risk Risk per Procedures/Controls risk risk Risk per

Impact Probability matrix in place Impact Probability matrix

(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

1 Political Members do not engage in the project

3 1 3

Engage members and communicate with them throughout the duration of the programme

2 1 2

Adhere to PfC Communications Plan and PfC OD PPG Scrutiny Plan. OD PPG to meet monthly during project.

2 Political

Members do not agree on the priorities coming out of the programme and will not make the “difficult decisions” required

3 2 6

Seek early, wide ranging and ongoing Member involvement in the process of developing the components of the programme and communicate regularly with leading members throughout the process, as outlined in Communication Plan

3 1 3

Adhere to PfC Communications Plan and PfC OD PPG Scrutiny Plan. Prepare regular briefings for Council Leader.

3 Political

Council priorities change as a result of local pressures, national issues or regulatory enforcement.

3 1 3

A flexible approach and individual project based programme allows adapting to changing circumstances.

1 1 1 Update Project Plan as and when required

4 Delivery Lack of support from senior management

3 1 2

Seek early, wide ranging and ongoing involvement in the process of developing the components of the programme and communicate regularly with SMT and throughout the process, as outlined in Communication Plan

3 1 3 Adhere to Communications Plan which features a steady flow of information to Senior Management

Pag

e 2

40


3




(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

5 Delivery

There is insufficient clarity about the vision for the council, and as a result projects do not fit with an emerging vision

2 1 2

The Council Improvement Plan has been produced to determine the focus and Improvement agenda for the Council and the Process for Change programme is strongly aligned to that Plan.

1 1 1 Adhere to PfC Communications Plan

6 Delivery

There is poor engagement of management, front line staff and services do not / will not embrace the transformation programme.

3 2 6

Work closely to engage staff from across all service areas and communicate with them throughout the duration of the programme.

2 1 2

Achievable through Stakeholder Engagement, Senior Management Support, adherence to Communications Plan and, sufficient resources

7 Delivery

The Council is unable to free up sufficient staff of the right calibre to support the project

3 2 6

Define resource requirements and source suitable officers, whether to support to the project or to backfill for other staff who then join the project team.

2 2 4 Team resourcing responsibility of HR board as defined in Project Governance document

8 Delivery

Trade unions attempt to block progress on the change programme

3 2 6

The Programme SRO / Manager should provide effective and open dialogue with trade union representatives.

2 1 2

Trade Union representatives to be invited to be members of HR Board. Regular updates to Trade Unions as determined by Communications Plan

Page 2

41


4




(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

9 Delivery

Key staff leave their respective employment during the programme

2 1 2

Identify suitable succession arrangements, implement effective documentation standards to ensure continuity and promote open and honest communication among the project team to enable maximum time to respond during notice periods.

1 1 1 Project documentation should be maintained in Process for Change SharePoint site

10 Delivery

Unplanned absence within the core project team

3 2 6

Identify suitable succession arrangements, implement effective documentation standards to ensure continuity and promote open and honest communication among the project team to enable maximum time to respond during notice periods.

2 2 4 Project documentation should be maintained in Process for Change SharePoint site

11 Financial

The council can not / will not invest the funding required to implement the project

3 1 3

Consider spend to save potential. Also consider risk and reward to reduce the risk exposure to the council overall by linking a proportion of external fees to successful outcomes in the project.

2 1 2

To be explored further with SMT, Programme SRO, Strategic Finance if there is a likelihood this could happen

Pag

e 2

42


5




(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

12 Financial

Initiatives fail to identify the level of savings required to justify investment in the programme

2 1 2

Ensure that the development is based upon a robust analysis of opportunities. Data collection process must be robust and involve all staff in scope where ever practical

1 1 1

Resource for data capture, benefits realisation methodology and input from strategic finance essential

13 Financial

The council cannot afford one-off costs associated with transformation

2 2 4

The approach will establish a financial model which seeks to optimise projects sequencing within the given financial envelope. It will also assist the council in establishing what can be capitalised.

2 1 2 Benefits Realisation methodology and input from strategic finance essential

14 Financial

Service is degraded during transformation

2 2 4

Work with services to ensure that all transition plans are robust, that there is sufficient resource to limit service disruption and that the lessons from previous change programmes are embedded.

1 2 2

Implementation Plan will be developed with consideration for existing service delivery being paramount

15 Sustainability

Skills transfer is not successfully achieved

3 1 3

Develop methodologies to ensure that the common pitfalls of skills transfer are avoided or overcome.

2 1 2 Project methodologies developed by Project mangers

Page 2

43


6




(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

16 Sustainability

There is a lack of investment in infrastructure to support long term development

2 2 4

Work closely with the Board to identify suitable strategies to ensure that the investment required for supporting long term sustainable improvement is in place.

1 1 1 Regular board meetings and review of project issues and risk. Regular progress reports to SMT

17 Delivery

There is lack of engagement from middle management, leading to reduced take-up of agile working, staff motivation problems, staff performance issues, and/or service quality issues.

2 3 6

Part of comms and training plan will be targeted to engagement of middle managers.

2 3 6 Coaching, mentoring and support through Corporate Programme.

Pag

e 2

44


7

Risk Area of Risk

Inherent Inherent Inherent Risk Mitigation

Residual Residual Residual

Actions Planned



(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

18 Delivery

Staff resources required for programme team are not available, or of reduced efficacy due to continuing 'day job' responsibilities. This could lead to delays and potentially increased costs.

3 2 6

Resource identification and budget will be clearly specified in the business case, which will be authorised by full Council. This will ensure that resources are available as required.

3 1 3

Ensure senior management are engaged and commit to provision of staffing and budget required. Continue to adhere to governance arrangements in place during Detailed Design.

19 Delivery

Lack of relevant skills among programme staff, leading to ineffective programme direction and ongoing management, risk management. This could lead to delays and potentially increased costs.

3 1 3

Experienced Programme Manager in place. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities within programme.

3 1 3

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45


8

Risk Area of Risk



Actions Planned



(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

20 Delivery

ICT - delivery of Workforce Deployment is dependent on availability of a number of ICT tools. Should these be unavailable or delayed, this could impact the roll-out of agile working, impacting the programme and benefits realisation timescale, and potentially costs.

3 1 3

Clearly defined deliverables will be identified and agreed for delivery by ICT as part of the business case. This will include appropriate training and support for end-users in the use of new technology as necessary.

3 1 3

Work will be defined in work packages as part of implementation. Progress will be closely monitored as part of programme governance.

Pag

e 2

46


9

Risk Area of Risk



Actions Planned



(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

21 Delivery

Property - delivery of Workforce Deployment is dependent on availability of appropriate workspace for agile workers across various Council sites. Should these be unavailable or delayed, this could impact the roll-out of agile working, impacting the programme and benefits realisation timescale, and potentially costs.

3 1 3 3 1 3


Page 2

47


10

Risk Area of Risk



Actions Planned



(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

22 Delivery

Policies, processes and training (HR, H&S, Security) - delivery of Workforce Deployment is dependent on availability of appropriate policies, processes and training for agile workers. Should these be unavailable or delayed, this could impact the roll-out of agile working, impacting the programme and benefits realisation timescale, and potentially costs.

