People and culture

UOB Staff Culture Survey

• Questions raised at Town Hall, themed into topics:
  • Sharing results, interpreting date, how we will measure outcomes
  • People development, leadership & management
  • Working practices
  • PDRs
  • Inclusivity, bullying
  • Visiting staff, quality of services

Responses to questions

• Sharing results:
  • Continue to share results across university; trade unions, governing body, staff networks (REN, LGBTQ+, Disability and Women’s Network), EDI Committee
  • VCEG areas receiving results relevant to their portfolio; including areas/departments associate with VCEG lead
  • Includes four faculties: CATS, HSS, EES, Business School
  • Registrar and University Secretary, DVC Resources, PVC International, PVC Education and Student Experience, PVC Research and Innovation, VCEG and VC’s Office, HR

Interpreting data

• Consistently guided by information presented by Human Synergistics
• Analysis to qualitative response conducted in two phases:
  • Direct responses analysed to questions and presented in Town Hall presentation
  • Attention given to analysis of broader responses/additional comments; used to inform further culture work

People development

• Survey results – priority: people development & staff engagement
• Used in development of new Leadership Framework & Leadership Development programme
• Offering Management and Leadership training for all staff (management and leadership roles)
• Ambition to create framework which allows managers & team members to engage meaningfully with performance development process – university’s values running through & underpinning conversations/actions

Leadership and management

• Sharing results with departments broken down into areas for local plans to be formed
• Culture survey – reflects where we have been, commitment to understand how we could move towards ideal culture, change in leadership
• Encourage supportive, constructive environment – voices heard, opinions valued
• Developing new Leadership Framework and Leadership Development Programme – results from staff survey

Working practices

• Looking at reward & recognition as part of People and Culture strategy
• “Strong appetite” for flexible working:
• Needs to be balanced against need to provide a service to students
• Facilitate working collaboratively within teams and to support new starters

PDRs

• Designed to give people opportunities to comment on experiences working at University
• Opportunity to comment against objects, personal development; overall summary of year
• Ensure everyone feels able to raise concerns & work through solutions
• Reviewing training provided to support PDR cycle

Inclusivity

• Ensure staff feel included, welcome, etc. at the University
• New EDI Manager starting on 7^th March
• Commitments to review how recruitment is carried out; full review of policy and process
• Ensure adverts, person specifications & recruitment processes minimise risks of biases/discrimination
• Diverse recruitment panel (gender & ethnicity) when possible

Bullying

• Apology for number of comments on bullying
• Want a fair, healthy and safe environment for all staff, bullying never acceptable and not tolerated
• Encouraging full conversations in small local groups
• Number of mechanisms already in place; ex: speak to HR Advisor, speaking to Employee Assistance Helpline

Measurement

• Difficult to compare our culture to that of other organisations
• University carries out bi-annual staff surveys – help us see impacts of any changes
• Will be working on action plan which will have tangible steps in place against which progress can be measured
• Will be reported to People and Culture Board

Visiting staff

• Vital/important part of our workforce
• V-staff work with us in a variety of ways; ex: engaged on different assignments for years and/or a short time
• Difficult to capture their experiences as one group
• Part of our HR operational plan

Quality

• Believe in transformative power of education, believe education we offer can transform lives
• Important focus is on how we view and feel we can improve quality of our offering, giving best opportunities to students
• Local focus groups should provide more insight into steps that more impactful-feeling

Priorities

• Develop/streamline systems and processes – workflow & developing performance review objective
• People development – academic development, leadership training, mandatory provisions, our delivery (customer service, equality, diversity, inclusion education), demonstrating institutional values
• Creating environment that develops teamwork and quality in day-to-day operations; atmosphere fostering positive challenges, and positive wellbeing

• We have made a commitment to continue building a culture of trust, safety and openness within our organisation. We have cascaded the results and have had local discussion groups to seek to understand more.
  
  
• The People and Culture team has been working with each VCEG area to create and align specific plans to benefit your departments and faculties, and all individuals involved. We have also been working to make sure we progress initiatives that benefit our university as a whole.
  
  
• We have provided training workshops on creating a culture of safety and trust, aimed at current and future managers and leaders
  
  
• The new People and Culture board has been launched, to support our plans and work towards our ideal culture

• We have made a commitment to EDI by seeking Race Equality Charter recognition
  
  
• We have launched the EDI Committee
  
  
• We are reviewing our policies to ensure we use inclusive language and terminology
  
  
• We have supported growing Staff Network groups
  
  
• We have already delivered inclusive recruitment and unconscious bias training aimed at teaching staff involved in student selection and recruitment. In total 115 colleagues benefited from the masterclasses and intensive workshops
  
  
• We have also delivered a range of training programmes that equip and empower recruiting managers with the knowledge and skills to make fair, transparent and ethical decisions.
  
  
• We have ensured that all university staff have an opportunity to work towards a meaningful EDI-related objective as part of their performance development plan.
  
  
• We have delivered Active Bystander training, which has been extremely well attended. We have also made available workshops on 'Supporting culturally and ethnically diverse teams'. The People and Culture team work closely with the Staff networks to ensure all our staff have access to relevant development such as 'How to be a good ally' and 'LGBTQ history, culture, policy and legislation'.
  
  
• We will soon be launching a university-wide programme aimed to act as a catalyst for encouraging inclusive and empowering behaviours
  
  
• We are working towards the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index framework
  
  
• We have launched the first central Advance HE Aurora programme at our University. So far we have funded sixteen places for a group of applicants across academic, professional and research background. All Aurorans are mentored by senior Bedfordshire leaders. Our ambition is to build a community that helps us drive the female leadership agenda, maximise impact and build a more constructive organisational culture.
  
