Employee Opinion Survey provides evidence of progress ... · REPORT FROM EXECUTIVE BOARD TO SENATE...

REPORT FROM EXECUTIVE BOARD TO SENATE

28 JANUARY 2014

HR Strategy — Progress Report —2012113

Introduction

The HR Strategy, developed in support of Vision 2021, was approved by Council inJune 2010. The strategic objectives were reviewed in 2012 and remain relevant. Theoriginal action plan has been largely completed however and given the majorprojects focussed on ‘raising the bar and ‘growth’ it would be timely to refresh thispart of the Strategy.

The overall HR Performance Summary, including KPIs and targets is attached. TheEmployee Opinion Survey provides evidence of progress against several objectives.The survey has been conducted every three years since 2003. The full results for2013 are available at httr~://www. nd ac. uk/hr/about/surveys/employee-survey.php

I Strategic Objective 1: Be a great place to work with employees committedto the University objectives and valued for their contribution

1.1 Progress

• The Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) showed that employee engagementlevels remain high, in a sector where benchmark scores have been falling inrecent months. ‘Good place to work’ score remains high at 92%, placingNewcastle 8th in Capita’s HEI benchmark group of 31 HEIs.

• Celebrating Success events recognising achievement across all aspects ofthe University’s work remain popular, well attended and feedback is verypositive.

• The Faculty Futures programme for early career academic staff is beingrolled out across the University. Applications have significantly exceededthe places available and consideration will be given to another programmenext year.

1.2 Challenges and Priorities

• The continuing difficult economic circumstances and low levels of pay awardare starting to impact on employee satisfaction with their pay. EQS score on‘I feel fairly paid for the work I do’ fell from 71% to 66%.

• Communication remains a challenge despite significant efforts to improvethis area. Feedback to the survey suggests that more direct communicationwith senior managers would be appreciated.

• Qne suggestion from TU representatives which will be piloted is the idea of‘surgery’ sessions with members of the senior team for groups of staff whomight not otherwise have the opportunity to work with them.

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• Career progression remains a concern for 52% of staff. Job vacancies andsecondment opportunities within the University are openly advertised.Further work is needed on clarifying possible career paths for some staffgroups.

2. Strategic Objective 2: Improve the profile and performance of theUniversity by recruiting and developing high calibre employees withappropriate external recognition

2.1 Progress

• Overall staff turnover increased to 6.4% (HE Average 6.7%) from 5.7% lastyear. Turnover for academics reduced slightly to 3.8% from 4.4% masking theloss of some high calibre academics. Successful campaigns to recruit, oftenusing targeted search and selection, have meant the University has gainedslightly more than it lost.

• 900 recruitment campaigns took place in 2012/1 3. This was a substantialincrease from 783 in 2011/12. Readvertisements remained low at 4%.

• As part of the ‘Raising the Bar’ project, a masterclass on search and selectiontechniques was held for Heads of Academic Units in May and the techniquesare increasingly in use for professorial and Head of Academic Unit level.

• The Head of Academic Unit job description and person specification and theselection process were revised to ensure alignment with increasedexpectations. The Strategic Leadership Framework(http://www.ncl.ac. uk/staffdev/leadership/tools/strategicframework.htm) hasbeen incorporated into these documents and processes.

• The induction process for Heads of Academic Unit has been reviewed andwork commenced to both speed up the integration of external appointmentsand improve the performance of new appointments.

• An annual HR plan for senior academic appointments in each Faculty hasbeen introduced. This identifies areas for strategic investment as well aspotential areas of disinvestment. This will aid longer term succession planningand allow the time for a more targeted approach to recruitment.

• The improvements in NSS scores and the overall student experiencefollowing Project 2012 suggest that Heads of Academic Units are respondingand able to cope with change. The role is however an onerous one andcontinued support and development will be needed to support the growthagenda.