3 1 3 3 1 3


Pag

e 2

48


11

Risk Area of Risk



Actions Planned



(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

23 Delivery

ICT – The lack of standardised desk top build and desk top support across all Council departments could result in problems with maintaining security and providing the level of support required for agile working. PC’s could be used by a social worker one day and a planner the next standardisation of build and support is important

2 2

Consideration needs to be given to a corporate standard for ICT skills, support and build across all Council departments

1 1

Page 2

49


12

Risk Area of Risk Inherent

Risk

Impact

(1-3)

Inherent

Risk

Probability

(1-3)

Inherent

Risk Per

Matrix

(1-9)

Risk Mitigation

Procedures/Controls

in place

Residual risk

impact

(1-3)

Residual risk

Probability

(1-3)

Residual Risk per matrix

(1-9)

Actions Planned

24 Benefits

Benefits Realisation process is new to the Council. There may be teething problems with its initial use, due to the learning curve with any new methodology. This could lead to imprecise definition and measurement of benefits, or delays in the process. This could lead to programme delays, or potential errors in benefits accounting.

2 2 4

Methodology will be trialled within Council prior to project implementation.

2 1 2

Ensure all relevant staff are well-trained and bought into the benefits realisation methodology. Review/audit process and outputs at regular intervals, particularly in first 6-12 months of programme. Provide additional experienced support if necessary. Closely monitor within overall programme.

Pag

e 2

50


13

Risk Area of Risk



Actions Planned



(1-3) (1-3) (1-9) (1-3) (1-3) (1-9)

25 Benefits

Staff wish to continue with face-to-face meetings, continuing to travel and spend time at meetings, rather than use conferencing facilities. This could impact achievement of benefits - e.g. productivity.

2 1 2 As part of Comms Plan, use of new tools is being actively promoted.

2 1 2

Introduce active change management, targeting staff to use conferencing rather than F2F meetings. Ensure rules are in place to link technology changes to adopting new Workstyles. Ensure baselining up-front and regular monitoring of new working practices.

26 Benefits

Risk that don't implement outcome based objectives and measures and so don’t drive the productivity benefits

3 1 3

Council is currently changing the PDR process, which will include SMART measures. As a Council, performance management is being enhanced through introduction of balanced scorecards.

3 1 3

Monitor that new processes are in place in time in each dept/service as part of phased Workforce Deployment roll-out

Page 2

51

Argyll & Bute Workforce Deployment Programme

Argyll & Bute Council & BT Confidential

Steve Gillies

BT Global Services | October 2009 Issue 5, 12

th October 2009

AGILE

WORKING

ARGYLL & BUTE COUNCIL


APPENDIX 7 FINANCIAL REPORT

Page 253

Argyll & Bute Workforce Deployment Financial Report


Steve Gillies, BT Professional Services 2

1 Introduction................................................................................................ 3

2 Financial Conclusions .................................................................................. 4

3 The Base Scenario ....................................................................................... 5

Adoption Levels – Base Scenario ................................................................................... 6

Benefits Analysis – Base Scenario .................................................................................. 8

Efficiency Gains ...............................................................................................................................8

Property Gains ..............................................................................................................................11

Absenteeism Gains........................................................................................................................11

Recruitment Gains ........................................................................................................................13

Cost Analysis Base Scenario......................................................................................... 14

4 Summary................................................................................................... 16

Page 254




1 Introduction Argyll & Bute Council (the Council) has been investigating the potential for introducing new agile work styles

as part of the Workforce Deployment Programme.

The investigation included the development of a 5 year business case and the production of this report – the

Agile Working Financial Report. It includes a summary of the financial arguments for investing in agile

working, estimates of anticipated benefits and high descriptions of the costs required to deliver the vision. It

also includes the results of several variance analyses conducted to assess the impact of different scenarios on

the overall case for change.

We also recommend reading the Solution Design Report and the Property Opportunity Report for further

detail and context.

Consultants from BT Professional Services assisted the Council develop the business case. In doing so we had

considerable support and assistance from many Council employees. We would like to thank them for their

contribution and general helpfulness over the course of the study.

It is important to note that the costs provided in this report are based on estimates and provided for the

purposes of business planning only. They do not represent, in any form, a commercial offer from BT to

Argyll & Bute Council that is capable of commercial acceptance.

For additional information on this report please contact Steve Gillies ([email protected]) or Carol Turnbull

([email protected]).

Page 255




2 Financial Conclusions

In this section we provide a summary of the financial conclusions of the financial business case. It should be

noted that whilst the financial case for investing in agile working is very strong there are other strategic

benefits to the Council which augment and add to the overall case for change.

The financial summary in Table 1 is based on what we are calling the Base Scenario where approximately

1,320 employees adopt one of the new agile work styles. The breakdown of employees by work style1 is shown

in Table 2.

Table 1: Financial Summary

Summary Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Total

Gross Benefit £57,765 £402,055 £1,126,555 £1,643,092 £1,931,405 £5,160,872

Total Costs £743,295 £710,121 £711,858 £706,518 £480,813 £3,352,605

Net Benefit -£685,530 -£308,066 £414,697 £936,574 £1,450,593 £1,808,268

RoI -92.23% -43.38% 58.26% 132.56% 301.70% 53.94%

NPV £1,461,633

Overall the cost benefit case is positive with an anticipated 5 year return on investment of 54% and a positive

cash flow estimated after 20 months. The net present value calculated in accordance with Green Book2

standards and using a discount rate of 3.5% is £1.461m.

Cash flow is negative in Years 1 and 2 owing to the upfront investment required to establish new infrastructure

(property and technology) and a support environment for employees adopting the new work styles. However,

various stratagems can be deployed to minimize the negative cash flow including carefully controlled budget

expenditure policies, spend to save mechanisms and possibly innovative arrangements with commercial

suppliers. These should be further investigated by the Council to reduce the impact of negative cash flow.

The ongoing annual net benefit, from Year 6 onwards, is approximately £1.93 Million as support and

infrastructure costs reduce after the initial 5 year implementation period.

From the above we conclude that the business case is attractive from a financial perspective and will assist the

Council attain its overall cost reduction and efficiency goals. It is BT’s experience that a RoI in excess of 15% for

this type of investment is considered acceptable by government agencies. The Council RoI is 54% over 5 years

and we recommend the Council accepts the business case presented and proceeds to the implementation

phase.

1 A description of agile work styles is provided in Appendix C

2 The Green Book, Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, HM Treasury

Page 256




3 The Base Scenario

One of the problems in developing a business case for agile working is that there are so many different

possible scenarios.

For the above reason we have developed a Base Scenario to evaluate the benefits and costs of implementing

and supporting new ways of working. We then model variances to the Base Scenario and determine the

impact on the financial outcomes. The results of the variance analyses can be found in Appendix C –

Sensitivity Analysis.

The Base Scenario has been developed from a combination of the dialogues we have had with the Council and

from our own experiences in BT. The Councils input has been critical to determining an outline solution from

which the which the Base Scenario has been developed. For example, we jointly conducted several solution

design and validation workshops which were a major contribution to the process. For further information we

recommend reading the Solution Design Report.

Figure 1 describes the business case development process and how it fed into the development of the overall

conclusions and recommendations.

Figure 1: Business Case Development Process

A total of 7 workshops in 5 locations were conducted involving 85 staff. Each workshop followed a similar

agenda and was managed by experienced facilitators. One of the workshops, Lochgilphead 7th August, was

focused on managers. In addition a Day in the Life of (DILO) Survey was conducted to determine how staff

spent their working time. The combination of these studies is a significant input to the business case.

These inputs were combined with experience and research data to produce the final conclusions and

recommendations.

