Your event booking covers each session over the 2 week period. Please use the checkboxes on the booking form to indicate which sessions you are particularly interested in - you can choose as many or as few sessions as you wish over the two week period (but it will give us and the presenters an idea of numbers). If you change your mind and decide to come to a session which you have not previously ticked, this is not a problem, links to all daily events will be sent out each morning to everyone.
Please see below for the timings of each session (full descriptions can be found here):
Follow your special interest through the fortnight or attend a variety of sessions across all categories:
1. Business effectiveness and organisational performance
2. Organisational development and culture change
3. Equality, diversity and inclusion
4. HR Excellence
| WEEK 1 | ||||
| Day | Date | Time | HEI | Title |
| Monday | 8th Nov | 10.00-11.00 | Exeter | WINNER - The Leadership Difference – A Co-ordinated Approach to Academic Leadership Development: Using an immersive and co-ordinated approach to training needs identification, working collaboratively with HR and development professionals, academic experts and external providers, we delivered a coherent, structured programme of leadership development for our academic leaders at all levels and in all disciplines - successfully engaging staff in skills development, behaviour change and knowledge sharing through a range of carefully crafted interventions. |
| Monday | 8th Nov | 13.45-14.45 | Cardiff Metropolitan | RUNNER UP - Growing collective leadership at Cardiff Met University: The OD team have been on a mission to grow collective leadership to support a high performing culture. They designed an in-house multi-layered leadership development suite (including an optional leadership qualification), and enhanced the staff performance review process, taking a structured and highly collaborative approach, and successfully launching it in the middle of the pandemic. The result is a robust approach with a focus on regular collaborative conversations and explicit linking of wellbeing as a foundation for high performance. |
| Tuesday | 9th Nov | 10.00-10.45 | Sheffield Hallam | Sheffield Hallam – an inclusive culture: A programme of work starting with structural change and continuing with transformational change to embed responsibility for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across the organisation and to achieve the university’s strategic aims. We set out to widen the span of control for both staff and student EDI to bring the agenda to the forefront across the whole institution. |
| Tuesday | 9th Nov | 12.00-12.45 | Sunderland | Flex Select Scheme - Supporting Flexible Working during the Pandemic: Flex Select is a flexible working scheme designed to support staff with balancing their work and personal lives whatever their life stage or situation. Originally developed as a temporary measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now reviewing the scheme with a view to making it a permanent part of the portfolio of benefits available to staff as part of an agile and flexible working culture. |
| Tuesday | 9th Nov | 14.00-14.45 | Northumbria | Focussing on our strengths: At the start of academic year 2019/20 we had a clear plan for wellbeing activity for the year ahead. In March 2020 when we went into the first lockdown, we quickly reviewed our plans to give more focus to supporting the mental wellbeing of colleagues. Following the success of our strengths-based leadership development programme and understanding the importance of staying positive during such challenging times, our wellbeing agenda is underpinned by the principles of positive psychology. |
| Wednesday | 10th Nov | 10.00-10.45 | Nottingham Trent | NTU, reimagined - strategy development as a catalyst for culture change: We used the process of strategy development to deliver on one of our strategic ambitions of ‘empowering our people’ and to act as a catalyst for sustainable culture change towards participation, inclusion, and transparency of decision-making. The result is a strategic plan that is clearly understood and owned by colleagues and a lasting change in how we engage and empower our people. |
| Wednesday | 10th Nov | 12.00-12.45 | Aberystwyth | Responding to Covid: At Aberystwyth we quickly worked hard to address four pressing issues: controlling the infection; supporting our students; providing a better learning experience than many HE competitors; and constantly reassuring our staff through communication, engagement and safety initiatives. These were set alongside two critical principles: achieving the least detrimental financial position we could deliver and avoiding COVID staff redundancies. This initiative brings strong measurable outcomes that stand the University in a strong position for the future. |
