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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