Telstra promises to quickly weed out work "obstacles"

Telstra CEO Andy Penn has asked the telco’s staff to find the courage to call out “obstacles that get in the way of doing your job” so they can be quickly removed.

Penn wrote to all staff this morning as an organisational restructure announced at the end of July as part of Telstra’s T22 transformation strategy took effect.

That restructure organises Telstra’s staff internally around nine functions, and Penn said that from today - in line with previous guidance - those functions “start operating as teams”.

“This milestone is just the start of a three year transformation that will see us evolve to become a markedly easier place to work at and do business with,” Penn said in his all-staff letter.

“While today is a significant symbol of this transformation, some of the immediate changes will be more apparent for some groups than others.”

Penn said that the new structure is designed to “address the impediments [staff] told us get in the way – pain points like hierarchies, duplication, siloes and competing priorities”.

Today’s moves are not final; Penn warned staff that “the pace of change will increase over time”, and he sought help directly from staff to further cut out any remaining “obstacles” in the organisation.

“I ask that you please find your courage and call out any obstacles that get in the way of doing your job in our new structure so we can remove them quickly and further simplify how we work,” Penn said.

“Key to our success will be collaborating across functions and trusting each other to deliver.”

Penn said that Telstra would run a series of what appear to be internally-focused events from late October through to the end of the year “in 17 locations across the world”.

The telco is calling these events “Reimagine” and said they would be an opportunity for staff to “better understand” the T22 strategy and transformation.

As part of the T22 restructure, Telstra is cutting around 9500 staff over the next three years, though it will hire 1500 people in the same period in growth areas.

The telco is also simplifying its product offerings considerably, with self-provisioned enterprise services on offer and a substantially smaller menu of residential internet and mobile products.