| Wednesday | 10th Nov | 14.00-14.45 | Birmingham | University of Birmingham - our response to Covid-19: We are a small team with big ambition and a can-do attitude. We demonstrated tenacity, determination and creativity in how we adapted to the pandemic. By creating a positive working and learning culture and supporting people at a highly uncertain time we supported a more certain future, collaboratively. We identified workforce challenges and aligned our response, adapting our work climate to support DPVC wellbeing and EDI agendas. |
| Thursday | 11th Nov | 10.00-10.45 | Roehampton | Roehampton - Responding to Covid-19: One week before the first lockdown in March 2020 the University established a working group to proactively support staff to work from home during an unprecedented period. This immediate and imposed way of working meant we had to respond with agility to support all staff in providing the best possible experience to our students in a unique and unforeseen environment. The working group has established a streamlined, agile and responsive process for the University, which will support us not just as we emerge from the pandemic but into the future. |
| Thursday | 11th Nov | 14.00-14.45 | Newcastle | Addressing casualisation: The new Policy for Fixed Term contracts and Guidance for the Engagement of Hourly Paid Associate Lecturers has been developed working closely with business units across the organisation to determine future needs and in response to direct feedback from colleagues and trade unions. The importance of understanding the drivers for the current use of fixed term contracts, including the complexities of the different approaches, supported the ability to develop a new approach. |
| Friday | 12th Nov | 10.00-11.00 | Lincoln | WINNER - University of Lincoln – Dynamic, Engaged People Strategy: Against a challenging backdrop the HR Team headed out on a two-pronged project to achieve the digital virtualisation of the HR offering whilst working on a transition pensions piece of work to achieve longer term financial control and stability. The aim of this work was to identify with the need to optimise engagement through acknowledging a wider vision of employees as people and ultimately motivating them through happiness and their connections to colleagues and pride towards the University. |
| Friday | 12th Nov | 13.45-14.45 | Derby | RUNNER UP - Using the golden thread to unleash high performance: This approach has enabled staff to understand how the vision, goals and values of the organisation are intrinsically linked to their everyday tasks. We achieved this through embedding the principles of our 2018 culture transformation work and our 2018 Strategic Framework and newly refreshed values: all designed to lift performance across the business to high performance. |
| WEEK 2 | ||||
| Day | Date | Time | HEI | Title |
| Monday | 15th Nov | 10.00-11.00 | Staffordshire | WINNER (Recorded Session) - Equality Impact Assessment whole system approach: Staffordshire University has developed a whole system approach to embedding Equality Impact Assessments (EIA) in all aspects of university business including project development, procurement and policy. This flexible two stage approach enables staff and students to fully engage in organisational developments as co-creators and partners. As a result, plans, policies and projects are better informed and more responsive to the diversity of student and staff needs. |
| Monday | 15th Nov | 13.45-14.45 | Teesside | RUNNER UP - Team Teesside’s Values & Behaviours Framework - engagement in action: We took an innovative approach to putting values into practice through the creation of the Values and Behaviours Framework. Launched with effect from January 2020, the Values and Behaviours Framework provides a reference guide to help all colleagues to understand how the seven core values of the University can be applied within their roles and working practices. The framework is specifically linked to the performance of every colleague through the Personal Development and Review Process. |
| Tuesday | 16th Nov | 10.00-10.45 | Strathclyde | The University of Strathclyde - a Wellbeing Organisation: As a technological university which is socially progressive, we live our organisational Values, especially being ‘People-Oriented’. During the pandemic, we have taken this to the next stage, focusing on being a ‘wellbeing organisation’, where being caring and compassionate is our organisational signature. We have put staff first, work second and this has enhanced employee engagement even further than pre-Covid levels. |
| Tuesday | 16th Nov | 14.00-14.45 | Leeds Trinity | LTUs – a model for collaboration at Leeds Trinity: The small HR team worked collaboratively with colleagues across Leeds Trinity University to develop a successful staff Health, Safety and Wellbeing programme which not only supported the safety and wellbeing of over 500 colleagues through the first year of the pandemic, but has created an enduring model for collaboration, communications and more flexible working. As a legacy, this work has resulted in a fundamental change to the way the University makes and communicates key decisions. |