  
• We have also partnered with the WHEN network. Last year, we have provided support for our Women's network first steering group by funding ten Unapologetically Women WHEN Conference places.

• We have launched the Working Practices policy for managers
  
  
• 'Blended working practices' open sessions are in place
  
  
• Additionally, we are providing a series of technical training workshops throughout the year to enable managers and all staff use technology effectively on and off campus.
  
  
• We have reviewed the Probation policy. Subject to consultation staff promoted to new roles will not be subject to a probation period.  New objectives will be agreed as part of the PDR process. This is a part of a wider plan to transform the way we onboard our new staff, including central induction, mandatory training and mentoring.
  
  
• We are improving the way we run performance development reviews, to make it a more meaningful experience for staff and managers. We have provided training on objective setting and conducting effective performance reviews, to support new managers. We have also encouraged managers to review job descriptions as part of the PDR discussions
  
  
• In 2023, we will be launching a large-scale development programme which will help us transform the way we work together. Through a range of workshops, discussions and practices we will be working collectively towards a shared purpose of building a constructive culture and making the university a high-performing organisation that we are proud of.
  
  
• We are developing plans to modernise the way we welcome and support our new starters, including mentoring and buddying; central induction and mandatory training. We will be working closely with local areas to make sure that our new starters benefit the most from aligned central and local induction.
  
  
• We will continue building a vibrant university campus and bringing the university community closer together by moving the Atrium staff to the main campus in 2023 (Luton)
  
  
• Safer car parking will be provided for staff at The Mall

• We want to make sure that our staff have great mental health and wellbeing support. We already have great provision at Bedfordshire, including the EAP programme, Get Active scheme; Wellbeing Wednesdays and the annual Staff Wellbeing event.
• We have teamed up with Mental Health England to deliver Mental Health skills for Managers as part of the Managers toolkit. This equips our managers with the right knowledge and tools to support their teams' mental health and wellbeing.
  
  
• We have launched the first accredited Mental Health First Aiders provision and will train three cohorts over 2022-23; we will continue to grow this community to make sure this support is available to all staff at the point of need.
  
  
• As part of the commitment we made to the Universities Mental Health Charter, we will be developing the mental health policy. The Health and Safety team are also developing new approaches to stress management and associated training.
  
  
• Going forward, we will also be offering Mental Health Champion training to our leaders, to normalise and champion mental health conversations and support.

• We have been working with all VCEG areas to ensure that your feedback in the staff culture survey has been cascaded across the university.
  
  
• We have introduced the new Team Talk tool to capture every individual voice in the team.
  
  
• We have reviewed and re-launched the Staff Experience Committee, to make sure it best supports our staff.
  
  
• We are embedding the principles of staff empowerment, staff wellbeing, staff development and staff recognition in all the major organisation-wide initiatives. This includes programmes and plans for induction and onboarding; organisational performance; leadership development; manager training; mentoring and coaching; all staff development.

• We have already developed and delivered programmes that enable and empower our senior leaders to be the best leaders they can be. This includes a 360 review pilot for some of our senior leaders; bespoke support for new leaders and their teams. We have launched the 2022-23 Academic Leadership Enhancement programme for our Heads of Schools, which will enable the heads to work together as a leadership community to develop best solutions to common challenges. We are delivering development masterclasses to the SLT group; the upcoming January masterclass focuses on leading teams and organisation through cultural and strategic change.
  
  
• We have launched the Academic Promotion Framework, including the relevant Policy, selection process and panel training.
  
  
• We will also be launching a development programme for staff taking part in the Academic Promotion Framework and process, to enable colleagues' leadership development. This programme will ensure that we are building collegial communities of practice and that all applicants have access to advice and training that is most relevant to their career development

• To support our managers, we have launched the Managers toolkit programme in early 2022. The workshops cover management fundamentals, mental health, resilience, difficult conversations, leading diverse teams. Since then, we have been proud to deliver over 30 training workshops to 500+ managers and leaders. We have made sure that the toolkit is available widely and in a variety of formats. We've had great feedback and will continue to review and develop the offer. To support our people's career aspiration and progression, the toolkit is open to current as well as aspiring leaders and managers.
  
  
• In 2023, we will be enhancing the EDI section of the toolkit. We are also expanding the Leadership section, to meet the needs of staff in leadership (but not management) roles, such as academic and research staff.

• We have significantly expanded the training programme that all staff can access. The new workshops we have introduced include EDI (allyship and active bystander); financial wellbeing; mental health; training; IT skills; note taking). All staff working towards a leadership/management position can access the Management toolkit training.
  
  
• We have included Apprenticeships in our all-staff training offer
  
  
• We continue to review the all-staff provision and incorporate training requests from all staff on regular basis

• We are building on the existing areas of great mentoring practice, such as EPR mentoring for student facing staff and Apprenticeship mentoring. We have delivered a range of mentoring and coaching training workshops to an audience of academic, professional and research staff. We also have mentoring and coaching training available as part of Managers toolkit.
  
  
• Our plans include developing a Mentoring and Coaching Framework. The framework will be guiding the way we embed mentoring and coaching across the organisation, including mentoring for new starters; coaching and mentoring CPD; coaching and mentoring development for managers - including 'manager as coach' and 'peer coaching' development.
  
  
• Reverse mentoring has been launched for our senior leaders, to help them embed EDI knowledge in their everyday leadership practice.
  
  
• We are training a cohort of mentors to support our growing Aurora community of future female leaders