ID204 Professional Services Staff Talent Management Strategy

The Idea

Keele University would benefit from an inclusive, institution-wide Professional Services Staff (PSS) Talent Management Strategy that aligns workforce planning, development, and deployment with organisational priorities. Currently, PSS development activity is fragmented and there is reduced career progression visibility, skills gaps, and challenges in attracting critical professional expertise. The observations are informed by internal analysis undertaken as part of postgraduate Human Resource Management study, alongside Keele’s Colleague Pulse Survey feedback. This work identified that existing PSS development and progression mechanisms operate in isolation rather than as part of a coherent talent framework. There is limited visibility of progression pathways, alongside no central policy for workforce and succession planning or an overarching talent management strategy. Pulse Survey findings have also highlighted lower satisfaction among PSS with recognition and career progression relative to sector benchmarks, supporting the strategic rationale for the proposed approach. 

This proposal recommends introducing a centrally coordinated, blended talent management approach that balances inclusive development for all PSS with targeted investment in key roles and developing future leaders. For example, this would include providing transparent development pathways and a central directory of staff identified through the SPRE process, to access development opportunities for all staff, informed through existing processes such as SPRE, alongside focused succession planning and leadership development for roles critical to institutional delivery. Building on existing HR practices (appraisal, reward, learning and development, secondments and project work), the strategy would integrate these into a coherent framework supported by workforce and succession planning. 

The approach prioritises internal talent pipelines to enhance motivation, retention, and organisational knowledge while remaining cost effective in a constrained higher education environment. Talent identification would be fair and transparent, aligned with Keele’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles, ensuring opportunities are accessible across job families. 

By formally recognising PSS talent as a strategic asset, Keele can strengthen its employee value proposition, improve organisational capability, and support long term institutional performance without reliance on continuous external recruitment. 

Why This Idea Should Be Considered

Professional Services Staff play a critical role in student experience, operational support and institutional sustainability. However, recent Pulse Survey feedback indicates dissatisfaction among PSS with recognition and career progression. As reported by the previous Chief Operating Officer (COO), PSS scores for recognition and career progression were 5% lower than the sector comparator, highlighting a relative weakness in this area. In reflecting on the 2024 Pulse Survey results, the COO identified the need for investment in developing clearer PSS career pathways as part of ongoing service transformation. 

Academic staff have access to the academics promotions pathway but PSS staff do not have a clear talent management or promotions pathway, without this Keele risks increased turnover in PSS staff, skills shortages, reduced engagement and loss of organisational knowledge at a time of financial and workforce pressure. 

Investing in a structured PSS talent management approach would improve workforce stability, maximise return on existing development investment, and reduce dependency on external recruitment. Evidence from Higher Education and Human Resource Management research indicates that effective talent management supports performance, resilience, and competitive advantage, outcomes that are increasingly important in a challenging sector landscape. 

How We Would Implement This Idea

Keele could implement this strategy using existing structures and phased investment. First, senior leaders and HR could agree strategic priorities through a cost‑benefit analysis to secure organisational buy‑in, supported by early actions such as establishing a cross‑functional working group. This group to help develop the strategy should be informed by emerging sector practice. For example, the University of Cambridge has introduced elements such as professional services career frameworks and internal talent development programmes. Reviewing these models, alongside guidance from sector bodies, would enable Keele to adopt proven approaches while tailoring them to local priorities. 

Implementation would include agreeing definitions of key roles and talent pools, and mapping existing PSS development activity into a single, institution‑wide framework that clearly sets out development pathways and progression routes. Informed by existing processes such as SPRE, this would support the identification of emerging talent pools, enabling the University to engage proactively with staff as roles become vacant or new opportunities are created. HR would then centrally coordinate workforce and succession planning across PSS to support longer‑term organisational resilience. 

Existing mechanisms (appraisals, reward schemes, learning programmes, secondments and projects) should be aligned into a visible talent framework, ensuring consistency and fairness. A cross‑functional project group could explore digital talent management tools to improve transparency and data‑driven decision‑making. This would be supported by an updated People Strategy embedding talent development as a core organisational priority. 

What Success Would Look Like

Success would be demonstrated through improved retention of PSS talent and expertise, engagement and internal progression, alongside reduced time to recruit for specialist roles and lower recruitment and onboarding costs, particularly where internal progression reduces reliance on external appointments or interim staffing. Staff would report clearer development pathways, greater access to progression opportunities, and improved recognition of their contribution, ultimately impacting staff satisfaction. 

The University would benefit from stronger internal talent pipelines, reduced skills gaps, and enhanced workforce agility. Over time, success would also be reflected in improved organisational performance indicators, such as service effectiveness, student satisfaction and employer reputation. Most importantly, Keele would be recognised as a university that values, develops and retains its professional talent in a fair, inclusive and sustainable way.