When Adam Fennessy took on the role of Victorian Public Sector Commissioner, he was under no illusions as to the magnitude of the challenge before him.
The state had experienced its first major lockdown and would soon enter a second as COVID cases were again rising. The public sector had been turned on its head, with almost the entire office-based workforce transitioning to working from home, effectively overnight.
Speaking to Di Rutter for PwC Australia’s Government Matters podcast, Adam explains that this once-in-a-100-year event allowed a complete re-imagination of what an effective public sector could look like, and how out of disruption comes opportunity.
Flexible work needs firm footings
Formerly head of DELWP, the role of Commissioner means Adam is indirectly responsible for the performance of one in 10 of the state’s workers. His remit includes helping the public sector to lead the charge in optimising new ways of working. He stresses the importance of understanding and investing in people, of ‘walking the talk’, and of ensuring flexible work practices are grounded in data and evidence, not anecdote.
COVID-19 has allowed us to ask such confronting questions as: ‘Do I need to sit in an office to be seen by other people to do my job well?’
But Adam says the more important question is: ‘How are we effective and productive in the outcomes we deliver?’
The simple corollary is: ‘Work from where you get your best outcome’.
This, of course, is easier said than done on a broad scale: there are about 50,000 staff in the core departments in Victoria, along with another 300,000 people across the gamut of public entities, including health care and schools.
Under Adam’s leadership, the Victorian Public Sector Commission has been examining national and international research, and working with universities, as well as with other public sector commissions and the Productivity Commission, on how best to apply the concept of flexibility.
It is also examining local data, such as the Victorian public service’s People Matter survey, which garners about 100,000 responses. The survey has found that generally, the wellbeing of office workers improved as they worked from home during COVID-19 restrictions, while that of workers still on the frontline declined. The wellbeing of ‘managers of managers’ and of senior executives also fell.
Adam says that despite this nuanced picture, “a lot of people felt more empowered and indeed were more productive when they could choose where to work from”.
I think what we’re finding is what a lot of workforces are finding. If you’ve got flexible, well-supported and empowered staff, you’ll have a productive, high-performing organisation. Coming out of COVID, that means far more flexible ways of working.
The question for the commission now is, according to Adam, “how do we take a data-driven approach to this, and not just trade-off preferences and anecdotes of different parts of our senior management?”
Women and the risk of ‘invisibility’
Evidence, monitoring and the adoption of best practices are also vital in guarding against some inherent risks of flexible work, Adam says. In particular, the risk that “you still have to be in the office to be part of the important conversations or be seen in order to get those career progression opportunities”.
Adam says women, whether we like it or not, are particularly susceptible to this risk, as they continue to do the bulk of parenting and other caring work.
Separately, the commission is looking at ways to address the gender divide, by encouraging men to take parental leave and take on more flexible work.
Investing in digital skills and diversity
Among the other key areas of focus is ensuring the public sector workforce reflects the community it serves. “We know from national and global research that diverse, inclusive organisations make better decisions,” Adam says. “They manage risk better, they innovate better, and also provide better services.”
Adam says that, along with investing in building the digital skills of the public sector, the government’s focus on improving diversity will have broad-reaching benefits – empowering and upskilling a range of people, with skills that are portable across a range of industries and communities for years to come.
Walking the talk
For his own part, Adam has sought to further inclusion by modelling the practices he espouses as a leader.
As Secretary of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, he made the unusual decision to live in Bendigo – partly for family reasons, but also because it removed him from the ‘Melbourne bubble’ and gave him a different perspective on the department’s widespread operations and impact.
“It allowed me to listen and talk to our staff far more directly. I could pop in to some of the small depots we had around regional Victoria and the far reaches of the state … Or go to regional cities, bring the executive with me and talk to regional businesses, regional communities and see firsthand what was going on.”
Adam also went part-time while in an executive role when he had a young family. “It gave me a lot of insight to how difficult flexible work was and is,” he says. “If I was telling other people to work more flexibly, it had to start with me … I learned the importance of modelling those values, but it also kept my mind a bit fresher.”
He concludes by saying that while some complain of the elephantine slowness of government, “that elephant can also be really strong”.
“Find a role that aligns with your values,” he says, “and you can get a lot done and make a big impact.”
To hear the full interview with Adam Fennessy, and other inspiring stories from Australia’s public sector leaders, visit PwC’s Government Matters podcast.
Adam Fennessy PSM is the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner. From 3 October 2022 he will join the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) as its CEO and Dean.
