Digital transformation in government often brings to mind the release of cutting-edge digital products and technology. However, transformation also includes changes to how an organisation operates and even to how it ‘thinks’.
Last year, the Department of Customer Service (DCS) introduced its Department of Customer Service Multicultural Plan 2023-2025, outlining a roadmap until 2025. This strategic plan focuses on how multicultural customers access and engage with DCS and the way their multicultural staff experience the workplace.
Mark Howard, Executive Director of Digital Strategy, Investment and Assurance (DSIA), is sponsoring the roll out of the Digital NSW contribution to the Multicultural Plan, with Lavinia Bowie, Change Manager, leading the work. “NSW is Australia’s most culturally and linguistically diverse state and this is forecasted to continue to increase. It’s in our best interests to make sure we’re tapping into those skills and that everyone is included and listened to as part of the public service workforce,” says Mark.
In this article, Nik Bambrick, Service Designer at Digital NSW, shares how human-centred design and Agile methodologies have been contributing to the Multicultural Plan. Amplifying the voices of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) staff at DCS is at the heart of this work.
Solving government issues through digital transformation
Nik’s team, Digital NSW Accelerator (DNA), are tasked with helping government agencies solve real-world issues through digital transformation. DNA use a human-centred design process to define the needs of NSW citizens and government stakeholders.
The Multicultural Plan Working Group have a focus on ensuring that DCS provides CALD staff with safe opportunities to ‘speak up’ at work, and that DCS leaders act on feedback received by CALD staff.
Using human-centred design for the Multicultural Plan
Human-centred design is a process that ensures continuous collaboration with end-users throughout the project lifecycle.
“If we’re going to design anything in government, are we talking to the people who are going to use it to make sure we understand the problem they have? Is the service designed to fix that problem?”
- Nik Bambrick, Service Designer at Digital NSW.
The Digital Service Toolkit Delivery Manual is a set of tools and guidance on how to develop products using modern design methods that help the team understand the challenge and develop solutions. Part of this toolkit is a roadmap for breaking down projects into phases. Nik highlights the significance of the Discovery phase, which helped the Multicultural Plan Working Group develop a deep understanding of the challenges faced by CALD staff in the workplace.
Shifting the design approach to meet user needs
Traditionally, most organisations worked in a very different way. “Organisations used to get a team of ‘experts’ together, they would work in a silo, come up with the solution, pour all the money into it, wait until it's perfect and launch it with minimal consultation with end-users and minimal iteration. That’s an expensive thing to do if you get it wrong,” says Nik.
The Digital Service Toolkit helps bring together dispersed information across many government stakeholders. “The toolkit helps you put all the pieces of the puzzle together so everyone can see the same information.”
Nik’s team have recently completed the Discovery phase. The purpose of this phase is to “make sure we know who our CALD staff are, what their concerns are and how they’re currently giving feedback in the workplace,” says Nik. The Discovery phase prevents organisations from jumping to solutions without making sure they’ve done enough thorough data gathering to understand the problem.
Amplifying culturally and linguistically diverse staff voices in the workplace
Insights from the Discovery phase revealed challenges faced by CALD staff in voicing concerns at work. “If staff speak up, do we listen? Do we act on it? Can we demonstrate that we do that, specifically with a multicultural lens?” asks Nik.
As the ability to speak up at work is directly linked to success, the research found a meaningful insight: CALD staff often face barriers that can hinder their upward mobility.
“How can we help people speak up at work? How can that be the responsibility of managers? What are the senior leaders going to do to enable that and encourage it at every grade level?” asks Nik.
Insights from members of the Multicultural Plan Working Group
“Understanding the experiences of CALD staff in the workplace requires sifting through various levels of systemic organisational thinking. We need to recognize that often 'invisible' but powerful influences shape our conversations and interactions with CALD staff”
- Lavinia Bowie, Change Manager
“We need to let go of what we previously thought or were taught and be open to what we can achieve if we encourage everyone’s contribution”
- Matthew McRobert, Manager – Digital Services
“The term CALD doesn’t adequately describe or recognise the rich and diverse cultural, linguistic and religious groups of employees who work in DCS. It can present a challenge in designing solutions that are workable and meaningful for this diverse group of people”
- Lavinia Bowie, Change Manager
Co-designing with culturally and linguistically diverse staff
Looking ahead, Digital NSW aims to run a pilot this year to get insights into how it can help train and mentor CALD staff as they become more senior, so they feel more confident presenting and speaking up.
“We will continue co-designing with CALD staff and DCS leaders to try and solve some of the issues we discovered. After testing those solution-ideas in a pilot, we will then survey the CALD community to find out whether that pilot was effective. And if it is, then look at ways to roll that out across DCS,” says Nik.
Next steps for the Multicultural Plan
While the solutions are still being workshopped, they may also include things such as cultural awareness training for all staff and making sure communications are accessible and inclusive.
The combination of digital design toolkits, human-centred design and Agile methodologies paint a promising future for solving real-world issues in government. By amplifying the voices of CALD staff and embracing inclusivity and diversity, the government will fulfill the objectives of the Multicultural Plan and set a precedent for a more inclusive NSW.
Read more about the Multicultural Plan or check out the Digital Service Toolkit Delivery Manual.