hr's contribution to university performance improvement

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Performance Improvement in UK Universities

The contribution of HR

A briefing paper from 3C

Autumn 2013


Why view this slide set?

Gives you a brief but powerful overview of some of the challenges facing HR professionals in Universities in the UK today

It is based on a REAL discussion at a mid-ranking university in the summer of 2013 – our experience shows variations of this discussion are live right now in many HEIs

Includes reflections and thoughts for taking

the discussion further based on our actual experience working in HEIs

There are just 8 slides to read…


Improving University Performance –HR’s contribution to a complex issue

3C recently contributed to a University wide discussion about how to improve performance.

The discussion hosted by the HR team focussed on how best to use the talent and resources of all employees, both academic and professional.

3C’s role in the discussion was to share our experience of working with similar organisations (i.e. academic and other highly educated, skilled professional workforces) that have gone through similar drives for High Performance.

If you would find a summary of the discussion useful and relevant to your University’s pursuit of higher performance – read on…


The University says …

“We need a narrative to bring together the many improvement projects across the university

There are many varied projects in different departments

…Some to cut costs

…Some to raise student satisfaction

…Some to improve our

Research and RAE points”

ReflectionsLocal improvement projects can be helpful at the margins

Genuine High Performance needs serious thinking on a wider scale

You cannot credibly cut costs, raise satisfaction and develop high quality research across the university all at the same time. How will you:• prioritise investment resources?• guide daily activity?• align around a purpose?


“We are involving lots of people in these projects to increase acceptance of the changes needed”

“We have lots of small working groups“

“Working groups bring academics and professional staff together”

“We want to keep everyone on board”

“We need to be more

efficient and effective”

“We are wondering about

the best way to co-ordinate

all these groups”

ReflectionsThe existence of many small projects indicates a need for broader thinking about the direction of improvement.

The risk of many small groups is :• lots of ‘instant experts’ –

especially among academic participants

• ‘analysis-paralysis’ in search of the perfect solution

• projects conflicting with each other

• in-fighting and dissipation of resources

Senior Management perceived to lack direction and lose control


Questions as Solutions voiced by University staff…

“Maybe we need a central ‘grand project’ to reduce duplication of effort and share best practice?”

“Maybe we need a major investment in software and systems?”

“Maybe this is really

about culture change

and behaviour –

unleashing the power of our people?”

“Maybe we need to re-organise and re-structure all the University departments”

Reflections

These typical responses reflect common and deep misunderstanding of what drives High Performance, and how to create a High Performing organisation.

Each apparent solution is putting a process BEFORE purpose.

What is lacking is a clear diagnosis of the drivers behind the many local projects.


The High Performance Approach

You cannot have High performance without a clear organisational vision, and strategy for it’s implementation.

Within a university this means harnessing the energy and intelligence of the workforce and pointing it in one direction. Academics have been known to call this a ‘command and control’ culture (!) - it is of course, about clarity of direction and purpose.

Once the vision and strategy are clear, it is easier to establish the type and scale of change needed. It may be about substantial improvements in effectiveness and efficiency of existing activity, or it may require stopping/ starting/ changing activity.

At this point, the role of setting clear objectives, holdingpeople to account, and developing an appropriate culture are critical for success.


First understand the question – the necessary first step for High Performance

WHY is the University having this discussion at all?•Too many organisation-wide change projects start without a clear vision of the end. Thus the project becomes the purpose – usually leading to significant waste of resources and a failure to deliver improvement

•Too many organisations allow, or even encourage, many small improvement projects that end up competing with each other for resources and management attention. This leads to frustration, incoherent decision-making and a view that no-one is in control

Take time to understand the real drivers of the need for improvement, and build a vision of what a successful outcome would look like. Only then will employees have the clarity of direction toinform and improve their decision-making


We’ve helped all these organisations work towards high performance

http://www.debeersgroup.com/

http://www.bt.com/

http://www.bk.mufg.jp/english/index.html

http://www.westbrom.co.uk/westbrom/home


How can we help you?

3C helps HR professionals create high performing organisations

Our energising and refreshing approach

•engages senior leaders

•puts managers at the heart of performance management

•enables people to take ownership of their performance

hr's contribution to university performance improvement

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