• The results of the International Leadership Development Project which was ajoint project between Newcastle and Nottingham Universities were publishedathttix//www.ncl . ac. uklstaffdev/about/news/item/new-report-Ieadinpinternational-ventures-the-challenges-and-skills-required

2.2. Challenges and Priorities

• Identifying top talent remains a challenge. An academic intelligence unit willbe established to support targeted recruitment and reputation raising activity.

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• Whilst implementation plans for growth are still in development it is clear thatadditional recruitment will be needed over and above normal levels.

• It will be essential to ensure that current staff have the skills and capacity todeliver improvements in the University’s overall performance.

3. Strategic Objective 3: Develop a high performance culture in whichdelivery to agreed standards and objectives is the norm.

3.1 Progress

• Completion of PDR has improved from 77% to 88%.• Since February 2012, 586 managers have attended ‘Effective Performance

Conversation’ training aimed at improving the quality of PDR and otherperformance conversations.

• Development of an Academic Profile summarising high level metrics ofacademic performance, is being piloted in Promotions to Chairs andReaders.

• The Vice-Chancellor and Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellors have focusedattention on dealing with under-performance. There have been positiveoutcomes from this process and further improvements are expected.

• The Higher Education Academy has accredited a new Pathway toRecognition which allows us to formally recognise our own staff in line withthe UK Professional Standards for learning and teaching.

• Over 730 staff and postgraduate students aftended the Go Digital Event inNovember and initial feedback was very positive. The event showcaseddigital equipment, skills and research and will hopefully become an annualevent.


• Work needs to continue on shifting the focus from completion of PDR toeffectiveness and quality outputs from the process. Moving the current,largely paper based, PDR process onto an online system is being explored.

• Improving the performance of the University depends on the performance ofemployees. Some will find the continuing pressure for improvedperformance difficult to cope with. Workload models, which are in use in allacademic units, will assist Heads of Unit to manage workload and gauge theimpact of new initiatives.

• At University level the Employee Opinion Survey responses on workload arevery similar to 2010 results with 33% saying workload is too much and 55%reporting puffing in a lot of extra time to meet demands of workload. Theresponses from academic staff (clinical and non-clinical) are much higher at56% and 79% for the same questions. Academic recruitment has beentargeted at areas with high staff student ratios but further work will clearly beneeded to address these concerns.

• Recruitment of new staff will need to be carefully planned to ensure supportfor projects aimed at delivering growth.

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• The Higher Education Statistics Agency required information on the numberof academics qualified to teach for the first time in 2013. The University iscommitted to increasing the % of staff from 19% to 25% by 201 7-1 8.

4. Strategic Objective 4: Promote diversity, flexibility and innovation bydeveloping organisational capability and culture.

4.1 Progress

• The percentage of female professorial staff as at 31 .7.13 increased to22.5% (21.7% in 2012; 21.0% in 2011; 10% in 2003) and currently stands at23%.

• The percentage of staff disclosing disability increased to 4%.• The Institute of Cellular Medicine was awarded the Athena SWAN Silver

Award.• The University successfully renewed the Athena SWAN Bronze Award.• The percentage of BME Support Staff increased to 3% (2.9% in 2012; 2.5%

in 2011).• There have been 3 Equality Analyses following each Internal Quality

Assessment for the REF. Issues were highlighted and reviewed at eachstage with the final pre submission review showing no areas of concern.

• As at the end of October, 325 requests for output reduction in the REF hadbeen received, with 142 from early career researchers, and 31 complexcases.

• A joint programme with Durham University has been launched aimed atdeveloping women as academic leaders.

• Two women have been nominated to participate in the LeadershipFoundation Aurora programme which aims to develop future leaders in HE.


• Although there has been a slight increase in % of BME Support Staff furtherwork is needed to improve the profile of the University as an employer withinethnic minority communities in Newcastle.

• The University also needs to continue to encourage existing staff to disclosedisability.

