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PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

LOUGHBOROUGH – AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE

Updated January 2021

Anne LambDeputy Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Equality,

Diversity and Inclusion

Adèle MacKinlayDirector of Human

Resources, Organisational Development and Equality,

Diversity and Inclusion

Ffyona BakerDirector of

Organisational Development and Change

Neil BudworthDirector of Health,

Safety and Wellbeing

LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY’S PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGYAN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE

What is Loughborough all about?Loughborough’s impressive and inspiring vision, summarised in Building Excellence, is articulated through five core ambitions:

A DISTINCTIVE INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE

A LIFE-SHAPING STUDENT EXPERIENCE

OUTSTANDING PARTNERSHIPS TO DELIVER SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL PROSPERITY

A CULTURE OF DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN ALL THAT WE DO

ONE OUTSTANDING UNIVERSITY: TWO VIBRANT CAMPUSES

Delivered through four strategic themes:

INVESTING IN OUR STAFF

EDUCATING FOR SUCCESS

GROWING CAPACITY AND INFLUENCE

RAISING STANDARDS AND ASPIRATIONS

Underpinned by the University’s values:

TEAM, EXCELLENCE, PROFESSIONALISM, INCLUSIVITY, RESPECT, COMMUNITY

Our achievementsLoughborough University’s achievements over recent years have been significant, including but not limited to:

• University of the Year 2020, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2020

• Ranked 6th, Complete University Guide 2021

• Ranked 7th, Guardian University Guide 2021

• University of the Year in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019.

• Ranked 7th in the UK, The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021.

• Outstanding Entrepreneurial University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards 2019.

• Awarded Seven Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education.

• GOLD in the National Research Excellence Framework.

• Best in the World for Sports-Related Subjects, QS World University Rankings 2020.

Dear colleagues,

Welcome to the 2021 refresh of the University’s People and Organisational Development Strategy.

The People and Organisational Development Strategy was approved by the University’s Council in March 2019 and a huge amount of activity has happened since to enhance our culture to one that enables colleagues to thrive, and make Loughborough an even better place to work and study. We are a top five university because of the passion, dedication and innovation of colleagues in both the academic community and Professional Services. The People and Organisational Development Strategy aims to enable all of us to be the best version of our professional selves, working with flexibility in an agile organisation that is an employer of choice.

What a year 2020 was!

The outset of the Global Pandemic and the subsequent lock-down required Loughborough to act at speed to enable colleagues to work remotely and respond dynamically to a fluid and rapidly changing working environment. Overnight, new technology was embraced, strategic decisions were made at speed, flexible working patterns were adopted to enable working parents / those with caring responsibilities to provide care and home schooling for their children as well as meet their work commitments, and new wellbeing protocols were adopted. We are committed to learning from the practices we had to put in place during 2020 to inform new working practices in 2021 and beyond.

The murder of George Floyd and the subsequent global outpouring of anger and grief – from all communities, but in particular BAME communities - brought into sharp relief the urgent need for Loughborough to look at the inclusiveness of its culture. Much work has taken place during 2019 and 2020 in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion space, and our plans for 2021 are ambitious and far-reaching.

We are one of the best universities in the UK. Our aim is to provide a staff experience that aligns with our outstanding student experience. Please take a moment to read the People and Organisational Development Strategy so that you understand how we will be working to support you during 2021.

Best wishes – Adèle, Anne, Ffyona, Neil.

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Strategic themesThe People and Organisational Development Strategy has three strategic themes:

An open and transparent culture that empowers people to be the best version of their professional selves

• A diverse and inclusive culture.

• Commitment to professional growth.

• Aspiration for excellence in all that we do.

• Developing excellence in academic and professional services leadership and expertise in management.

• Helping people manage work and home priorities.

An agile organisation

• Structures that adapt to internal and external change and challenges.

• Effective information sharing and evidence-based decision-making protocols.

• Talent management and succession planning.

• Focus on innovation and appropriate risk-taking.

An inspiring place to work and study

• Strong employer reputation.

• Competitive employee benefit package.

• Values and behaviour led organisation.

• Commitment to an outstanding staff and student experience.

How will we get there?The Strategy will be enabled by five people priorities:

• A diverse, respectful and inclusive culture.

• Enabling Talent and High Performance.

• An engaging and sustainable reward and recognition programme.

• Achievable workloads, wellbeing and resilience.

• Outstanding recruitment practices leading to a high-quality candidate and new employee experience.

All delivered by a professional and engaged People and Organisational Development team.

