Working to our Advantage

A National Workplace Strategy

Lucy Fallon-Byrne, Director, NCPP

Overview

1. Why our workplaces need to change

2. Emerging features of successful

workplaces in a knowledge economy

3. Workplaces in Ireland today: An

assessment

4. The New National Workplace Strategy

‘Developing our innovation and technology base

depends as much on improving the ability of

workplaces to change and innovate as it does

on research and development’

Working to our Advantage

The search for innovation

Changing Workplace

• Knowledge Economy– From 1997- 2002 Ireland’s growth rate in employment in

knowledge-intensive services far outstripped EU neighbours

• New workers – Need up to 420,000 workers up to 2010– 150,000 from outside the State – 30,000 per annum– Need 300,000 with third level qualifications

• Learning – 30% of current workforce do not have a Leaving

Certificate– Ireland ranks 8th our of EU 15 in relation to LLL

Why our workplaces are changing

• Transition to a knowledge economy – Rapid rate of change in structure of

employment – shift from low skill to high skilled work

– By 2015, human capital intensive sectors will make up 75% of total employment growth

– By 2015 one in four people will be employed in knowledge intensive professions

– Additional 300,000 employees with third level education required up to 2010

– 80% of workfore in 2015 is currently employed

Proactively diverse

Continually learning

Involved and participatory

Highly productive

Networked

Responsive to employee needs

Knowledge intensive

Customer – centred

Agile

Vision of the Workplace of the Future -

Proactively diverse

Continually learning

Involved and participatory

Highly productive

Networked

Responsive to employee needs

Knowledge intensive

Customer – centred

Agile

THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE WILL BE…

Agile >All parts of the organisation and all employees are committed to the need for change and new ideas. Change is embraced willingly and all employees are constantly alert to opportunities for improvement and innovation.

Proactively diverse

Continually learning

Involved and participatory

Highly productive

Networked

Responsive to employee needs

Knowledge intensive

Customer – centred

Agile Involved and participatory >The organisation values and actively seeks involvement and participation by all employees. The culture,management systems and work processes are all designed to enable employees to become deeply involved in the search for sources of higher performance and innovation.

THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE WILL BE…

Proactively diverse

Continually learning

Involved and participatory

Highly productive

Networked

Responsive to employee needs

Knowledge intensive

Customer – centred

Agile Continually learning >Learning and experimentation are encouraged and there is an ongoing focus on training, skills and learning to increase the skill content in all work.

THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE WILL BE…

Second generation partnership Repositioning partnership from

‘something we do’ to ‘the way we do things’

Embedding partnership in core processes eg:

Strategic planning

Team working

Moving from an agenda that is focussed on ‘softer issues’ to a more strategic agenda

Ensuring that partnership becomes part of everybody’s job description not just a few

Using existing decision-making and communication processes rather than creating new structures

Assessment of Irish workplaces: Survey findings

• Under-utilisation of the workforce

• Under-utiliisation of women’s skills

• Low levels of information and consultation

• The opportunities divide in the workplace

• Linking innovation and change to job satisfaction and

reduction in stress

Assessment of Irish workplaces: Survey findings

• Adoption of ‘bundles of practices’ associated with high

performance is quite limited

• Information and consultation

• Employee involvement and participation

• Continuous training and upskilling

• Performance management and appraisal

• Innovative reward systems including financial involvement

• Puplic service poor at knowledge management,

performance management and highly centralised

• Management and leadership needs to be improved.

4137

40

58

42

52

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Competition Intro newprod/serv

Intro new tech Re-orgcompany

Change workpract

Sales/Profits

Percentage of Private Sector Employees 'Hardly Ever' Receiving Information from Mangement in 6 Areas of Work

Information flows - Private Sector

Emerging areas for action

27

2124

1513

0

10

20

30

40

50

Almost always Often Sometimes Rarely Almost Never

Percentage of employees consulted prior to decisions

affecting their work

Proactively diverse

Continually learning

Involved and participatory

Highly productive

Networked

Responsive to employee needs

Knowledge intensive

Customer – centred

Agile

From Vision to Action – Five strategic Priorities

Commitment to innovation Capacity for changeDeveloping Future SkillsAccess to the Workplace Quality of Working life

‘’ The key question is whether the same energy

that was invested in Ireland’s economic

transformation over the latter two decades of

the 20th century can now be brought to bear on

Ireland’s workplaces in the 21st century?’

Working to our Advantage