Page 257




Adoption Levels – Base Scenario

The Base Scenario assumes a five year adoption of agile work styles by 1,320 Council staff. The annual

adoption levels are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Adoption Profile

Adoption Breakdown - People Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

Fixed Workers - New 9 24 20 12 0

Fixed Workers Cumulative 9 34 54 66 66

Home Workers - New 1 2 2 1 0

Home Workers - Cumulative 1 3 5 6 6

Mobile Workers - New 27 71 57 36 0

Mobile Workers - Cumulative 27 98 155 191 191

Flexible Workers @ 90% Occupancy - New

62 160 129 83 0

Flexible Workers @ 90% Occupancy - Cumulative

62 222 351 434 434


56 145 116 74 0


56 200 317 391 391


33 86 69 44 0


33 119 188 232 232

Total - All Work Styles 188 677 1070 1320 1320

Note 1: It is assumed that in Y1 all staff adopts agile work styles in Q4; in all other years the adoption is spread

evenly across all quarters. The effect of this is that for Y2 onwards new staff is assumed to join the programme

from the mid-year date.

Note 2: The 3 new work styles used to develop the business case are Home Worker, Mobile Worker and

Flexible Worker which are combined with the traditional Fixed Worker. A detailed description of each work

style can be found in Appendix C.

The anticipated employee breakdown into the 4 agile work styles percentage breakdown and used in the Base

Scenario is shown in Table 3.

Page 258




Table 3: Work Style Allocations

Work Styles

Fixed Workers 5%

Home Workers 1%

Mobile Workers 15%

Flexible Workers 80%

It should be noted that business case includes the benefits and costs associated with employees who remain

as Fixed Workers but who are provided with tools and services that allow them to substitute face to face

meetings with audio and web based on line collaboration facilities. A lower level of efficiency benefit is claimed

for this category as described in the Benefits Analysis section of this report.

Table 4: Flexible Sub-Styles - Workstation Occupancy

Flexible Worker Occupancy Breakdown

% Flexible Workers @ 90% Occupancy 41%



In addition the Flexible Work style was further broken down into sub-styles based on workstation occupancy.

The breakdown is shown in Table 4. Finally the number of staff by each work style was broken down by

location as shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Location Allocations

Local Allocation - Cumulative Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

Lochgilphead 0 240 480 480 480

Dunoon 0 248 248 248 248

Oban 188 188 188 188 188

Rothesay 0 0 0 71 71

Helensburgh 0 0 0 179 179

Campbeltown 0 0 154 154 154

It should be noted that in the future there is potentially higher numbers of employees who potentially could

transfer into one of the 3 new agile work styles. As technology, social norms and working practices we

recommend the Council re-evaluate the potential for agile working annually and alter their implementation

goals and plans accordingly.

Page 259




Benefits Analysis – Base Scenario

We have identified 4 areas from 7 investigated that provide cashable benefits. Figure 2 illustrates that the

majority of cashable benefit results from increased efficiency gains as employees transfer from traditional

fixed work styles to one of the new agile work styles.

88% of the gross benefit is produced by increased efficiency gains, 7% from reduced absenteeism, 3% from

property closure and 2% from reduced recruitment costs.

Figure 2: Cashable Benefits

Efficiency Gains

There are many factors that will impact the amount of efficiency gain the Council can deliver through agile

working.

These include the effective deployment of technology, property changes and the degree of commitment from

operational line management and staff to adopt new ways of working. It is our experience that a mixed

approach balancing technology, people and process yield the best results.

An important aspect is that all aspects of implementation must be managed effectively using appropriate ‘fit

for purpose’ approaches to change management, benefits realization, technology deployment and office

reconfiguration.

The benefits to the Council will be in two forms: cashable (hard) benefits that can be directly translated into

either reduced costs or increased revenue to the Council, and strategic (soft) benefits that improve the

Council’s overall performance, position, skills, knowledge or general capability.

It should be noted that all cashable benefits should be evaluated in the context of strategic benefits as there is

often a tradeoff between them. For example, a reduction in the quality and completeness of the overall

Page 260




solution may increase the cashable benefit by reducing the implementation costs but it will impact the

adoption rate and the overall ability of staff to become modern flexible workers.

In the Base Scenario we have set efficiency targets as shown in Table 6. These are in line with efficiency gains

planned for in other Local Authorities and with experience from the commercial sector.

Table 6: Efficiency Targets

Efficiency

Target

Fixed Workers Home Workers Mobile Workers Flexible Worker

@ 90%

Occupancy

Flexible Worker

@ 75%

Occupancy

Flexible Worker

@ 60%

Occupancy

Y5 Target 3.00% 20.00% 15.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00%

Note 1: For all employees new to agile working we have assumed they will achieve on third of the target

efficiency in their 1st

year of adoption – this applies for all workers adopting a new workstyle irrespective of

which year they start.

Note 2: For the second year of adoption onwards we have assumed that 100% of the efficiency target is

achievable.

Note3: The Council recognizes that there are significant operational, cultural and employee issues associated

with efficiency gains. For these reasons the efficiency targets were reduced as shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Realizable Targets

Efficiency

Target


@ 90%

Occupancy

Flexible Worker

@ 75%

Occupancy

Flexible Worker

@ 60%

Occupancy

Y1 (20%)

0.60% 4.00% 3.00% 1.00% 2.00% 3.00%

Y2 (60%)

1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

Y3 (60%) 1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

Y4 (60%) 1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

Y5 (60%) 1.80% 12.00% 9.00% 3.00% 6.00% 9.00%

Note 4: Each work style has a 5 year efficiency target. For planning purposes, the projected CASHABLE

Efficiency Gains at the end of the 5 years is calculated at 60% of the potential. For example, a Home Worker

has a 5 year efficiency target of 20%. This business case is indicating that 60% (i.e. 12% efficiency increase) is

cashable and contained in the benefits calculation.

Table 8: Realizable Efficiency Targets in Minutes per 7.00 Hour Day

Efficiency

Target


@ 90%

Occupancy

Flexible Worker

@ 75%

Occupancy

Flexible Worker

@ 60%

Occupancy

Y1

2.52 16.8 12.6 4.2 8.4 12.6

Page 261




Y2 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

Y3 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

Y4 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

Y5 7.56 50.4 37.8 12.6 25.2 37.8

Page 262




Property Gains

In addition to the efficiency based gains described above we estimate savings associated with property

closure. For the Base Scenario we have assumed that property closures can only be achieved in the Oban

location. Further investigation is required to determine if additional property savings can be achieved in Oban

or at other locations throughout the Council’s territory.

The saving claimed in the Base Scenario is £55,000 per annum facilities management, operational and

maintenance costs from ‘mothballing’ Kilbowie House. Additional detail is provided in the Property

Opportunity Report.

Table 9: Property Savings

Property Closure Savings Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

Oban £45,0003 £55,000 £55,000 £55,000

Note 1: No revenue incomes have been included for property disposal or rental; no cost avoidance savings

have been included from reduced use of office accommodation (e.g. from reduced wear and tear); no cost

avoidance savings have been included for reduced property enhancements (e.g. special needs access)

Absenteeism Gains

Commercial organisations adopting large scale agile working practices typically see a reduction in absenteeism.

This is owing to an improvement in employee work life balance and is thought to come from reduced stress

and improved general well-being. Also, employees with chronic pain or injuries can often work from home or

with reduced travel requirements (commute or business to business) as a result of becoming an agile worker.

Table 10 illustrates the savings we have assumed from absenteeism for each work style. The anticipated

saving from Y5 onwards is £100K pa and the total 5 year saving is £281K.

Fixed Workers: We have assumed that the absenteeism rate for Fixed Workers stays at the current Council

wide level of 5% pa.

Home Workers: It is the experience of commercial organisations that Home Workers benefit the most from

reduced absenteeism. For example, BT gains an additional 2.5 days pa from call centre workers based at home

compared to the equivalent job role conducted in a call centre. For this reason we assumed that Home

Workers absenteeism rate will reduce from 5% pa to 3% pa.

