Research launch event: remote working in the UK civil service
UK civil servants spent years building the systems to support remote working – then the pandemic arrived, presenting a huge test of those capabilities. According to new research carried out by GGF and Dell Technologies, they’ve passed with flying colours: in a survey of more than 900 civil servants, 73% said they can carry out their full role working remotely, with a further 22% able to do most of their work from home. And this change is here to stay: with 82% of officials saying that in future they want to spend more time working remotely, a flexible working offer will be central to employers’ recruitment and retention policies over the years to come.
A long-term shift to remote working will bring many benefits for civil service bodies, including savings on office costs and access to a broader labour pool. But putting these new working methods on a sustainable footing also presents challenges: organisations must consider, for example, how to support effective collaboration and staff management in a distributed workforce. What’s more, the survey did highlight concerns around the security of devices and practices: fewer than one in five, for example, say their employer has checked the security of their home wifi settings.
At this webinar, a panel of civil service and Dell Technologies experts set out the findings of this major new survey on remote working – presenting a detailed picture of civil servants’ views and experiences over the last year – and explored their implications for civil service leaders and managers. Covering core issues such as those around staff development, working practices, workspace planning and security, the webinar will be of particular interest both to digital, HR and property teams, and to all those managing remote-working staff.
Panel
Webinar chair: Siobhan Benita, former UK senior civil servant
Siobhan Benita was a senior civil servant with over 15 years’ Whitehall experience. She worked in many of the major delivery departments, including Transport, Environment, Health and Local Government. She also had senior roles at the heart of Government in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, including supporting the then Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell to lead work on Civil Service reform and strategy. Siobhan left the Civil Service to run as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. She subsequently joined her alma mater, Warwick University as Chief Strategy Officer of Warwick in London and Co-Director of the Warwick Policy Lab.
Tariq Hussain, Senior Director, UK Public Sector, Dell Technologies
With over 20 years’ of commercial experience that spans across a range of industries including manufacturing, transport, consulting and information technology, Tariq Hussain brings a broad spectrum of expertise to his role as UK Government Sales Director for Dell in the UK. In this role, Tariq is responsible for leading a business of 16 Account Executives across the UK (with a wider indirect team of >50) and driving growth across all of Dell’s end-to-end products and services – offering technology solutions for every person across Local and Central Government and Defence and Securities. The revenue from this account set is now worth >$250m a year and has seen substantial growth in the last 8 quarters. Prior to this role Tariq was the UK Finance Director supporting the UK VP Tim Griffin.
Outside of his main role at Dell – Tariq leads the Dell Management Challenge – a 2 day corporate adventure race held in the Brecon Beacons each year with up to 250 people across our partners and customer set.
Prior to joining Dell, Tariq was a Financial Performance Consultant at IBM looking to streamline IT across a number of diverse industries including Shell and the Banking Sector.
An alumnus of the University of Wales, Swansea; Tariq is an avid rowing fan having most recently rowed at Marlow Rowing club and at GB level at Under 21s.
Tariq is a big supporter of encouraging diversity within organisations to build stronger teams and is actively involved involved in a number of Employee Resource groups to that effect. Tariq is also a Dell UK Pension Trustee.
Dominic Brankin, Director, Workplace Services, Government Property Agency, United Kingdom
Dom joined the GPA in January 2019 from the Department of Health and Social Care where he led the Workplace and Transformation agenda. A Civil Servant for over 30 years, prior to his role with the DHSC Dom worked in operations, corporate services and project delivery at the Department for Work and Pensions: leading customer services delivery in Jobcentre Plus regions; covering financial strategy, HR and marketing; and delivering welfare reform through major transformation programmes. As Workplace Services Director, Dom is responsible for supporting customers in moving to and using GPA workplaces in a way that is popular with customers and enhances client satisfaction. His team has also led the Agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
