In April we released Public Sector Market Insight, the first in a series of papers on current concerns in the public sector employment and labour markets. Insight was initially sent to a select group of public sector managers; due to some demand, we have decided to make the content of this first issue available to everyone.

In this issue of Insight, Leigh Johnson demonstrates how you can work more efficiently and productively in a constrained fiscal environment, through the use of flexible workforce solutions. It will be of particular interest to senior managers across the public sector, who are often being asked to do more with less and produce higher quality outputs.

An extract from the issue is below, and you can download the full issue as an attachment.

Future planning: a question of resources

Flexible workforces – and the practices associated with ‘flex’ – are hardly revolutionary these days. Generally the term refers to on-call, temporary, contract, freelance, casual, part-time or project-specific staff, and may also include staff who work from home. Opting to work on flex is no longer the province of working parents, baby boomers with lifestyle desires or employees with health-related concerns.

In Mastering the Art of a Flexible Culture, a US report aligned with the findings of the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, flexible work is considered “the new normal”. According to the research, “flex is connected to other business objectives – to organisational change, sustainability, disaster planning and facilities planning.” 95% of the best companies in the US consider flex the standard and 87% include it as part of their strategic planning.

As a solution to staffing requirements in New Zealand’s public sector, flex has numerous benefits.