Mobile Workers: Mobile Workers will be able to work from home regularly and will potentially gain the most

from reduced travel stress. We are assuming a reduction from 5% pa to 4.0%.

Flexible Workers: Flexible work styles come in 3 forms based on workstation occupancy – 90% occupancy, 75%

occupancy and 60% occupancy. Employees who work at the 75% or 60% occupancy levels will benefit from

reduced travel similar to Mobile Workers whilst the 90% will be more like traditional fixed work styles. We

have assumed an overall reduction for Flexible Workers from 5.0% pa to 4.5% pa.

3 Reduced by £10K for property closure costs

Page 263




Table 10: Absenteeism

Absenteeism Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

Current Absenteeism Rate 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00%

Fixed Worker Absenteeism Rate 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00%

Home Worker Absenteeism Rate 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00%

Mobile Worker Absenteeism Rate 4.00% 4.00% 4.00% 4.00% 4.00%

Flexible Worker Absenteeism Rate 4.50% 4.50% 4.50% 4.50% 4.50%

Days Gained Per Fixed Worker 0 0 0 0 0

Days Gained Per Home Worker 3 12 20 24 24

Days Gained Per Mobile Worker 50 180 285 351 351

Days Gained Per Flexible Worker 138 497 785 968 968

Total Days Gained 191 689 1,090 1,344 1,344

£4,766 £26,689 £61,438 £87,692 £100,334

Note 1: An average salary of £124 per day (£28,000 per annum) has been used to calculate the anticipated

savings. The savings are calculated by multiplying the percentage gain (e.g. Flexible Workers 0.5%) by the

number of annual working days (204) and multiplying the average daily salary (£124) and finally by the number

of employees in each work style.

Note 2: Many factors impact absenteeism. It is difficult to manage and therefore our confidence in realizing

the benefit must be rated as low to medium. For this reason we have modeled different level of absenteeism

achieved in the Sensitivity Analysis section of this report.

Page 264




Recruitment Gains

Employers that develop a reputation for providing modern working conditions based on agile work styles gain

from reduced staff turnover and reduced recruitment costs. To model this in the Base Scenario we have taken

the average number of recruitment days per employee for the Council and reduced it for each work style as

shown in Table 11.

Table 11: Recruitment

Benefit 7: Recruitment Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

Council Recruitment Costs4 £238,030 £238,030 £238,030 £238,030 £238,030

New Recruits 443 443 443 443 443

Costs per Recruit £537 £537 £537 £537 £537

Days Effort Per Recruit 4.32 4.32 4.32 4.32 4.32

% of Agile Worker Recruits 20.31%5 20.31% 20.31% 20.31% 20.31%

New Agile Worker Recruits 90 90 90 90 90

% Gained Per Fixed Worker 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%

% Gained Per Home Worker 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%

% Gained Per Mobile Worker 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%

% Gained Per Flexible Worker 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%

Days Gained Per Fixed Worker 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.22

Days Gained Per Home Worker 1.08 1.08 1.08 1.08 1.08

Days Gained Per Mobile Worker 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.43

Days Gained Per Flexible Worker 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.43

Days Gained per Agile Worker 2.16 2.16 2.16 2.16 2.16

Total Days Gained 194.25 194.25 194.25 194.25 194.25

£24,173 £24,173 £24,173 £24,173 £24,173

Fixed Workers: A small gain of 5% is assumed for employees recruited into fixed work roles owing to the

enhanced reputation of the Council as a modern employer.

Home Workers: We have assumed that a 25% in recruitment costs can be achieved for Home Workers as this

represents a major attraction for potential employees.

Mobile Workers & Flexible Workers: We have assumed a 10% reduction in recruitment costs owing to the

enhanced reputation of the Council as a modern employer and from improvements in the general

employment environment provided by the Council from new technologies and modernized office

environments.The gain is calculated by taking the percentage gain (e.g. 25% for Home Workers) and

multiplying it by the recruitment days (4.32) and then by the number of recruits within that work

style. Recruitment benefits are not required to follow the phasing profile as the project can be

accelerated for any individuals affected.

4 Source: Argyll & Bute Work Style Data Definitions, Corporate Finance

5 Agile Workers stated as a percentage of the total Council staff of 6,500

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Cost Analysis Base Scenario

28 cost drivers were investigated. We concluded that 12 of them were zero cost for the Council either because

the organisation has already purchased the service (e.g. Microsoft Enterprise License Agreements) or because

the Council has an alternative zero cost option to deliver a similar service (e.g. Support Services, Data Back-Up

Services). The costs are shown in Table 12 and Figure 3.

Note 1: The top 8 costs represent 93% of the overall estimated costs. 66% of costs are for technology, 20% for

people and 14% for property.

Table 12: Costs

Description Cost

Business Broadband - Cost 9 £1,235,305

Client Programme Staff - Cost 25 £588,156

Workstation Changes - Cost 7 £483,914

Infrastructure & Applications - Cost 23 £223,169

Laptop Computers - Cost 2 £189,689

Printers - Cost 15 £184,052

Authentication Tokens - Cost 27 £103,791

Wireless Network Installations - Cost 11 £100,100

External Specialist Staff - Cost 26 £65,000

Audio Conferencing Service - Cost 19 £52,638

Fixed Line or IP Telephony at Home - Cost 17 £34,841

Laptop Encryption - Cost 3 £33,711

Tablet Computers- Cost 4 £28,444

Fast Business Broadband - Cost 28 £23,543

Furniture Packs - Cost 12 £3,873

Employee Utility Bills - Cost 13 £2,380

£3,352,605

A detailed description of each cost along with the basic assumptions used to determine the overall costs is

provided in Appendix B – Cost Descriptions.

In producing cost estimates we have endeavoured to be as complete as possible based on the information

available at the time of the report production. Where possible we have used verifiable facts but, inevitably,

Page 266




some costs are based on assumptions or estimates. Where assumptions have been used we have taken a

‘moderate/realistic’ view.

The costs provided in this report are for business planning purposes only and do not in any form represent a

commercial offer from BT to the Council capable of acceptance.

It should be noted that many of the costs are variable depending on the level of adoption of Council

employees for the new work styles. Any changes to the level of adoption as described in the Base Scenario or

any changes to the assumption used to determine estimates will have a significant impact on the overall costs.

Figure 3: Cost Analysis

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4 Summary

In summary the financial case for the Base Scenario is positive. It is estimated that the adoption of agile

working will produce a net benefit of £1.8M over 5 years and an NPV of £1.462m based on approximately

1,320 staff adopting agile work styles.

Cash flow is negative for approximately 20 months owing to a significant upfront investment in technology,

infrastructure, new office layouts, training and education. The acceptance of the business case is

recommended to the Council. The net benefit from Y6 onwards is £1.93M.

Reflecting operational and cultural issues the Council has opted to base the business case on a realizable

efficiency gain lower than planned by similar government agencies and lower than claimed by commercial

organizations. The sensitivity analysis shows that this strategy leaves little room for either reduced benefits or

increases costs – some of which are difficult to estimate and significant the risk of significant cost increases

must be viewed as medium to high.

Our recommendation is to monitor closely all costs but particularly costs associated with programme

management, office changes and ICT. We also recommend monitoring the efficiencies gained throughout the

programme and that the Council makes adjustments to its efficiency targets based on its experiences in Oban

and subsequent implementations.

We recommend that Council accepts the business case described and proceeds to the next phase of

implementation planning and resource identification.

