The future augmented workforce of the Australian Public Service (APS) is a powerful mix of experienced, digitally savvy employees and business-friendly configurable automated processes and systems. So how do government teams achieve the ideal mix of manpower, skills and technology in an augmented workforce? Where do agencies start when it comes to applying digital capabilities in their organizations?
Matthew Watkins, Digital & Technology Partner at Synergy Grouphe speaks through a phased approach that enables the workforce to adapt and improve their digital maturity in a deliberate way – always with a strategic, future state in mind.
What is an augmented workforce?
Digital thinking and technical literacy can no longer be complementary. It must be an integral part of our daily work. The team must be comfortable working in a digitally enhanced organizational culture.
“The augmented workforce is able to work in an agile way – there is a seamless exchange of activities between human workers, digital workers and cognitive assistants,” says Matthew.
“Data and evidence drive policy, processes and decisions, and people have a high level of trust in digital capabilities. There is also a high degree of technical literacy that has been used to lead digital and cognitive assistants.” This means that automated work and artificial intelligence (AI) are, where relevant, seen as primary contributors to the workforce.
How do we create it?
To move an organization toward an augmented workforce, most APS workplaces must undertake both workforce transformation and business process transformation. “Improving digital maturity can take time,” says Matthew. “Additionally, technology is constantly changing, so there is a constant need to invest in a digital strategy.”
Firstly, some of the APS workforce needs to be upskilled in modern digital skills and technical literacy – and this is not just for ICT people. “There needs to be a broad level of education that increases awareness of the digital intent and in turn increases skills and confidence in that intent,” says Matthew.
“Some people may be doing higher-value work, while lower-value work is outsourced to digital workers or automated. Accordingly, there is a need to work on the ethics of automating some job roles or functions and policies that address the transition to an augmented workforce.”
There may also be some constraints in the organization’s ICT management and operations that need to be overcome. ICT policies and processes were likely designed based on a static, application-based ICT operating model, as opposed to a dynamic, multi-speed ICT operating model based on commercially configurable, scalable ICT platforms. It means a different way of operating ICT services, supported by different funding models than today.
Before any of this can happen, you need to invest in knowing your business, improving your business processes, understanding the data that underpins those processes, and making a strategic commitment to what can be automated or where to apply AI capabilities.
where are we going
Piloting is a useful starting point for automation and cognitive technologies. “Initially, focusing on transactional automation or expanding tasks is a way to help the organization see how they can benefit from new technologies,” explains Matthew.
“Initially, focusing on transactional automation or task augmentation is a way to help an organization see how they can benefit from new technologies.”
– Matthew Watkins, Synergy Group
But importantly, in parallel with the pilot programs, the business needs to take a strategic approach to understanding its business context and outcomes and what their future state will look like, supported by an augmented workforce, as well as identifying key use cases for automation and technology. platform requirements tailored to support their future needs.
“A good strategy would include a detailed look at how the industry has changed and adapted to an expanded workforce because it is several years ahead of the Australian Public Service,” says Matthew. “This sets out goals for the transition to an augmented workforce and lessons that should be considered at the design stage.”
“And while some early automation is tactical and compensating for gaps in legacy ICT capabilities, the augmented workforce involves designing the future state with new automation and AI in mind, meaning it’s a permanent construct.”
Identify areas of the business that need to be scrutinized for suitability for expansion or automation, whether to improve service delivery, efficiency, effectiveness or other factors such as quality, compliance or speed.
Step by step
With a clear strategic understanding of the automation needs of the business, Matthew suggests teams then analyze the impact on:
- their current workforce and what skills gaps may exist
- ethics, governance and policies – including people policies as well as ICT governance and security
- current operating model and working methods
- current ICT architecture, strategy and technology plan.
To design a target state operational model for an organization with an expanded workforce, business outcomes and workforce elements, maturity dimensions, and design principles need to be combined to guide incremental investments. This includes how the digital workforce will be managed (whether centralized, decentralized, federated, etc.), as well as the human and technology elements of the change agenda.
“From there, you define measures of success so the organization knows it’s moving in the right way,” says Matthew. “Given all that analysis, you want to know what the transformation would look like, and from there design an agenda for change — including how the funding will be raised.”
Back to the beginning
While this program of strategic change is the guiding framework, Matthew says it all starts with educating the workforce, building digital awareness and showing the art of the possible, how automating business-friendly digital functions can benefit everyone.