• Executive Board have agreed that we will work towards a University levelSilver Athena SWAN Award by 2015. Every School and Institute in theFaculties of Medical Sciences and Science, Agriculture and Engineering areworking towards submissions for awards.

• Two Schools in Humanities and Social Sciences are participating in theEquality Challenge Unit’s Gender Equality Charter Mark trial.

• The proportion of staff reporting that more could be done to help themprepare for and cope with change remains high at 64%. Given thecontinuing pace of change in the HE sector it is important that more is doneto address this issue. The Chameleon programme continues to developchange management skills in professional managers with the third cohort of16 managers underway. The impact of projects from early cohorts is

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currently being evaluated and the programme has already been refinedfollowing feedback.

• P1 development, mentoring and career pathways for researchers are all partof the action plan for the HR Excellence in Research Award. The 2014review will be more comprehensive and involve assessors from Europeaninstitutions.

5. Strategic Objective 5: Promote a safe and healthy environment in whichstaff and students take a proactive approach to their own health, safetyand wellbeing.

5.1 Progress

• Achievement of Better Health at Work Awards — Silver (University), Gold(AHS) and Continuing Excellence (ESS). Health advocates across theUniversity run regular events such as Stress Awareness, Stoptober,Movember etc.

• The second staff health needs survey suggests more staff agree that theUniversity is interested in their wellbeing (72% from 61% in 2011).

• As part of the wellbeing programme a series of activities around mentalhealth and wellbeing have been planned.

• The initial results of a campaign to reduce slips, trips and falls were verygood. Work continues to reduce incidents further.

• The revised approach to incident reporting, investigation and follow upshould result in greater ownership of the issues by line managers andimprove reporting and analysis of near misses and serious incidents.

• An online register introduced for activities using carcinogenic materials issimpler, more robust and user-friendly than the previous system.


• The percentage of staff reporting feeling unduly stressed at work increasedto 23% from 20% in 2010. This is still significantly lower than the HEBenchmark of 30% but needs to be addressed. A working group is doingfurther analysis and will target intervention at the areas most affected.

• Achievement of Gold Better Health at Work at University level — due forsubmission in December 2013.

• 9% of staff reported having been discriminated against at work in the last 12months. It is clear that these cases are not all related to protectedcharacteristics but may be due to having been treated differently orperceived unfairness. Further analysis will identify areas reporting a highincidence and appropriate action plans.

• Absence levels for operational staff reduced to 5.5% (CIPD benchmark5.3%). The proportion of sickness absence which is long term (over 20days) is still a significant proportion of the total absence. The HR team(including Occupational Health) is working with line managers to identifylong term absence and chronic illness early and to take appropriate action.

• A strategic action plan for health and safety has been developed and will beconsidered by Executive Board and Council in due course.

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• Priorities include control of legionella; the development and implementationof an incident reporting and investigation database; and the development ofa new integrated Occupational Health & Safety Services (OHSS) websitethat improves user experience and support.

• The Occupational Health team require accreditation under the SafeEffective Quality Occupational Health Service (SEQOHS) system by 2014.

6. Strategic Objective 6: Develop an efficient, effective and sustainableemployment environment.

6.1 Progress

• Staff costs as a proportion of University income reduced slightly to 54%.This remains consistent with the Financial Strategy.

• National pay settlements have remained low in line with the public sector.• Auto-Enrolment was introduced in May 2013. Between 25-30% of those

enrolled in NEST or the USS option opt out at a later date. This is largely asexpected. Prior to the launch an additional 132 staff joined RBP.

• Salary sacrifice was introduced in 2008 initially for childcare vouchers,purchase of bicycles and then pensions. Initial savings were £800,000 paand are now estimated to be close to £1 m pa.

• The University remains committed to the principle of fair pay but believes itimportant not to allow external bodies to determine pay so will not join ‘TheLiving Wage’ campaign. From Vt August 2013 spine point 1 on the payscales is no longer used for regular staff and in November a one-off exgratia payment of £300 will be made to all staff up to point 6 of the payscale. The lowest point of the pay scale now used (point 2) equates to £7.24(wef 01.8.2013) per hour compared to National Minimum Wage of £6.31and National Living Wage of £7.65. Newcastle Living Wage is currently£7.20 and will rise to £7.55 in April 2014.

