Defining the post-pandemic future working environment for Canadian Partnership Against Cancer

The Partnership is an office-based organization with more than one hundred staff working from its office located in downtown Toronto and some staff working remotely from other cities across the country.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Partnership staff have worked exclusively from home. The immediate move to working remotely was embraced by staff. However, like many other organizations, staff were stretched to balance work and family commitments to comply with public health and provincial government restrictions introduced to directly address the pandemic.

The Partnership responded to these challenges by implementing virtual working initiatives to directly address staff needs with a number of initiatives including enhanced mental health supports, work from home setup stipend, flexible working arrangements and virtual meeting management tools and resources. The Partnership was guided by leading practices introduced by other employers across the country. Collectively, these initiatives are making a difference to ease pressures created by the pandemic, and the new normal has now become a virtual working environment interacting with each other and our partners from coast-to-coast.

Objectives/Purpose

With the pandemic now passing the one-year mark, the Partnership is looking toward the future and considering what the post-pandemic working environment will become. Fundamentally we want to look at the mix of remote work and the purpose and use of the office. Considerations range from the ideal use of the office space, the mix of remote and Toronto-based office staff to the approach to collaborating with partners and stakeholders. Decisions will have an impact on workplace culture, recruitment strategy, performance management, collaboration and office configuration. The post-pandemic environment must also continue to support the organization in meeting its operational needs to achieve goals of the refreshed strategy, supported by effective practices and processes that will enable the new model.

1. Office space: What is the ideal use of our office space given the shift to more staff working from home more often. For example, do we need less workstations and more collaborative spaces (and what do these spaces look like). Under what circumstances is maximum value achieved from having the Partnership staff physically in the office and how should the office space be configured to support these situations.
2. Recruitment strategy: what are the range of options for shifting the organization’s recruitment strategy shift to ensure the attraction and retention of high performing staff (existing and new) that aligns to the desired post-pandemic model and what practices and policies need to be put in place to support it. For example, viability of recruiting on a national basis and allow staff in specific roles to work remotely from their home base with occasional travel to the Toronto office.
3. Workplace culture: what elements of workplace culture are impacted by a shift in the workplace model and what are the key elements that need to be addressed in a post-pandemic model to drive strong employee engagement. When should staff be coming to the office vs. working from home?
4. Working with partners: What at the best approaches to engaging with our partners as we continue to collaborate on the work to achieve the outcomes of the refreshed strategy.

The Partnership is currently seeking the services of an external Proponent to support the exploration in these matters to define a vision for the future of its workplace following the resolution of the pandemic – creating the new normal.

**Proponents should reference this RFP number (RFP No. RP110-2021-01) in the subject line of their correspondence.**

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive email alerts.