5.2 Social

5.2 Social Corporate Social Responsibility Age Action Ireland was the NSSO charity partner in 2021, with fundraising activities held throughout the year including the Autumn Coming Together to Cover the Distance Exercise Challenge and the NSSO Christmas FM Special.

population and citizenry if our workforce is representative of them. At the end of 2021 the gender ratio of staff was as follows:

• Staff at all grades: 66% female

• Management Board: 50% female

• Senior Leadership Team (including PO group): 57% female

• Extended Leadership Team (including AP group): 63% female

Staff also took part in Age Action’s online Getting Started Keep in Touch (KIT) Volunteering Programme, with 25 staff across the organisation giving an hour of their time each week for five weeks to support older people.

ii. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) In 2021 NSSO commenced working on its ED&I workplace strategy to ensure all staff feel valued as individuals, creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels able to participate and achieve their potential, and developing an effective strategy that goes beyond legal compliance and seeks to add value to the business, contributing to enhanced employee well-being and engagement. The three main areas of focus for this new strategy are:

This online volunteer programme was specifically designed to help older people to improve their digital skills such as accessing Skype, WhatsApp, and online shopping. A further €3,500 was raised for Pieta House through the staff 56 Mile Challenge in February.

i. Gender Ratio The Civil Service Renewal Plan launched in 2014 contains a commitment to improving gender balance across the Civil Service. The NSSO is committed to being a modern, diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects and is capable of serving 21st century Irish society. It can only be inclusive and serve the

• Policy Development;

• ED&I Awareness and Education Initiatives; and

• Understanding who the NSSO are as an organisation from an ED&I perspective.

Following the development of this policy the new ED&I strategy will be launched in 2022.

Staff taking part in the NSSO Christmas FM Special in December.

National Shared Services Office (NSSO)

WAM Programme:

The NSSO has been an active supporter of the WAM (Willing Able Mentoring) programme. WAM is a paid mentored work experience programme which offers graduates with disabilities six months’ work experience, and the NSSO has received a WAM Leader Award in 2021 for its support of the programme.

The first priority of the NSSO

throughout the COVID-19

crisis has been to safeguard

the health and wellbeing of

staff so that it can continue to

iii. COVID-19 Response and the Future of Work The first priority of the NSSO throughout the COVID-19 crisis has been to safeguard the health and wellbeing of staff so that it can continue to meet the essential needs of its client Public Service Bodies and individual customers.

meet the essential needs of it’s

client Public Service Bodies

and individual customers.

The results indicated a strong preference for blended working in some form. Following this, a blended work pilot which took place in quarter four with 150 members of staff taking part in the four main office locations around the country. The learnings from the pilot facilitated the next phase of the Transition to the Workplace which launch in February 2022.

Our key actions in 2021 were: • 93% NSSO staf fenabled to work from home using ICT supports provided; • approx. 60 staf f(<10% of total number) atet nded our offices to carry out tasks that could not be done remotely; • staf fworking from home were provided with working-from-home IT and support packs, including advice on potential cyber and fraud risks, and good home-office health and safety practices; • supporting other Departments and the public; and • regular updates were provided on the latest fraud and emailing phishing alerts.

To support a Blended Working Policy, the NSSO identified the supports and procedures needed;

• Effective IT tools for communication and collaboration;

• Information, activities and support to promote good mental health;

• Carefully designed induction programmes for new employees; and

• NSSO Remote and Blended Working Hub on OneLearning.

Planning for the Future of Work

In August, the NSSO launched its Blended Working/Employee Pulse Survey to get staff feedback in order to help shape a long-term sustainable blended working model for the NSSO; one that supports the delivery of the organisation’s Strategy and meets its shared services objectives for Government.

IT Challenges and Risks:

• Flexible working produces IT challenges and risks.

• The experience of responding to COVID-19 has prepared the NSSO for these challenges and risks.

• Working to identify the optimal hardware

Annual Report 2021

deployment to meet the NSSO’s future needs, i.e. what is the best mix of laptops, office-based PCs and mini-PCs.

its responsibility under Health & Safety legislation

9. In line with this responsibility, the NSSO organised a survey of the ergonomics set-up of all staff in 2021. This survey was facilitated through the use of a third-party provider and achieved a response rate of 93% of all staff.

Facilities Implications of Long Term Remote Working:

• The amount and type of office space will be tailored to meet the expected blended working arrangements in 2022.

710 employees participated in the selfassessment with 29 one-to-one ergonomics assessments carried out to address staff workstations deemed at high-risk.

• Local office arrangements will be needed to allow for the flexible use of our office space by staff who mainly work remotely.

The NSSO Occupational Health and Safety Committee

Productivity:

The NSSO has maintained or increased its productivity during the current pandemic response in 2021.

A key milestone in the NSSO’s internal governance was the convening of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee in 2021. (See Appendix 2 for more information.)

iv. On-Site Health and Safety Audits The NSSO audits health and safety on an annual basis at each of the seven office locations. This is to ensure the continuous embedding of a Health & Safety culture, as called for in the NSSO’s Occupational Health & Safety Policy Statement, Occupational Health & Safety Manual