• The removal of the Default Retirement Age has meant that Pre-Retirementcourses are no longer as relevant. A new approach to supportingemployees make appropriate decisions was launched under the banner of‘Your Future, Your Choice’. Over 230 staff attended the first event.


• Sustained pressure to tackle low pay while ensuring services aresustainable.

• Market pressures from a recovering economy, along with our own growthobjectives, may lead to increased pressure on pay levels. This could lead tobreakdown of national bargaining.

• Creating flexibility within the employment package to help drive the growthagenda.

• The actuarial valuation is underway for our local RBP scheme but is notexpected to present major problems.

• It is clear however that there is a major deficit in USS (f7 billion atNovember 2013). Whatever the outcome of discussion at national levelthere is likely to be a significant negative impact on University finances.

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Work will continue locally to ensure employees are fully informed about thevalue of the benefit while at national level members of Executive Board willensure the University’s position is communicated through UCEA and TheRussell Group.

• NUIS and NUMed Remuneration Committees will keep the employmentpackage for overseas staff under review to ensure they are attractive andsustainable. Due to the complexity and continuing growth in overseasoperations, a new HR Adviser has been recruited with specialist knowledgein global operations.

• Recruitment for the majority of vacancies is via an e-recruitment system.The system needs to be upgraded or replaced by December 2014 to ensurethat it is fit for purpose and able to support the growth agenda.

• UKBA regulations on visas and immigration are complex, change frequentlyand cause anxiety for staff impacted by them. The current approach toproviding advice will be reviewed to ensure it is fit for purpose.

Mrs Veryan JohnstonExecutive Director of Human Resourceson behalf of Executive Board9 December 2013

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riovemoeriw” eUl3

Human ResourcesKey Performance Indicators

Enabling Strategic Objectives

mproveProfile and

PerformanceThrough High Calibre

Emp yees

AGAG

Develop~‘High Performance

Culture

AGG

PromoteDiversity,

Flexibility andInnovation

AGG

PromoteSafe and Healthy

Environment

Developan Efficient,Effective and

stainable EmploymeEnvir ment

AGG

DefinitionsBoth current performanceand pre~4ous performanc Currentare indicated using thesedefinitions.

Green: Good• Low Risk• On Track• No action

required

Mixed ProblematicAmber: Mixed• Medium Risk• Some significant

concerns• Potentially

damaging

Red: Problematic• High Risk• Sej~cus concerns• Threatening

overallperfownance

Mrs V. JohnstonExecutive Director of HR

AG

ace to Work;

Sa Commifted & Valuedtisfaction Em pbyees

Good SatisfactoryAmberGreen:Satisfactory

SomeconcernsBroadly OnTrack

Peer Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Dundee, Durham, East Anglia, Edinburgh, Essex. Exeter, Glasgow, Imperial College.

G King’s College, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Queen Mary,roup Queen’s Belfast, Reading, Royal Holloway, Sheffield, Southampton, StAndrews, Surrey, Sussex, UCL, Warwick, York

O~e?all Hum~an l~esources Performance Summa’ry~- :7~th?Artk.;~~~&,,r.t&,k-,..ctrs,S r..fr_,+ -.4,Uva. ,q~s.w~- -~ .. -

Actions set out in the 2010 strategy are substantially complete. Actions completed for ‘Raising the Bar’ projecthave been incorporated. The action plan for 2014-2017 incorporating specific projects for growth will bedeveloped before the end of the academic year.

KPIs and targets for the HR strategic objectives draw heavily on the 2013 Employee Opinion Surveys. Currentdata excludes staff based in Malaysia but includes staff based in Singapore for the first time. Where targetshave been exceeded new targets are suggested.

