ID258 Professional Services Talent Pool

The Idea

This proposal is the creation of a Professional Services Talent Pool to widen progression opportunities and support career development for Professional Services staff. This directly responds to recurring feedback in Pulse Surveys highlighting limited career progression opportunities and demand for greater role development. Membership of the Talent Pool would enable staff to explore and participate in projects outside of their immediate team. Access to the Talent Pool would be governed by an annual process, aligned to SPRE reviews, to assess the performance of individuals interested in joining it. Criteria for high performance could include outputs from the SPRE review combined with an application process to ensure fair access to the pool. 

The Talent Pool and application process would be regularly communicated to all colleagues through our usual communication channels (such as staff newsletter, OD newsletter, PSS briefings etc) to maintain awareness.  

Colleagues who become members of the Talent Pool would gain access to a range of relevant development opportunities across the University, matched to their  skills, interests and development goals . These could include short-term project work, cross faculty working groups, secondments, and a shadow board. The establishment of a shadow board would be particularly beneficial for this group, enabling greater understanding of current processes in the university, provide an outside perspective about how issues are experienced by a wide group of staff, and potentially accelerate succession planning at a later stage as colleagues are more confident and capable to step into more senior roles.  

Matching of opportunities to those within the Talent Pool would be approached flexibly and informed by conversations with the members of the Pool. Matching might involve advertising of opportunities for Talent Pool members to register their interest in them, and/or allocation of opportunities to colleagues within the Talent Pool which are then accepted/declined based on capacity.  

The Talent Pool would enable colleagues to gain broader institutional experience, develop new skills, and build networks beyond their immediate teams, mirroring similar successful networks and project groups such as the Technicians’ Group, our EDI networks, and the Strategic Ideas College and Peer Review College. It would give colleagues the opportunity to further their skillset and build evidence of leadership and people management experience, which would allow them to meet more of the criteria of higher-grade roles. Colleagues’ participation in the Talent Pool could be aligned with SPRE objectives, ensuring that development is recognised and supported by line managers.

Why This Idea Should Be Considered

It has been noted in previous pulse surveys that there are limited career progression opportunities for professional service staff. A Talent Pool would create opportunities for colleagues to contribute beyond their core roles and increase colleague voice; it would promote collaboration; sharing of best practice knowledge and would break down silos across different areas. Other institutions have developed formal mechanisms to support internal mobility and cross-functional career development – the Talent Pool is just one approach we could use to ensure we bridge this gap at Keele. 

It would allow colleagues to broaden their skillset and utilise this knowledge in their own role and build a more agile, skilled, and motivated Professional Services workforce. 

It would provide the University with a focused approach to succession planning, ensuring that future leaders are equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to step into higher-grade roles, but also to support a smoother transition when replacing leaders and managers at the organisation. 

The Talent Pool could be a visible example of the development opportunities and advancement possibilities available to colleagues, as well as promoting the idea of a “squiggly career” that advancement does not have to be linear. The vision for the Talent Pool is that it would be one of several mechanisms to support staff development and membership would evolve and change over time. Colleagues who might not meet the criteria initially would have both future opportunities to access the Talent Pool once the criteria are met and access to a range of other development opportunities outside of the Talent Pool.

How We Would Implement This Idea

Once a colleague has met the criteria, they would submit a short application to become a member of the Talent Pool, which would then be reviewed by a relevant governance group. The Talent Pool could be implemented through a centrally managed platform, potentially via People and Organisational Development, where colleagues submit a profile outlining their skills, experience, and development interests. Managers and project leads could then advertise opportunities such as working groups, short-term projects, or secondments. 

There have previously been some secondments for professional services staff, but it has yet to be rolled out across all areas. The Talent Pool would need to have clear governance to ensure fairness, transparency, and workload management, including line manager approval and protected time for participation. To test that this works, we  could initially run it as a pilot with a small group. If any colleague felt their application was rejected unfairly, a process could be established to review these cases through governance channels. 

A shadow board could also to be established, aligned to UEC, to provide input and voice into strategic objectives and initiatives. This would require governance, access, and trust. Membership of the shadow board could correspond with existing and planned leadership and management development programmes. 

What Success Would Look Like

Success would be demonstrated through increased internal mobility into higher grade and leadership/management roles, higher colleague engagement with professional development, and improved perceptions of career development in future Pulse Survey results. It would allow more colleagues to gain experience beyond their immediate role and build networks across teams, reducing siloed working and perspectives. Over time, this should contribute to a better equipped and knowledgeable workforce, a more efficient, transparent and consistent approach to succession planning, improved retention, and reduced reliance on external recruitment for future progression roles. 

Ultimately, success would mean Professional Services colleagues feeling valued, supported in their development, and able to build meaningful careers within the University.