A study exploring the role of the government workplace as an agent for change has been published by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and DEGW.
Working Beyond Walls looks at the role of the government estate in ensuring the Civil Service adapts to meet the challenges of delivering high quality services and attracting and retaining a quality workforce.
Using five existing government buildings as case studies (including Scottish Enterprise's headquarters in Glasgow), the guide encourages new thinking on information and communication technology, styles of working, estate transformation, strategic asset management, sustainable design and human resource issues. It paints a picture of the Civil Service in 2020 where home-working and mobile working is commonplace, and government office workspaces are used more efficiently and operations are more sustainable.
Bridget Hardy, co-author and OGC's Head of High Performing Property Strategy and Implementation, said: "This book looks beyond currently accepted norms in relation to innovative flexible workplaces and working practices to offer a vision for the future of work in the Civil Service. Ways of working that are not constrained by office walls but exploit technology to be more efficient and effective, more joined up and better able to respond quickly to the needs of Government and citizens."
The publication is part of the Government's High Performing Property Strategy, led by the OGC, which sets out the direction for improving strategic property asset management in central government with a view to achieving up to £1.5bn in efficiency savings annually by 2013.
