Just Between Ourselves: UHR22 Day One

In this article of reflections from the UHR team on day 1 of UHR22: ‘Everyone Onboard!’, writes Martin Higgs, we’ll be thinking about some of our conference highlights with the help of UHR Treasurer Eilidh Fraser, UHR Executive Director Helen Scott and other colleagues from Team UHR.

But just between ourselves let’s answer the question of the day first. Will recordings of conference sessions be available?

Yes – for the vast majority of them, and we’ll let you know of exceptions. They will be available to delegates first, from this Monday 16 May (or before if we can manage it!) and exclusively to delegates until 1 July. We’ll share the link for this with you as soon as we have it. UHR members who are not conference delegates will have access to recordings after 1 July.

So what did we enjoy today? We’d have to start with plenary one from Jennifer Moss, who had woken at 4am (in Canada) to make our 10am (in the UK) starting time. Ah, the benefits of technology. Jennifer’s specialism is burnout and her session really helped us unpack what that means, including the obvious – overwork – but also the less obvious contributors such as lack of control, insufficient reward, loneliness, lack of fairness, and mismatched skills – all cited in their work on the issue by the World Health Organisation. You’ll be knocked out by some of the stats in this session – overwork contributes to 2.8m deaths annually worldwide; work meetings have increased in number by 252% during the pandemic; women’s unpaid work has increased by between 15 and 20 hours a week since Covid as they’ve taken on the burden of unequal family care and home schooling. This session passed very quickly and we’d urge all UHR members to catch up. Some quick takeaways? Don’t be proud of the idea that you are ‘wearing many hats’. We need both meeting etiquette and diary etiquette to help ourselves and each other past mounting workloads – don’t pinch that last space in the diary just because it’s there. On Bossware – ‘Don’t build a HR strategy for the 10% who might abuse a policy’. The everyday statement ‘I’m fine’ is only estimated to be true 19% of the time, so how do you uncover and support the 81% who in fact aren’t fine at all? And there are big questions for HR here, not least ‘How can HR help new joiners feel integrated into a workplace when they are working remotely for large chunks of the week?’ A hugely engaging session.

Eilidh Fraser (Director of People and Organisational Development at Abertay University) enjoyed workshop BA2: Trans-Inclusion in HR and HE: Modern and People-Centric Approach to Best Practice and Freedom of Speech.

“Thank you to Owen Francis of Alumni Global for sharing his personal and professional experience and insights on this topic,” Eilidh said. “It was hugely valuable to hear Owen’s lived experience, including at university, with the NHS and in work. In many aspects of life, the statistics for trans people are sobering, but Owen also highlighted how liberating university can be for students, and how we can support trans students and staff. Owen also highlighted a wide range of practical suggestions to help make universities safe places to transition and to be as a trans person.

“This session covered a great deal of ground in an open and practical way and I would highly recommend watching the recording for anyone who would like to understand more about the experience of trans people and how to support trans-inclusion in HE.”

Professor Simone Buitendijk took us through ‘the compassionate university’, helping us think about a values-led university, the importance of having the courage to be candid even when what needs to be done is uncomfortable, and the ways in which EDI benefits us all. We’ll be sharing thoughts on that session fully tomorrow.

What did other UHR colleagues appreciate today?

“I really enjoyed this session from Cheryl Samuels of NHS England. The challenge of the #InclusiveHR social movement to HR is to be more inclusive and to ‘Immerse ourselves in spaces of discomfort because that’s where we learn the most.’ We want to see people coming into the organisation with ‘a backpack of hope that is overflowing as opposed to diminishing’. The challenge to HR? The broader organisation won’t listen if we don’t put our own house in order.”

Helen Scott – UHR Executive Director, on session WA1: #InclusiveHR – 5 Step Challenge to Change

“On day one of #UHR22 I took onboard the Global Mobility experience of Dan Perkins and Clare Allen of Vialto Partners in considering the implications for EVP when flexibility of working goes international. This was a very informative session and ideal for those institutions who may be newer to the challenges of GM now that mobility is mainstream. We learned that 80% of HEIs have up to 10% of their employees who are required to work abroad. There is a real opportunity to harness opportunities to work abroad in your talent attraction - but word of warning that you will need to make sure your policies and procedures are right to reduce the legal and financial risks associated.”

Emma Brookes – UHR Strategic Projects and Research Manager on session BA4: Employee value proposition: Flexibility of working when it goes international

“Workday explored the evolving expectations of the workforce and the need for employers to prioritise in-work support for their employers following the last 2 years of upheaval. A transformational approach to upskilling is required, to build a ‘futureproof’ workforce and adapt to a rapidly changing environment where flexibility and adaptability are key. Skills data should be a key part of any people analytics dashboard and can be used, for example, to enhance recruitment practices. Workday’s solutions provide the ability to “embed HR everywhere” by linking with existing software such as Microsoft Teams to allow simple HR transactions such as booking leave to be done in those applications rather than having to log into separate systems. The aim is to streamline processes and provide efficiencies.”

Sophie Crouchman, UHR Strategic Projects and Research Manager, on session BA1: ‘Innovation Priorities for HR in Higher Education’.