Measures such as turnover are stable overall with recruitment of high calibre academics balancing any lossesin advance of REF.

Significant effort is going into ensuring PDR takes place and is effedftve. Performance management remains akey challenge for HR and line managers.

Good progress is being made against some diversity benchmarks. The % of female professorial staff was22.5% at 31.7.13 and currently stands at 23%; the % of staff disclosing a disability increased to 4%; the % ofBME support staff increased to 3%.

Staff costs as a % of total expenditures have reduced to 54% and are consistent with financial strategy.Increases in pension costs and pressure to increase pay mean this will remain a challenge in the future.

i, ~ ;‘nf-;*.- ~.s--r~ ~.lc .~i - . :~‘ -- I ,.~ -Institutional Strategic L ~1— Human Resources Performance Comments1~s,,

‘., ~OPjective~~Y~& .1.4 .. ~t~~flflr -‘

— Newcastle was among the first 10 Universities in the UK to receive the EuropeanCommissions ‘HR Excellence in Research’ award in 2010 and retained theaward following reassessment in 2012.

— A development programme for new professorial staff including tailored inductionand further exploration of the role in ‘Unpacking your Chair’ was awarded the

Top 20 in the UK for THES Award in Leadership Development.research — A targeted approach to attracting top academic talent has been implemented. 20

professorial staff were recruited in the laét year.— An Equality Analysis has been conducted after each Internal Quality Assessment

for the REF. The pre-submission review shows no areas of concern.— Career Pathways — a fellowship scheme for researchers has been reviewed and

extended to SAGE.

— The Higher Education Academy has accredited a new Pathway to Recognitionwhich allows us to formally recognise our own staff in line with the UKProfessional Standards for learning and teaching.

Top 20 in the UK for student — A series of transfers to teaching and schol?rship contracts have taken placesatisfaction following the implementation of academic career planning.

— A successful leadership event was organised for the Directors of Excellence inLearning and Teaching in conjunction with the Leadership Foundation.

. Recruitment of Director of Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability.Focus on 3 societal — Work has commenced to ensure as a méjor employer we address issues relatingchallenge themes to ageing.

— At 31.07.13 there were 90 nationalities represented in the workforce. 14.8% ofNewcastle staff are not UK nationals.

— International staff development programmes continued in support of faculty-ledinitiatives e.g. CESSAF (Angola), and Kazakhstan academic development

A significant international, programme.national and regional profile — Alternative approaches to delivering staff development are being piloted toand reputation ensure it is accessible for staff in Singapore and Malaysia.

— Remuneration Committees have been established for NUMed and SIT. StaffCommittee now review all terms and conditions for international operations on anannual basis.

. . — Continued high level of participation in salary sacrifice schemes resulting inFinancial and Environmental annual savings of circa £lm pa.Sustainability — Staff costs reduced to 54% are consistent with Financial Strategy.

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Human Resources StrategicObjective

Overall staffsatisfaction

1. Beagreatplace to workwithemployeescommitted tothe Universityobjectives andvalued fortheircontribution.

appropriateexternalrecognition.

3. Develop ahighperformanceculture inwhich delivery

Target: a 50% Response Rate

HE Average 56%

Target: circa 2% of payroll

KPIs and Targets

~arget: a 90% Satisfaction

Performance Comments

atisfaction in Employee Opinion Survey University level KPI incorporated in Strategy Objective below*

‘Be a great place to work with employees committed to theUniversity objecttves and valued for their contribution”

roved response in EOS to questions on~nition and feeling valued

Target: 55% to 60%

Improve response to EOS ‘good place towork’ from 90% HE benchmark.

