PTSE & IST ConferenceJuly 2012

Andrew DodmanDirector of Human Resources

The Future of Technical Support

Staff in HE:

An Institutional View

Institutional View?

The colloquial & local approach

The progressive & professional approach

The 2022 dichotomy?

A colloquial & local approach?

Individuals/teams managed locally

Recruiting & selecting individuals into specific jobs that require specialist/ specific skills

To retain (at least until the research project is completed)

Support and success reliant upon local managers/PIs/sponsors within their department

Minimal occupational/professional visibility

A colloquial & local approach?

Is thisapproachsufficient

?

Are there broader collective corporate

challenges?Skills gap

1/3rd of our technical staff at or beyond NRA by 2022 (intellectual capital loss)

Are there broader

challenges?Levels of Staff Engagement?

5% lower participation in staff survey

Strong % for flexible working/work-life balance

BUT

Are there broader

challenges?I am valued for what I can contribute to the University? - 13% lower

Co-operation between and within departments - 10% lower

Development/career opportunities - 10% lower

Engagement with University – 5% lower

Diverse workforce

?

Institutional View

The colloquial & local approach

The progressive & professional approach

Viable with Voice & VisibilityProfessionalise & up-skillProfessional standards/competenceTechnicians RegisterHigher DiplomasCLTSHEaTED projectCPD

A Progressive Approach?

Mentoring (“Technical Focus”)

Apprentice Technicians

Bespoke training & development

Embedding within extant mechanisms (recruitment, appraisals, pay/reward, promotion)

For the employer?

Voice & Visibility

Nomenclature

Changing the perceptions of the profession…

For us all?

Personnel?

“Comfort the Afflicted”

“Afflict the Comfortable”

HR?

Building viability, voice & visibility:

Individual and collective professional contributions are

recognised by the employer and its funders

Benefits

Direction of travel

Coherent, professional group

Disparate individuals

What about the context?

Economic Challenges:

Reduction in public funding

National/international competition (uncertainty/fluctuations in student numbers)

Diverse/new income streams

Downward pressure on costs/Efficiencies Agenda

What about the context?Delivery Challenges:

Student experienceTeaching excellencePhysical infrastructure

Technological Challenge:

“Revolutionise” R&T and associated processes

“One of the key challenges for the future

HEenvironment is the continued turbulence, instability and increasingly fast pace of

change being experienced. In contrast to the relative stability of the historical,

predominantly publicly funded model of HE, the future environment looks far less

predictable” The HE Workforce Framework 2010 HEFCE

So what does this mean for

institutions?

A workforce that it agile and flexible to adapt to new conditions and demands

Coherent, professional

group

Disparate individuals

Cross-boundary/blended

professionals

Bound by role, task, function,

speciality?But the context is

changing, uncertain & ambiguous

Cross-boundary/blended

professionals?Multi-skilling/Cross-training

Soft skills

Project based/collaborative roles

No longer undertaking one task for one person at any one time?

Cross-boundary/blended

professionals?Relations/discourse with others

Move within, between & beyond dept

Professionalisation to support career development

Cross-boundary/blended

professionals?Challenge for employers:

How can we become more flexible whilst maximising individual

talent?

Institutional View

The colloquial & local approach

The progressive & professional approach

The 2022 dichotomy?

In partnership to develop a vibrant and outward facing community of professional technicians