LOUGHBOROUGH PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FRAMEWORK

Investing in our people to enable delivery of the University’s Strategy ‘Building Excellence’

Underpinned by Loughborough’s values

Delivered through a professional and engaging People and Organisational Development team

Respect each other and celebrate our diversityRecognise and reward excellence in our staff for their contribution and commitment

Be inclusive and value the views of our staff, students, alumni and partnersRespect the communities and environments in which we operate

Work together as a team with professionalism and integrity

To lead the University in creating a culture that inspires excellence

Enabling Talent and High

Performance

Diverse, respectful

and inclusive culture

Engaging and sustainable reward and recognition

programmes

A culture that enables people to perform at the

highest levelsAn inspiring place to

work and studyAn agile organisation

University vision for the People and

Organisational Development

Strategy

Strategic themes

Enabled by five People and

Organisational Development

priorities

Outstanding recruitment

practices leading to a high-quality candidate and new employee

experience

Achievable workloads,

wellbeing and resilience

The plan of action The delivery of the People and Organisational Development Strategy is dependent on developing managers and leaders across the University to lead with emotional intelligence, to feel confident in taking informed risks, making bold decisions, having authentic conversations and working with agility, across boundaries.

People and Organisational Development Priority 1 DIVERSE, RESPECTFUL AND INCLUSIVE CULTURE Anticipated Outcomes

• An inclusive, welcoming and vibrant culture in which all colleagues and students feel valued, respected and engaged.• Increased diversity within the academic community, professional services and leadership communities.• Better representation within the University’s decision-making forums.• Equal opportunity for all through identifying and removing systematic barriers. • The University’s leadership will work to embed the principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion into the way we work,

study and live at Loughborough.

• Develop Loughborough’s Race Strategy.

• Improve the physical and environmental access for disabled students, staff and visitors to Loughborough campuses.

• Implement actions through the Gender Equality PMB to increase the number of female academics.

• Shift culture through allyship training for all.

• Improve the collective understanding of difference.

• Improve staff and students’ understanding of neurodiversity.

• Establish an EDI committee. • Review all existing policies,

guidance and processes specifically from an EDI perspective.

• Use PDR to engage all colleagues in progressing EDI.

• Implement an internally focused communication campaign to enhance the collective awareness of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

• All members of the Loughborough community have a responsibility to promote equality, dignity and respect, to celebrate diversity and to challenge unfairness and discrimination.

• The University’s leadership and management teams will visibly embrace and promote Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Human Rights.

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion values and principles will be embedded in all ways of working, studying and living at Loughborough.

• We will become a beacon for inclusivity within the sector.

• We will raise the understanding of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion through communication, learning, and the work of staff and student groups.

• We will seek to understand and improve the experience of staff and students from under-represented groups and groups with protected characteristics.

• We will work to embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within our recruitment, research, enterprise, teaching and sport activities, as well as our employee and student experiences.

• We will improve experiences and outcomes of colleagues with protected characteristics be engaging with Athena Swan, Race Equality Charter, Disability Confident and Stonewall.

• We will harness existing academic and professional expertise within the Institution to advance and support this Strategy.

• We will operate a zero-tolerance environment for all inappropriate or discriminatory behaviours.

• We will be a thought leader in respect of equality, diversity and inclusion.

• We will further develop our Chaplaincy in providing a caring presence for all.

• Continued development of a diverse and inclusive curriculum.

2021 PRIORITIESPRINCIPLES AIMS

Advocates of Diversity, Equality and InclusionLoughborough University | Inspiring winners since 1909

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People and Organisational Development Priority 3 ENGAGING AND SUSTAINABLE REWARD AND RECOGNITION PROGRAMMES Anticipated Outcomes

• Sector leader for innovative reward programmes.• Positive feedback in staff satisfaction surveys.• Competitive pay as a contributing factor to high retention rates.

• Raise the profile of the benefits of working at the University.

• Develop and implement a framework for recognition and reward.

Programmes should• Be timely, meaningful and fair.• Motivate and inspire high

performance.• Be applied flexibly to the needs of

the individual or group of people.

• We will communicate the total benefit of working at Loughborough to all staff.

• We will monitor the market regularly to ensure that our pay remains competitive.

• We will seek to understand pay gaps and proactively work on reducing them.

• We will implement motivational rewards, both pay and non-pay, that are informed by performance.

• We will create a flexible benefits package that recognises the diversity of staff needs and motivations.

• We will review our pay and grading system.

2021 PRIORITIESAIMSPRINCIPLES

People and Organisational Development Priority 2 ENABLING TALENT AND HIGH PERFORMANCE Anticipated Outcomes

• Colleagues know what is expected of them from the point of induction and throughout their Loughborough career.

• Our leaders and managers develop new knowledge and skills and feel able to perform their role well.

• All colleagues have easy access to quality development opportunities that meet their needs and those of the University.

• Colleagues feel able to embrace opportunities within existing roles and are ready for future ones.

• Colleagues work across boundaries and disciplines to make best use of talents, helping others to achieve.

