Our People Strategy - 2016-2021

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OUR PEOPLE STRATEGY Making the Exceptional Happen

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Our People Strategy 2016-2021 will equip the University to deliver its strategic goals by attracting and developing a talented and diverse workforce.

To do this, we must attract, develop and retain outstanding individuals from around the globe and work together as one group, unified by our shared values (ambition, collaboration, challenge, community, impact, rigour).

Our People strategy outlines six inter-connected themes which together will help to secure our position as a high-performing global institution and enhance the global reputation of the University internally and externally as a good employer.

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Career paths Exeter is a place to launch and build distinguished careers.

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Recruitment We strive to build a diverse and inclusive workforce by attracting and on-boarding talented staff from across the world.

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Recognition and reward We create a high performance culture, rewarding people and their performance fairly.

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Positive Working Environment Exeter is a great place to work.

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Our HR service HR Services are professional, forward looking, innovative, customer service focussed and efficient.

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Leadership and development Exeter is a place people can fulfil their potential and ambitions.

www.exeter.ac.uk/staff/employment/abouthr/strategy

OUR HR SERVICE HR SERVICES ARE PROFESSIONAL, FORWARD LOOKING, INNOVATIVE, CUSTOMER SERVICE FOCUSSED AND EFFICIENT What we want to achieve:

How we will do this:

Effective HR processes We will undertake further improvements and modernisation of our core HR services which are efficient and customer-friendly, focussing first on recruitment and promotions.

We will continue to increase and develop our HR expertise to provide an efficient, effective service, with improved processes and systems, and greater use of data and analytics. The introduction of the ePDR and workplace plans for colleges and services will also better inform our approach to people management.

We will also provide greater support for our international employees to obtain their visas and to smooth their transition to working in the UK.

Income-generating expertise We will seek to utilise our expertise to generate income which will enable us to further develop our services.

Up-to-date advice We will provide up to date expert HR advice and practise through our membership of professional bodies, networking, and attending relevant conferences.

How will this benefit our staff?

• S taff will experience improved HR processes and will receive feedback on improvement solutions.

•C olleges and service leads will have access to data and analytics to better inform decision making and development opportunities.

• I nternational employees will be better supported and experience a smoother transition in joining the University.

•O ur Temporary Staff Bank and Casual Claims process will be more efficient to help generate savings.

RECRUITMENT WE ATTRACT THE BEST PEOPLE, BOTH NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY What we want to achieve:

How we will do this:

Team profiles designed to propel our strategy We are working with our leadership teams to create strategic workforce plans, and exploring ways to grow our own talent, including student placements and apprenticeships.

Our recruitment processes will be more effective and efficient, with advertising campaigns based on research. The use of social media and strong messaging to ensure we attract the very best candidates. We will also make better use of feedback methods and recruitment metrics to improve the recruitment of new staff. We will seek to improve our induction experience with a concierge service for international academics joining Exeter, and we will also look to improve the successful progression of our apprentices into substantive roles with the University.

Targeted recruitment We are building our in-house recruitment capability, working with specialist recruitment and research partners, and using social media to reach out to a global network of candidates.

Smart selection processes We are working with leadership teams to strengthen and streamline assessment and recruitment processes to improve both candidate and manager experience A global reputation as an employer We will harness the global networks of Exeter academics, ensure our reward packages compare well with Russell Group peers, and work to develop our ‘employer brand’.

Great first impressions and strong engagement Our new ‘Concierge Service’ helps highprofile recruits relocate and settle in. We will ensure international academics experience the welcome and induction they expect.

How will this benefit our staff?

•R ecruitment colleagues will have access to more expertise on sourcing and selecting candidates meaning only the very best person globally is hired.

•O ur recruitment managers will have improved data on potential candidates for future vacancies.

•M anagers and candidates will experience more streamlined recruitment processes.

• I nternal and external candidates will experience an improved application process.

•N ew employees will receive an improved induction experience and a smoother transition when joining the University.

CAREER PATHS EXETER IS A PLACE TO LAUNCH AND BUILD DISTINGUISHED CAREERS What we want to achieve: Fair, flexible and dynamic career paths Alongside the development and learning opportunities for new staff, we will define career pathways for all academics and professional services staff. Development plans will explore opportunities for career paths for professional services.

Structured development frameworks We are working to create a range of development opportunities available to academic and professional services staff at every stage of their career.

Supporting academic leadership We are working with our academic leaders to clearly define academic leadership and management roles and ensure that there is a structure, development and performance criteria associated with these roles together with opportunities to develop new and existing leaders.

Barrier-free careers for female academics We want to lead the way in providing equal opportunities. We aim to support our female academics at all career stages, increasing opportunities for female academic networking and demonstrating our commitment to reducing the Gender Pay Gap.

How we will do this: We will ensure our academics have clearly defined career pathways with structures for development and promotion, particularly focussing on supporting our female academics.

