Emerging from a long period of lockdowns post the COVID-19 epidemic, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) felt that the workplace had irrevocably changed. There was a strong need to create greater clarity about the purpose and role of the physical workplace, what it meant for collaboration, learning and the pursuit of VLA’s purpose of helping some of Victoria’s most disadvantaged people with their legal problems. To help oversee the engagement, Victoria Legal Aid appointed Bendelta to undertake the listening and engagement activity, which would later culminate in a hybrid strategy and model, supported by practical toolkits and guides. Along the way, Bendelta also incorporated key insights relating to physical workspace design.
Understanding cultural preferences and ways of working
Central to the approach would be a strong focus on inclusive listening. This meant understanding people’s experiences of hybrid, what they valued the most, what they found challenging and what new elements were required. Care was taken to ensure that both regional and metropolitan voices were heard, as well as those from legal and non-legal areas of the organisation. To better understand VLA’s employees’ working patterns, preferences and experiences of hybrid working, we also deployed our Worksona diagnostic survey. The results illustrated how preferences changed across different demographics and highlighted key factors impacting the office and hybrid working experience.
A practical model with supporting tools
Synthesis of the survey and focus group findings formed key hybrid working themes: the importance of connection, driving inclusion and diversity, challenges for managers and impacts on onboarding and learning. Bendelta then worked closely with VLA to develop their hybrid working strategy. It included VLA’s hybrid working vision, four core guiding principles and recommendations for improving key enablers. Once the strategy had been finalised, Bendelta designed hybrid working toolkits, one for all staff and one for managers. These engaging, accessible and clear toolkits provided VLA people with practical tools and guidance on how to effectively operate in a flexible and hybrid working environment.
The outcome
VLA and Bendelta formed a true partnership in the design and delivery of this project. Working closely together with regular check-ins and collaborative contributions meant that the strategy and support documents were relevant to VLA’s context. During the project, one regional office was redesigned, with the design informed by the project findings. Employees who initially preferred a set seating arrangement, have since embraced working in an office that has different areas for different types of work (e.g. ‘Pin Drop’ for quiet work and ‘Hustle and Bustle’ for more interactive work). The project has pioneered a new standard for hybrid workplace strategy within the Victorian public sector.