Page 268



Steve Gillies

BT Global Services | October 2009

AGILE

WORKING

WORKFORCE DEPLOYMENT FINANCIAL REPORT

APPENDIX 7A - SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

Page 269




Appendix A – Sensitivity Analysis................................................................... 3

Variance 1: Average Salary............................................................................. 4

Variance 2: ICT Infrastructure & Applications................................................. 5

Variance 3: Programme Management............................................................ 6

Variance 4: Opportunity Costs ....................................................................... 7

Variance 5: Property Benefits ........................................................................ 7

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Appendix A – Sensitivity Analysis

In agreement with the Council 5 impacts of variances on the Base Scenario were further investigated. The

variances are briefly described in Table 1.

Table 1: Variances

Variance Description

Average Salary The average salary used to calculate efficiency benefits is varied from £20,000 pa to £30,000 per annum in

£2,000 steps. The Base Scenario uses £28,000. It should be noted that the salary used in all scenarios includes

Council national insurance and pension contributions.

Infrastructure &

Applications Costs

Infrastructure & Applications costs are particularly difficult to estimate and are subject to many factors such as

network performance, quality of service issues and supplier charges.

We varied costs from 100% to 200% of the Base Scenario in 20% steps. This equates to a range of costs from

£223K to £446K.

Programme

Management Costs

The overall success of the programme will depend on the effective management of many inter-related streams

of work. In particular the business case is highly dependent on benefits realization and change management.

We have modeled the impact of variances to costs from 100% to 200% of the Base Scenario. This equates to a

range of costs from £588K to £1.2M.

Opportunity Costs The Base Scenario excludes costs associated with: operational line management time required to coach, direct

staff and handle employees issues related to agile working. However, time will be required from management

to assist with the realization of benefits.

We have included a variance that includes the ‘opportunity costs’ associated with the amount of time required

for operational line management to coach, direct and support employees. Specifically excluded are Cost 5:

Management Support, Cost 6: Council Training – Staff Attendance and Cost 8: Concierge Services.

Property Benefits The Base Scenario includes a £55K annual saving associated with the closure of Kilbowie House, Oban. Whilst

further investigation is required to determine if other properties can be closed it is proposed that properties

similar in size to Kilbowie House can potentially be closed in Dunoon, Lochgilphead, Rothesay, Campbeltown

and Helensburgh.

We have modeled the impact on benefits of closing the equivalent of Kilbowie House in each of these

locations.

It should be noted that each variance is modeled using the Base Scenario with no other changes made. Scenario

combinations have not been considered.

In each analysis we vary the parameter(s) being considered and record the impact on benefit, costs, net benefit and return

on investment.

The Base Scenario business case is based on a realizable efficiency target taking into account organisational challenges and

issues and the variances are based on this reduced target. We call the reduced target the ‘Realizable Target’ and the

unreduced target the ‘Efficiency Target’.

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Variance 1: Average Salary The Base Scenario assumes an average salary of £28,000 based on BT’s experience of modeling business cases in other

Scottish Local Authorities. In this variance we model the impact of varying the average salary from £20K to £30K.

£20,000 £22,000 £24,000 £26,000 £28,000 £30,000

Gross Benefit £3,791,305 £4,133,697 £4,476,089 £4,818,480 £5,160,872 £5,503,264 Total Costs £3,184,560 £3,226,571 £3,268,582 £3,310,593 £3,352,605 £3,394,616 Net Benefit £606,745 £907,126 £1,207,507 £1,507,887 £1,808,267 £2,108,648 RoI

19% 28% 37% 46% 54% 62%

Note 1: To maintain a RoI above 20% agile working should be targeted at employee groups with an average

annual salary (including Council national insurance and pension contributions) of more than £22,000.

Note 2: To maintain acceptable RoI results with average salaries less than £22,000 will require benefits

realization greater than 60% of the Efficiency Target.

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Variance 2: ICT Infrastructure & Applications

The Base Scenario is based on ICT Infrastructure & Applications estimated costs of £223K provided by the

Council’s ICT representatives. In this variance we model the impact of the ICT Infrastructure & Applications

costs increasing by 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%.

100% 120% 140% 160% 180% 200%

Gross Benefit £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 Total Costs £3,352,605 £3,397,226 £3,441,848 £3,486,470 £3,531,091 £3,575,713 Net Benefit £1,808,267 £1,763,646 £1,719,024 £1,674,402 £1,629,781 £1,585,159 RoI

54% 52% 50% 48% 46% 44%

Note 1: To maintain acceptable RoI results with ICT cost increases greater than 60% will require benefits

realization greater than 60% of the Efficiency Target.

We recommend close monitoring of Applications & Infrastructure costs as the programme is implemented

ensuring that ‘value for money’ is gained at each gateway point and that the business case remains viable.

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Variance 3: Programme Management

The Base Scenario is based on Programme Management costs of £588K over the 5 years of implementation. In

this variance we model the impact of the costs increasing by 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%.

100% 120% 140% 160% 180% 200%

Gross Benefit £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 £5,160,872 Total Costs £3,352,605 £3,470,236 £3,587,867 £3,705,498 £3,823,129 £3,940,760 Net Benefit £1,808,267 £1,690,636 £1,573,005 £1,455,374 £1,337,743 £1,220,112 RoI

54% 49% 44% 39% 35% 31%

Note 1: A 40% or higher increase in Programme Management costs result in efficiency gains limited to 60% of

the efficiency target.

We recommend that the Council ensures it has both the skills and capacity available to manage the

programme to the resources required. Substituting internal staff with external market supplied specialists will

increase the cost of programme delivery significantly unless additional value add can be demonstrated.

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Variance 4: Opportunity Costs

The Base Scenario excludes operational line management costs associated with employee coaching, support,

direction and issues handling. The cost is excluded as these tasks as considered part of normal management

responsibilities and are not additional to current working arrangements.

The variance is provided should the Council decide at a future point to include line management costs

associated with these tasks.

Excluding Opportunity Costs Including Opportunity Costs

Gross Benefit £5,160,872 £5,160,872 Total Costs £3,352,605 £4,094,127 Net Benefit £1,808,267 £1,066,745 RoI

54% 38%

Variance 5: Property Benefits

The Base Scenario includes £55K per annum based on closing Kilbowie House. In this variance we model the

impact of achieving a similar closure in each of the main locations.

Oban Only All Locations

Gross Benefit £5,160,872 £6,535,872 Total Costs £3,352,605 £3,352,605 Net Benefit £1,808,267 £3,183,267 RoI

54% 95%

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Conclusions

None of these sensitivity analysis produces a net benefit lower than £1 million. The lowest ROI is 38% which is

more than acceptable to the Council as a basis for proceeding to implementation.

Page 276



Steve Gillies| BT Professional Services V5, 14

th October 2009

WORK

STYLE

ARGYLL & BUTE WORK STYLE FINANCIAL REPORT

APPENDIX 7B – COST DESCRIPTIONS

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Steve Gillies, BT Professional Services

2

Appendix B – Cost Descriptions

In this section we provide a detailed description of the costs used to build the business case. In each

section we state what the cost is for, split it into one time and ongoing costs where appropriate, and

provide a cost trend if applicable along with key assumptions.

Note 1: Any changes to the costs or assumptions will have a significant impact on the business case. All

costs provided as part of the financial case have been derived from the description provided in this

appendix.

Note 2: Within the scope of the financial study no attempt was made to validate costs with suppliers or

obtain quotations. We have used estimated costs based on verifiable data where possible. If costs data

wasn’t available we estimated costs based on assumptions and agreed with the Council.

Note 3: All estimated costs are based on the Base Scenario Argyll & Bute Council Workforce Deployment

Financial Report.