| Wednesday | 17th Nov | 10.00-10.45 | Huddersfield | University of Huddersfield Inclusion Week: The University celebrated its annual Inclusion Week in March 2021. Organised in partnership with the University’s SU, it focused on the equality strands of the staff and student networks: disability, ethnicity and race, gender and LGBT+. It was developed as an opportunity to raise awareness of barriers to inclusivity, celebrate the diversity of our staff and student community, develop skills and an understanding of inclusive practice, and build and maintain an inclusive community of staff and students. |
| Wednesday | 17th Nov | 12.00-12.45 | Bath Spa | Using cultural values to drive engagement: During the aftermath of a large-scale restructure, and in the midst of a global pandemic, Bath Spa embarked on a journey to define the culture that would secure the strategic success of the University. We used multi-faceted and flexible ways to engage with our staff and students, working together to define the values that are most important to our community and that will enable the delivery of the strategic vision. |
| Wednesday | 17th Nov | 14.00-14.45 | Wolverhampton | Organisational Change and Design at WLV: This award entry charts the journey of the University of Wolverhampton to higher levels of maturity in terms of the management of organisational change. We have developed by demonstrating greater involvement, ensuring enhanced levels of consistency through the use of organisational change templates, and introducing an Organisational Design toolkit. |
| Thursday | 18th Nov | 10.00-10.45 | Leicester | Coaching for all: The University of Leicester has built on the success of its internal Coaching and Mentoring Academy to embrace coaching for all – running across all areas of the University. By combining the expertise of Organisational Development, Career Development Service and Sport & Active Life, they have extended the coaching offer to support student sport scholars competing at national and international levels. This approach can be applied more broadly across the University to support other student cohorts to navigate their own learning journey. |
| Thursday | 18th Nov | 12.00-12.45 | Arden This session will not now go ahead due to illness | Our journey from personnel to people: The Arden people team have been on a significant journey of positive change during 2020 moving swiftly from being a highly transactional personnel team to a progressive, transformational, commercially focused and high performing people team, adopting a “people before process” approach, bringing the vision to life and creating a great colleague experience. |
| Thursday | 18th Nov | 14.00-14.45 | Falmouth | The Modern Office – user-centric digital transformation at scale: The Modern Office started life in April 2019 as a part of our Digital Transformation agenda and in support of our 2030 People Strategy. This collaborative project touches the working lives of everyone in the University in partnership with FX Plus (our service provider), the Students Union as well as Microsoft Gold Partner CPS. The vision for this programme is to, ‘empower every person to achieve their potential through seamless collaboration and communication, by creating an environment where innovation happens’. |
| Friday | 19th Nov | 10.00-11.00 | Westminster | WINNER - Colleagues, Culture and Inclusion - Wellbeing at Westminster: Through the Colleagues, Culture and Inclusion project the University of Westminster HR Team developed and delivered a series of connected strategies, initiatives and activities placing Wellbeing and EDI at the heart of our university. The project was initiated following an extremely challenging time with major restructuring but it has enabled us to change, innovate and continually improve the lived experience of all colleagues, students and partners of the university. |
| Friday | 19th Nov | 13.45-14.45 | St Mary's | RUNNER UP - Collective EDI - Creating an EDI movement: St Mary’s University launched its first People Strategy in January 2020. One of the seven themes is Diversity and Inclusion: this gave clarity to how the EDI agenda would move forward at to enable the university to fulfil its commitment to being inclusiveness and diverse. Having a written vision and road map that is simple and easy to understand sends a strong message that EDI is a strategic priority that the senior leadership team is committed to. Embedding the strategy through a thorough communications plan helps to ensure everybody is aware it exists and what it means. |
Tagged : Miscellaneous
Type : Training
Please contact info@uhr.ac.uk for more information