• Change at Loughborough is led, managed and communicated well; our colleagues are resilient and agile.

• Our colleagues understand how to make improvements within their own areas and feel empowered to contribute to change across the University.

• Our teams are high-performing, work in new ways and know what it takes to be successful at Loughborough.

• Engaging and meaningful staff induction programme that helps colleagues to be role-ready.

• A clear approach to mandatory training for both new and existing colleagues.

• Refreshed development opportunities that meet the needs of colleagues and our priorities and are delivered in flexible ways.

• Development of Coaching, Mentoring and Buddying schemes that utilise the expertise at Loughborough.

• Focused support and development for key networks including technicians, administrators, apprentices, probationers/new starters and graduates.

• A Leadership Framework and Management Programmes that support colleagues to be effective in their roles.

• Increased capability to manage and respond to change effectively including new approaches to internal communications and engagement practices.

• Implementation of a new delivery model that makes the experience for colleagues accessing support for all development and change activity easier.

• Our staff succeed in an environment that enables them to be the best version of themselves.

• We develop our University, develop our people and develop together.

• We align our focus to support our most important priorities.

• We support the achievement of a fully inclusive culture.

• We will enable progress through effective behaviours, systems and processes.

• We support and value the development and growth of all of our colleagues.

• To engage colleagues with effective development that support them in their existing and future roles.

• To identify and deliver projects that support the development of colleagues and their working practices, including the positive use of technology.

• Colleagues engage with the support provided to them and feel valued in their roles.

• To enhance our leadership and management capabilities across our academic and professional services communities.

• To increase the focus of managing and supporting people through change.

• To support the development of an agile organisation and ways of working.

• To build and support networks that positively impact on colleague engagement.

2021 PRIORITIESPRINCIPLES AIMS

Advocates of Diversity, Equality and InclusionLoughborough University | Inspiring winners since 1909

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• Begin implementation of the wellbeing standards.

• Implement refocused Health and Safety leadership training.

• Continue work on the academic workload model, sustainable workload for all staff groups, and process reviews.

• Review our family leave position. • Develop and support technologies

that facilitate and enable effective health, safety and wellbeing activities.

• Ensure the response to Covid-19 is managed in a way that protects people and reduces anxiety.

• Excellence comes from people who are happy and healthy.

• Flexible approaches to support people’s professional and personal responsibilities.

• Caring and supportive approach during times of personal challenge.

• To be the best they can be people need to know the risks they face and their own responsibilities.

• We have amazing people and we need to harness their knowledge.

• We will create a coaching culture in which staff are supported and nurtured.

• We will design a clearly recognisable approach to mental and physical wellbeing that will enhance peoples’ lives.

• We will train our senior leaders to be great catalysts in engaging people to think about safety and their own health.

• We will consider the health, and safety of our people in the way we design and build our campuses.

• We will create flexible working arrangements to respond to the changing needs of our workforce.

• We will develop our managers to be able to respond effectively to different personal circumstances.

• We will work to remove bureaucracy, improve process efficiency and address creeping workload.

2021 PRIORITIESAIMSPRINCIPLES

People and Organisational Development Priority 4 WORKLOAD, WELLBEING AND RESILIENCE Anticipated Outcomes

• Greater staff satisfaction and engagement.• Reduction in work-related stress and absence.• Sector leading proactive Occupational Health provision.• Sustainable workloads.• Safety and wellbeing come from people who understand the expectations of the university, work in a supportive

environment, and have the right knowledge and tools to do their job.• A culture which promotes work-home balance.• Better communication of information to all staff.

People and Organisational Development Priority 5 OUTSTANDING RECRUITMENT PRACTICES LEADING TO A HIGH-QUALITY CANDIDATE AND NEW EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE Anticipated Outcomes

• Positive feedback in new staff satisfaction surveys.• Reduction in volume of non-appointments and controllable turnover.• Reputation as employer of choice. • Inclusive and efficient recruitment practices.

• Implement new processes to support changes to immigration following Brexit.

• Enhance our induction arrangements for new staff.

• Embed the learnings from academic recruitment to all recruitment.

• Seek ways to continue to diversify our candidate pool.

• A creative search process that attracts a diverse talent pool.

• An outstanding candidate experience (pre and post appointment).

• A distinctive employer brand that sets us apart and builds our reputation.

• We will enhance our online presence to build our reputation as an employer of choice.

• We will be more proactive in searching for top-quality candidates.

• We will enhance the processes by which we welcome staff into the University.

• We will develop our reputation as a beacon university for international staff.

• We will endeavour to increase the diversity of our staff population.

2021 PRIORITIESAIMSPRINCIPLES

Advocates of Diversity, Equality and InclusionLoughborough University | Inspiring winners since 1909

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Advocates of Diversity, Equality and InclusionLoughborough University | Inspiring winners since 1909

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