The costs provided in this section and provided in all parts of this report and in the Argyll & Bute

Council Workforce Deployment Financial Report are provided for business planning purposes only and

do not represent in any form an offer from BT to the Council capable of commercial acceptance.

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3

Cost 1: Desktop Computer Costs

Number Required 73

Assumptions 100% of Home Workers, 100% of Fixed Workers

All agile workers who require a desktop computer already have one and that it can be

used as they change work style.

Supplier None required as the Council plan to use existing estate.

One Time Cost per Unit £305

Source: Council IT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £209 pa assumed to start in Y1 of purchase

Source: Council IT

Total Five Year Cost £0 as the Council plans to use existing machines.

Cost Trend Applied Whilst we can expect Desktop Computers to reduce in price we have based the 5 year

costs on today’s prices.

Budget Allocations 100% - Workforce Deployment Budget

Cost 2: Laptop Computer Costs

Number Required 388

Assumptions 0% of Home Workers & Fixed Workers; 40% of Mobile Workers & 50% of Flexible

Workers.

NB: The following applies to Flexible Workers. There are 3 Categories of Flexible Workers

as defined in the Cost Benefit Report depending on their projected occupancy.

Flexible Worker Occupancy Breakdown

% Flexible Workers @ 90% Occupancy: 41% of Flexible Workers



The 90% Occupancy Flexible Workers do NOT require a laptop

50% of the “60% and 75%” Occupancy workers will require a laptop

Mobile Workers needs will be evaluated and they will be provided with either a Laptop PC

or a suitable mobile device such as a Smartphone, Tablet PC or Personal Digital Assistant.

These devices may be significantly more expensive to supply and support than standard

Laptop PC’s therefore they will be subject to a special approval process.

50% of employees who become Mobile or Agile Workers and require a laptop computer

already have one. The remaining 10% of Mobile Workers are provided with Tablet

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4

Computers.

The Council will publish a set of standard equipment for each work style implemented. If

additional or more expensive devices are required then the Services will be asked to

justify the additional cost and fund from it from their budget.

Unless a special request is approved a Laptop PC will be provided to 40% of Mobile

Workers and a Tablet PC to 10% of Mobile Workers.

Supplier Assume the Council will use existing supply arrangements.


Source: Council IT


Source: Council IT

Total Five Year Cost £189,689

Cost Trend Applied Whilst we can expect Laptop Computers to reduce in price we have based the 5 year costs

on today’s prices.


Cost 3: Laptop Encryption

Number Required 388

Assumptions 0% of Home Workers & Fixed Workers; 50% of Mobile Workers & Flexible Workers.

50% of Mobile or Agile Workers who require a laptop computer already have one with

appropriate encryption protection.

100% of Mobile Workers who require a Tablet Computer will require encryption

protection at costs similar to that for a Laptop Computer.



Source: Council IT


Source: Council IT


Cost Trend Applied No trend applied.


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5

Cost 4: Tablet Computer Costs

Number Required 20

3 in Y1, 7 in Y2, 6 in Y3, 4 in Y4.

Assumptions 0% of Home Workers & Fixed Workers; 10% of Mobile Workers & 0% of Flexible Workers.

Mobile Workers needs will be evaluated and they will be provided with either a Laptop PC

or a suitable mobile device such as a Smartphone, Tablet PC or Personal Digital Assistant.

These devices may be significantly more expensive to supply and support than standard

Laptop PC’s therefore they will be subject to a special approval process.

The Council will publish a set of standard equipment for each work style implemented. If

additional or more expensive devices are required then the Services will be asked to

justify the additional cost and fund from it from their budget.

10% of mobile Workers will be provided with a Tablet Computer – any additional costs

will be funded by Services based on a business case.



Source: Council IT


Source: Council IT


Cost Trend Applied Whilst we can expect Tablet Computers to reduce in price we have based the 5 year costs

on today’s prices.


Cost 5: Management Support Days

Number Required 2,508 person days over 5 years

357 days in Y1, 929 days in Y2, 748 days in Y3, 474 days in Y4, 0 days in Y5.

Assumptions The management time required is allocated for support, coaching, benefits realization and

issue handling.

2 days management support per annum for employees new to agile working is required.

The Council provides expert support to line management for benefits realization and

change management – if this is not provided the effort from line management per

employee may significantly increase.

The Council provides appropriate communications to employees throughout the life of

the programme.

The Council provides appropriate executive and operational management leadership to

the programme.

The average salary of a manager required to support agile working staff is £35,000 pa

including Council NI and pension contributions.

Management time for this activity is considered an ‘opportunity cost’ and is therefore not

included as a cost in this business case.

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6

Supplier Assume the Council will conduct these activities with its own staff supported by specialists

either from the Workforce Deployment team or from external suppliers.

One Time Cost per Unit Not applicable

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £156 per day based on a manager’s average annual salary of £35,000 pa including NI and

pension contributions and 225 working days pa.

Source: Council Finance

Total Five Year Cost £0

Council management time is considered an opportunity cost and is not included in the

Base Scenario.


Budget Allocations 75% - Workforce Deployment Programme

25% - Services.

Cost 6: Council Staff – Training Attendance

Number Required 2,574 person days over 5 years.

366 days in Y1, 954 days in Y2, 767 days in Y3, 486days in Y4, 0 days in Y5.

Assumptions 1 days training for Fixed Workers and 2 days training for Home, Mobile & Flexible

Workers.

The Council uses its own training staff who are taught by external specialists in a ‘teach

the teachers’ super-user approach.

15 train the trainer 1 day workshops required and 23 1 day workshops for managers

required.

The average salary of an employee who is provided with training is £28,000 pa including

Council NI and pension contributions.

Staff time for this activity is considered an ‘opportunity cost’ and is therefore not included

as a cost in this business case.

Supplier Assume the Council will conduct these activities with its own staff supported by specialists

either from the Workforce Deployment team or from external suppliers.


Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £124 per day based on an average managers annual salary of £28,000 pa and 225 working

days pa.

Source: Council Finance


Council management time is considered an opportunity cost and is not included in the

Base Scenario. A variance was modeled using a cost of £390,202 over 5 years. See

Appendix 7A for additional details.


Budget Allocations 75% - Workforce Deployment Programme

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7

25% - Services.

Cost 7: Workstation Changes

Number Required 382 changes over the 5 year programme.

Assumptions 30% of all Mobile & Flexible Workers will require a workstation change.

The Council uses its own staff to manage and deliver the changes required if external

contractors are required the costs may significantly increase.

90% of all workstation changes are simple at a cost of £1,200 per change.

10% of all workstation changes are medium complex at a cost of £2,700 per change

Complex changes costing more than £2,700 per change will be allocated to local 30 year

property business cases.

Supplier Assume the Council will conduct these activities with its own staff.


Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £1,200 for a simple change; £2,700 for a medium complex change.

Source: Council Property; BT




Cost 8: Concierge Service

Number Required 7 locations across the Council territory.

Assumptions The Council uses its own staff to deliver the concierge service.

1 person is required for 20% of their time at an average annual salary of £21,000

Supplier Assume the Council will conduct these activities with its own staff.


Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £93 per day


Council staff time is considered an opportunity cost and is not included in the Base

Scenario.



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8

Cost 9: Business Broadband

Number Required 621

Assumptions 100% of Mobile Workers;

Flexible Workers with 60% workstation occupancy rates are provided with business

broadband at their home location.

50% of Flexible Workers with 75% workstation occupancy rates are provided with

business broadband at their home location.

Flexible Workers with 90% occupancy rates are not provided with a home based

broadband service.

The proportion of Flexible Workers with either 75% or 60% occupancy in all Council

locations is similar to Oban and Dunoon.

