ID112 Skills Recognition, Profiles and Organisational Mobility for Staff

The Idea

This proposal suggests a redefinition or reimagining of staffing structures, both academic and amongst professional services across the University, with a view to building an organisational skills database and personal skills profiles that enable all colleagues regardless of grade to define their skillset, experiences and expertise, in turn facilitating organisational functions to second existing staff for major or minor projects, i.e. based around enhancement, transformation and improvement activities, critically, with a view that such secondment feed into personal and professional development profiles and are paid via an additional pay scale based on scale and scope of work. Ultimately the idea aims to focus on the underutilised skill sets that exist across the University, which may be repressed by grades, cultural structures and hierarchy, leading to a loss of talent over time, underdeveloped staffing resource, and internal and external expenses spent on consultants and resourcing recruitment. 

Why This Idea Should Be Considered

Universities are large, multi-faceted organisations, often siloed by organisational structures, job families and grades that whilst necessary, can impose restraints on the ability for the same organisation to maximise their talent pools. Are those for example employed on lower grades any less creative, imaginative, or indeed skilled in certain areas? Perhaps those on higher grades are generally impeded by capacity restraint and matters that demand greatest attention not conditional to creativity or other skills? Do we recognise skills through existing job roles as they develop over the lifetime of a role? Is the pay scale sufficient for this? This idea would aim to break down barriers in grading profiles and better target the wealth of expertise across the University by creating the conditions to maximise that expertise, incentivising staff, and building a more inclusive, skilled environment beyond the restriction of hierarchy, creating mobile staff within the organisation, better exposure to different organisational units and scope to harness hidden or underutilised skillsets.

How We Would Implement This Idea

All staff could be encouraged to contribute to a database in which they set out their skills (perhaps against some predetermined matrix), experience and expertise, and the things they may generally be interested in (again, set to a wider organisational matrix of activities). This database, whilst generating an individual, personal skills profile, could then be utilised by staffing teams when looking for involvement in project based work, or general enhancement, transformation or improvement initiatives. Staff, organisational units, and governance bodies from all areas should be encouraged then to utilise the database when considering project work, general enhancement, transformation or improvement initiatives, with such activities more actively encouraged recognising the entirety of the University’s staffing pool remains at their disposal (a separate idea could be generated around thoughts regarding continuous improvement and enhancement activity embedded into our strategic thinking).

Regarding then financial compensation, a range could be considered within a framework dependant on skills contributed, time allocated, outcome of the project etc, with a view that the contribution is fed then into staff member’s existing role descriptors and skills profiles, which they can access anytime, for professional development reviews, and upon leaving the University to support future employment (with the skills profiles considered by recruitment managers in internal recruitment activity also). 

What Success Would Look Like

A more inclusive work environment that enables staff to build active skills profiles, and to develop and utilise their skills through a more enabling ecosystem for secondments outside existing roles, recognising the benefits to enabling said secondments on individuals and teams. 

Ensuring that the currency of staff roles and grades are informed as much by skills profiles as existing business needs, with such needs potentially informed based on the development of individual skill sets (ensuring they never remain static, as experience itself never does). 

A staffing base unrestrained by their grade profiles, and an organisation that enables diversity structurally through recognition of hidden skills, expertise and experiences through project based, general enhancement, transformation and/or improvement initiatives.