This includes our commitment to reducing the Gender Pay Gap by 2020. Our professional services staff will also have clear development plans to progress their careers and help them to fulfil their potential.

How will this benefit our staff?

•T here will be improved opportunities for staff to develop skills which will help advance people’s careers and contribute to the University’s strategic goals.

•T he University will experience an increase in the engagement of talented candidates by providing more enriching roles alongside the opportunity to develop careers.

•B y providing an improved PDR process, flexible career pathways and improved development opportunities, employees and their managers will have more meaningful conversations about their development which will align their aspirations with the business needs of the University.

LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT EXETER IS A PLACE PEOPLE CAN FULFIL THEIR POTENTIAL AND AMBITIONS What we want to achieve:

How we will do this:

Skills to thrive in the global education environment We are updating development opportunities to reflect the broad skills required of our academics. In addition to our ‘Global Leaders’ programme, we will offer training in stakeholder networking and growing industry partnerships at both individual and college level.

We will develop new leadership and management training for our academic leaders to increase global relationships and partnerships, and also introduce more development opportunities such as online and blended learning for academic staff. We will improve access to performance information through the introduction of the ePDR and develop a strategy for coaching and mentoring to share knowledge and learn from colleagues.

Give academic leaders the confidence and support to excel A new heads of discipline development programme will launch in 2017, alongside the development of new opportunities for other leadership roles.

Key management training We will offer management training for academic roles and professional services staff alongside continuous development throughout careers.

Continuous development for professional services staff We will continue to work with heads of service to develop career frameworks and development pathways for every professional service.

Consistent standards We will work across all academic development work areas (including the Doctoral College) to agree a unified development strategy and clear transparent processes and standards.

Meaningful conversations about performance In 2017/18, we will launch the ‘ePDR’, giving people access to personal performance data.

How will this benefit our staff?

•A cademic colleagues will be able to clearly identify learning and development opportunities available to them at all stages of their career.

•T here will be more opportunities for our academic colleagues to develop as academic managers without any detrimental effect on their academic careers.

•B y providing better access to performance information, managers and employees will experience improved conversations about performance and development.

RECOGNITION AND REWARD WE CREATE A HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE, REWARDING PEOPLE FAIRLY What we want to achieve:

How we will do this:

Matching contribution with rewards Introduction of a new electronic PDR system to improve the PDR processes linked to individual performance across the University in 2017/2018.

We will ensure improved access and use of performance data through the PDR and management processes. This will be supported by a review and update of our reward initiatives to ensure that they meet the principles of the Reward Strategy. We will also put succession plans in place and intorduce plans for developing and managing those who are performing exceptionally.

Maximising our people potential By using performance data and systems more effectively, we will ensure we support staff to succeed in achieving their potential.

Retaining talent We are developing incentives, including the level of facilities, opportunities and benefits we can offer to retain academics who are pivotal to the success of our Research Excellence Framework.

More broadly, we want to develop a suite of rewards we can offer across all job families when there is a retention issue.

How will this benefit our staff? •D ecision-making processes around reward linked to high performance will be quicker, more objective and more transparent. •O ur staff will be supported to succeed by appropriate reward initiatives linked to their continued development.

POSITIVE WORKING ENVIRONMENT EXETER IS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK What we want to achieve:

How we will do this:

An engaged team Using the results of the 2016 Engagement Survey, we will engage with employees and use further engagement opportunities to create widespread local and university wide improvement plans and communicate progress with plans regularly.

We will ensure action plans from the Employee Engagement Survey are progressed and staff are kept informed. Lessons learnt from new employees will inform more effective recruitment processes. We will ensure our managers are skilled in supporting staff with health and wellbeing issues and ensure staff have increased access to wellbeing activities and Staff Life benefits, including the Staff Festival, across all our campuses.

A positive working environment In 2017, we will host a Positive Working Environment summit to generate solutions following the Employee Engagement Survey.

We will promote and increase access to our wellbeing at work facilities and our mental health support services, capitalising and celebrating on our own research and expertise in this area.

A strong employee voice We will work to create more opportunities for people to have their say. We will be introducing ‘check in’ meetings with joiners and leavers so we can understand any issues and continue to run pulse surveys throughout the year.

A vibrant campus community We will continue to improve our Staff Festival and other community and wellbeing events.

How will this benefit our staff?

•O ur staff will feel informed and engaged with action resulting from the Employee Engagement Survey and we will measure this by the regular Pulse Checks.

•U sing our University expertise, there will be increased options and support for mental health that will strengthen the University’s wellbeing provision.

•A ll staff can feel confident and supported to talk about stress and mental health openly with their line manager.

• S taff have increased access to Staff Life engagement and benefits on each campus.

•N ew staff will be supported with ‘check in’ meetings. Staff leaving the University will experience a smooth and supported exit where their feedback will be recognised and valued.