All Mobile Workers are provided with business broadband at their home location.

Supplier To be negotiated via normal procurement services

One Time Cost per Unit £319 per installation

Source: Council IT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £480 pa

Source: Council IT

Total Five Year Cost £1,235,305

Costs have been calculated based on normal commercial rates – a competitive

procurement process may reduce costs.

Cost Trend Applied No trend applied


Cost 10: LAN Network Upgrades

Number Required 0

Assumptions The Council local networks have sufficient capacity to deliver the data and voice load

required in addition to existing demand.

Supplier Not applicable

One Time Cost per Unit £1,000 per installation

Source: Council IT, BT




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9



Cost 11: Wireless Networks

Number Required 57

16@Oban, 23@Dunoon, 13@Lochgilphead, 7@Campbeltown, 5@Rothesay,

3@Helensburgh

Assumptions The number required is in addition existing wireless installations.


One Time Cost per Unit £1,000




Total Five Year Cost £100,100.00



Cost 12: Furniture Packs

Number Required 7

Assumptions 100% of Home Workers to be provided with home based furniture.

All Home Workers to be provided with home based furniture including a desk and chair.


One Time Cost per Unit £500 per pack including desk and chair.

Source: BT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £25 pa to cover breakage

Source: BT




Cost 13: Utility Payments

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10

Number Required 7

Assumptions 100% of Home Workers to be provided with utility payments.

Council to fund utility payments via normal expense claiming process to a maximum of

£104 pa.



Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £104pa

Source: BT




Cost 14: TFT Monitors

Number Required 0

Assumptions All employees adopting agile work styles will use existing computer equipment including

monitors.



Source: BT


Source: BT




Cost 15: Printers

Number Required 430

Assumptions 100% of Home Workers; 100% of Mobile Workers; 100% of “60% Occupancy” Flexible

Workers

The Council’s default is that a Flexible Worker is not supplied with a home based printer

unless a short business is made and approved.

The Council monitors and closely manages the use of consumables.

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11

Supplier Assume existing Council supplier


Source: BT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £100pa including consumables

Source: BT




Cost 16: Mobile Phones

Number Required 250

20% of Mobile Workers; 20% of Flexible Workers

Assumptions All Mobile & Flexible Workers require a mobile telephone. Phones will be reallocated

where necessary.

80% of Mobile & Flexible Workers already have a Council supplied mobile phone.



Source: Council IT


Source: Council IT




Cost 17: Fixed Line or IP Telephony at Home

Number Required 87

Assumptions 100% of Home Workers; 10% of Mobile Workers; 10% of “60% Occupancy and 75%

Occupancy” Flexible Workers



Source: Council IT

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12

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £100pa including call charges

Source: Council IT




Cost 18: Single Number Facility (Follow Me)

Number Required 0

This facility enables users to log on to any Council based telephone irrespective of

location and make or receive calls.

Assumptions The Council provides ‘follow me’ telephony services this facility from its existing ICT

platform at no additional cost to all Agile Workers.



Source: Council IT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £0 including service wrap

Source: Council IT




Cost 19: Audio Conferencing

Number Required 10% of all audio conferencing calls use an external service; 90% uses the existing Council

service

Assumptions The Council provides this facility from its existing ICT platform at no additional cost.

The average use for all 1,320 employees who become agile workers is…

Average of 20 minutes per day per user – Y1





A maximum of 2.1 Million minutes of audio conferencing from an external service over 5

years.



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13

Source: BT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £0.02 per minute per line

Source: BT




Cost 20: Web Conferencing

Number Required 0

Assumptions The Council provides this facility from its existing ICT platform at no additional cost






The Council can provide a minimum of 21 million minutes of web conferencing over 5

years at zero costs to an acceptable quality of service.



Source: BT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £0.04 per minute per line

Source: BT




Cost 21: Data Back Up Service

Number Required 0

Assumptions The Council provides this facility from its existing ICT platform at no additional cost

The internal data back-up service is available to all 1,320 agile workers and meets the

Councils security, data protection and privacy requirements and legal obligations.

No costs are included to upgrade the Council’s security, data protection and privacy

services from current status.

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14



Source: Council IT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £100pa per user

Source: council IT




Cost 22: Agile Worker Support Service

Number Required 0

Assumptions The Council provides this service and can provide the content, knowledge and experience

required.

The service provided is fit for purpose and is available to all agile workers in a timely

manner.



Source: Council Workforce Deployment & IT

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £0pa per user

Source: Council Workforce Deployment & IT




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15

Cost 23: Infrastructure & Applications

Number Required Not applicable

Assumptions The Council delivers the required changes to its ICT infrastructure and applications to

support the Workforce Deployment Programme

The following estimates of costs apply

MPLS Upgrade £0

SAN £0

High Capacity Internet Access £0

General HW & Infrastructure Updates £0

Citrix or Terminal Server Development £44,000

Mobile Devices £0

eForms Upgrade £0

IM £0

Training Licenses £107,500

Room Booking Software £35,680

Additional VOIP One Time £0

Additional Networked Buildings £40

Malware Precautions for PDA's & Smart phones £34,000

Hard Disk Encryption for PDA's & Smart phones £0

Audit Client Costs £1,950

Other Application Development £0

Specifically excluded from the Workforce Deployment budget are the High Capacity

Internet Access Pipe, Additional VOIP costs and eForms upgrades – these costs are

allocated to the Council IT budget.

No on-line or off-line mobile applications development effort (e.g. eForms) is required to

meet business requirements for data capture or additional business function.


5 Year Costs £223,169.10

Source: Council ICT; Council Training for Training Licenses

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit Not applicable



Cost 24: WiFi Accounts

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16

Number Required 0

Assumptions The Council does not require this service as it potentially breaches data protection and

security policies.

Council requirements for WiFi services to promote local economic development are

specifically excluded from the business case.



Source: Council Workforce Programme

Ongoing Annual Cost per Unit £0

Source: Council Workforce Programme




Cost 25: Client Programme Staff

Number

Required

3,645 days

Council Law & Administration Support Days 0

Council ICT Support - Project Development Days 255

Council ICT Support - Operational Days 1125

Council Communications Support Days Including Training Development 200

Council Procurement Support Days 0

Project Support Days 895

Council Best Value Support Days 0

Council Project Management Support Days 335

Council Property Management Support Days

835 Assumptions ICT Development Specialist costs at 175% of Average Salary

ICT Operations Specialist costs at £130% of Average Salary

Programme Support costs at 125% of Average Salary

Project Management costs at 125% of Average Salary

Property Specialist at 125% of Average Salary

The Council has the skills and employees available to manage the programme to the levels of resources

estimated.


One Time Cost

per Unit

Not applicable

Ongoing Annual £124 per day based on average salary of £28,000 and 225 working days pa

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Cost per Unit Council Finance

Total Five Year

Cost

£588,155.56

Any substitution of Council staff with external specialist may increase costs significantly.

