Barwon Water goes with flow
FOR many Geelong organisations, office work might never again be quite the same post-pandemic.
Having successfully switched to more flexible working arrangements, the conversation has changed to exploring what changes are here to stay and what the return to office life looks like.
Even complex functions to manage off-site, such as call centres, have adapted to working remotely.
That is the case at Barwon Water, which has the equivalent of 55 full-time workers employed in customer support that includes a call centre.
Those workers are among more than 70 per cent of a workforce of more than 400 now working from their homes.
The organisation is now reviewing its experiences under a “Future Ways of Working Project” that is considering what improvements and opportunities there are for the future and what better ways of working have emerged as it adapted to its circumstances.
Barwon Water managing director Tracey Slatter said all staff who could work from home were doing so within days of the Chief Health Officer’s advice.
“New technology was implemented swiftly to meet business needs, assisting our customer contact centre — now working from home — to respond to an increased numbers of customers requiring financial and other types of assistance,” Ms Slatter said. “Ease of logging into systems remotely has provided greater flexibility in responding to peak call demands.”
She said remaining staff, with essential field-based roles, continued to work at Barwon Water sites under significantly modified arrangements to ensure compliance with hygiene and physical distancing requirements.
The Future Ways of Working Project is expected to report its findings next month.