Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1161926
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 SEPTEMBER 2019 17 TECHNOLOGY DURING the course of time, tech- nology has enabled changes to our traditional workplace such that this environment is more suited to contem- porary needs. Modern tools are enabling organi- sations to adapt to a cultural change and need, particularly by lending a helping hand to employees residing in remote locations. According to national figures, around 7000 Gozo residents have a job in Malta out of which, approxi- mately 3000 people commute daily. This boils down to two choices, ei- ther commute or reside in Malta. In this regard, MITA, being a family- friendly Agency, is in many ways fa- cilitating remote work for its Gozo residents. To this end, it has recently relocated its Gozo branch into a larg- er, more suited office in Ghajnsielem. MITA has a total of 24 Gozitan employees. These employees work in different teams and departments across the organisation. The roles are also quite varied and include Project Leaders, Software Developers, Solu- tion Architects and Technical Ser- vices Officers. The underlying phi- losophy is to create an environment that permits flexible interaction with the other larger offices. This requires a change in management mentality since employee performance has to be measured through delivery of ob- jectives. The new MITA Gozo premises has an open-plan set-up whereby em- ployees from different departments sit and work next to each other us- ing a hot desk concept. Having this diverse setup allows employees to es- tablish a better relationship and un- derstanding of the different organi- sational functions. The offices are equipped with 'modern workplace' tools that enhance communication and collaboration between colleagues and team physically located in differ- ent locations within Malta and Gozo. Gozitan Employees working from the MITA Gozo office save an aver- age of three to four hours in daily travelling when compared to other Gozitan employees commuting dai- ly to their offices in Malta. When considered that on average a Gozo employee travels to Malta just one day a week this is saving him 12 to 16 hours a week. MITA encourages the Gozo workforce to maintain that face-to-face interaction by reporting to the offices in Malta regularly. To facilitate this, and in line with the Agency's Green Values, MITA pro- vides free transport, using hybrid ve- hicles. Moreover, benefits enjoyed by the Malta-based employees are also being provided to those employees working in the Gozo offices. MITA is proud to be one of the few Agencies providing such benefits to Gozitans, thereby tapping on the po- tential of this employee market. Jenny Attard is Project Leader within the e-Government & Corporate Solu- tions Department Christian Attard is a Senior Software Developer within the Service Man- agement Department Working remotely from MITA's Gozo office Jenny Attard & Christian Attard