Cost Trend

Applied

No trend applied

Budget

Allocations

100% - Workforce Deployment Budget

Cost 26: Agile Worker Support Service

Number Required 95 days

Assumptions Senior Project (Programme) Manager costs at 150% of Average Salary

HR Specialist costs at 125% of Average Salary

ICT Development Specialist costs at 175% of Average Salary

ICT Operations Specialist costs at £130% of Average Salary

Programme Support costs at 125% of Average Salary

Project Management costs at 125% of Average Salary

Property Specialist at 1255 of Average Salary


One Time Cost per

Unit

Not applicable

Ongoing Annual

Cost per Unit Programme Manager Daily Fee £1,000

Project Manager Daily Fee £750

Specialist Daily Fee £500

Source: BT




Cost 27: Authentication Tokens

Number Required 626

Assumptions 100% of Mobile Workers; 100% of all Flexible Workers with a Laptop Computer (or

equivalent)

Supplier Assumed competitive procurement process


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Source: BT


Source: BT (based on City of Edinburgh experience)

Total Five Year Cost £103,791.47



Cost 28: Fast Business Broadband

Number Required 7

Assumptions 100% of Home Workers

Supplier Assumed competitive procurement process


Source: Council IT


Source: Council IT




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Argyll and Bute Council – Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme – Equality Impact Assessment

1


Process for Change

Appendix 8 - Equality Impact Assessment Authors: Laura Cameron

October 2009

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The Equality Impact Assessment Form

Essential Information 1. Name of function or policy: Process for Change - Workforce Deployment Theme 2. Is this function or policy: √ New □ Reviewed 3. Name of Officers completing this form: Morag Brown 4. Designation(s): Business Improvement Manager 5. Date of Impact Assessment: October 2009

6. Lead Council Department(s) involved in the delivery of this function or policy Chief Executive (Improvement and HR – Business Improvement Team)

7(a). Who else is involved in the delivery of this function or policy? (e.g. other Council departments or partner agencies) It forms part of the ‘Process for Change’ agenda which is one of the Council’s key strategic objectives, therefore all Council Departments and Heads of Service will be involved in the delivery of this function.

7(b). How have they been involved in the Impact Assessment process? A wide selection of staff from service departments have been assigned temporarily to assist the Business Improvement Team. All Directors, Heads of Service and third tier managers have been consulted. The HR Board including representation from the Trade Unions approve all reports prior to inclusion in the Council’s Committee cycle. The final report will be presented to Council for approval on 26th November 2009.

Aims of the function or policy 8. What are the main aims of the function or policy? Please list

• The future blueprint involves staff having the appropriate technology and equipment to enable them to access all relevant documents electronically and thus provide a complete service to customers first time, whether they are working at home, on the move or in a Council office.

• The large scale adoption of flexible working practices (flexible, mobile, home) and the large scale adoption of modern online tools such as web conferencing, mobile devices, audio conferencing, and collaborative working environments.

• The development of new ways of working including flexible, mobile and home working will assist in any future property rationalisation exercise and the likely reduction in office buildings along with the associated maintenance and running costs.

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• Modernising the workplace paired with a cultural shift towards a widespread adoption of new ways of working such as desk sharing and open plan office layouts will enable the workplace to become a much more dynamic and responsive environment. Workstations can be shared, touches down centres accommodate peripatetic workers and meeting rooms can double up as quiet room space.

9. Who are the main beneficiaries of the function or policy? Please list

• Customers of the Council

• Employees

• Council as a whole

10. Is the function or policy intended to increase equality of opportunity by permitting positive action or action to redress disadvantage? Yes □ No √ Give details:

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Evidence 11. What evidence will you use to identify any potential positive or negative impacts? (Evidence could include: consultations, surveys, focus groups, interviews, pilot projects, user feed back (inc complaints made), officer knowledge and experience, equalities monitoring data, academic publications, consultants’ reports, Citizens’ Panel etc)

Evidence Details

Consultation

7 solutions design workshops were held across 5 localities (Lochgilphead, Dunoon, Oban, Campbeltown and Helensburgh) involving 85 members of staff at varying levels of the organisation.

Research

The Council have researched agile working in other Councils and have regularly referred to the research undertaken by Project Nomad, which is a centre for excellence for flexible and mobile working in local government.

Officer knowledge and experience (inc feedback from frontline staff)

A 6 month mobile and homeworking pilot was undertaken across Planning and Environmental Services during second half of 2008. This was a very successful pilot which resulted in a wide range of benefits for the Officers involved and for the Council as a whole, including; increased flexibility for employee, better work – life balance, improved recruitment and retention of staff, reduced travel costs and improved customer satisfaction. BT have been recruited as consultants to take forward the Workforce Deployment theme of Process for Change. Their professional knowledge and experience in agile working (including the experience of other Councils who have undertaken similar projects) has been taken into account.

Equalities monitoring data

Surveys of Customer Survey Points carried out during the High Level Design phase.

User feedback (inc complaints)

User feedback from the pilot has been very positive, with the participants citing a number of personal benefits such as a better work life balance, improved job satisfaction and more flexibility in how/where work is carried out (between home and the office).

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Other Argyll and Bute Council has a partnership approach to the Process for Change agenda with Moray, Highland and Dumfries & Galloway Councils.

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Impacts 12. What, if any, Equality Target Groups could be affected by this function or policy? Place the symbol in the relevant box Consider also the relationship between belonging to an Equality Target Group and the effect of wider cross-cutting issues. E.g. a gay homeless person

Equality Target Group

Positive Impact

(+)

Neutral Impact

(0)

Negative Impact

(-)

Cross cutting Issue1? (please specify the issue)

BME* 0

Disability 0

Gender 0

LGBT** 0

Belief 0

Younger 0

Older 0

*BME: Black and Minority Ethnic Community **LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender

13. From the Equality Target Groups you have highlighted above, what positive and negative impacts, do you think the function or policy might have? Detail the impacts and describe the groups affected.

Positive impacts (describe groups affected)

Negative impacts (describe groups affected)

1The cross cutting issues you should consider for the purpose of this Equality Impact Assessment

are: employees, health, access (including rural isolation), low income, unemployed, homeless and carers or any other relevant issue(s).

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If you have NOT identified any potential negative impacts go to question 15 and detail your monitoring, reviewing and publishing arrangements.

14. If you have identified any negative impacts use the matrix below to identify the level of the negative impact and the number of people potentially affected by the negative impact.

HIG

H

Your function or policy is likely to be unlawfully discriminatory. Refer to the EIA Guidance on how to modify your function or policy.

Your function or policy is likely to be directly discriminatory.

You must reject or substantially modify your

function or policy.

Nu

mb

er o

f P

eop

le A

ffec

ted

LO

W

Consider ways in which you can minimise or remove any low level negative impact that affects a small number of people.

Your function or policy is likely to be unlawfully discriminatory. Refer to the EIA Guidance on how to modify your function or policy.

LOW HIGH

Level of Negative Impact

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Monitoring and Reviewing 15. How will the implementation of the function or policy be monitored? (e.g. customer satisfaction questionnaires) The workforce deployment theme will be monitored using project management and benefits realisation methodology. The HR Board will also continue to act as the project board for this theme.

16. How will the results of the monitoring be used to develop the function or policy? The results of the monitoring and lessons learnt will be used during future years of implementation to ensure improvement and effectiveness in the roll out of this project. 17. When is the function or policy due to be reviewed? Will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Public Reporting of Results 18. Summarise the results of the Equality Impact Assessment. Include any action which has been taken as a result of the Equality Impact Assessment. You must note if you have modified or consulted on your function or policy. This summary should be recorded under Implications on all reports going to Council committees. Please also note where else this summary is going to be published. Summary This Equality Impact Assessment was carried out in October 2009 as part of the detailed design phase. No positive or negative impacts have been identified as a result of this project and the evidence gathered to date does not indicate that there is a need for action to be taken at this stage. The EIA will be reviewed in one years time during the implementation stage of the project, which may result in further action being taken.

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Notepad (optional) Please use the space below to detail any matters arising from the Impact Assessment process.

Please send feedback on ways to improve this process to: Policy Officer (Strategy), Policy and Strategy, Chief Executive’s Unit, Kilmory, Lochgilphead, PA31 8RT

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