Target: a 90%

Response rates to Employee OpinionSurvey

Employee Opinion 2003 2007 2010 2013Survey

Recognition and N/A 55% 63% 65%feeling valued

Good place to work’ N/A 90% 93% 92%

Overall response 46% 48% 54% 61%rate

2. Improve theprofile andperformanceof theUniversity byrecruiting anddevelopinghigh calibreemployeeswith

% Turnover 2009by Employee

Type

A

2010 2011 2012 2013

Academic 6.1 3.7 3.6 4.4 3.8Research 3.6 12.1 11.5 9.3 10.3Support 9.5 5.4 4.7 5.0 6.2All Staff 6.1 6.3 5.7 5.7 6.4

2009 2010 2011 2011/ 2012/12 13

Campaigns 706 762 742 783 900No. Re- 47 48 42 36 36advertised

to agreedstandards andobjectives isthe norm.

Monitor % turnover and maintain at, orbelow, HE Average: All staff 6.7% in 2013.

Target: S 7.5% for all staff

Recruitment campaigns and re-advertising.

% Completion of PDRs (EOSISAP) *

Target: 90% Completion

PDR had positive impact on jobperformance target — 66%

Improved response in EOS on performancemanagement (from 58% to 65%)

Target: 65% New Target 70%

Maintain response rates on quality andaccessibility of training in EOS (79%)

Target: 79%

Payroll Investment in training anddevelopment (2%compared with 4% bestpractice)

Completion 2007* 2010* 2012 2013*% 73 77 70 88

* Results for 2007, 2010, 2013 are drawn from the Employee Opinio,

Survey. Results from 2012 are drawn from the S4P monitoring system.

Improve 2007 2010 2013performance

% .- 51 53

Performance 2003 2007 [ 2010 [ 2013Management r

% N/A 58 63 [ 66 I

Training Quality& Accessibility 2003 2007 2010 2013

I 62 79 I 79 I 82

lmpactofL.&D 2007 2010 2013onjob I I I

I — I 75 I 77 I

F % Payroll 20081 I 20091 2010! I 2011/ I 2012!I Invested I 09 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13

inT&D 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.4

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4. Promotediversity,flexibility andinnovation bydevelopingorganisationalcapability andculture.

5. Promote asafe andhealthyenvironmentin which staffand studentstake aproactiveapproach totheir ownhealth, safetyand wellbeing.

6. Develop anefficient,effective andsustainableemploymentenvironment.

Diversity benchmarks:

Target: Professors Female ≥30% by 2021Target: BME Support Staff ≥5%Target: Disabled employees who disclose ≥3%

EOS responses on discrimination andperception of fair treatment

Target: S 7%

EOS responses on leadership (increasefrom 61%)

Target: ≥ 61% New Target 80%HE Benchmark 73%

Harassment! Bullying. Reduce the % ofemployees reporting from 7%

Target:≤7%

Athena Swan Silver at University level by2015

Staff Absence Monitor against HEbenchmarks (all staff 2011 2.5%) and reduceoperational staff absence levels.

Target:All Staff: ≤2.5%Operational:: 55% (2012/13)

Reported stress levels in EOS — reducefrom 23% to 20%.

Target: ≤20%

Staff Reported Accident Rates (per 1000 atrisk) 39.2%

Target: ≤39.2%

Reduce Manual Handling accident rates.

Target: ≤5%

Reduce 51ip, Trip, Fall (STF) accident ratesby 10%from 2010111.

Target: Si 1.5%

Regular Staff FTE by employee type:

% expenditure on staff costs consistentwith financial strategy

Target: 5 55% total expenditure

Employer pension contribution rate as % ofpay and consistent with financial strategy

Target: 516%

Stress Levels

AccidentRates (per1000 at risk)ManualHandlingSlips, Trips,Falls

EmployeeType

AcademicResearch

Total

Staff Costs

Female ProfessorsBME Support StaffDisabled Employees

Discrimination &Fair Treatment

Leadership

Harassment &Bullying

% StaffAbsence byEmployee

TypeAll StaffOperationalAdministration

% Contribution 2010 I Oct 2011USS EmployeeUSS EmployerRBP_Employee ___________

RBP Employer 13.25

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