Best Practice for Senior Management Human Resource Strategy

1
Best Practice for Senior Management Human
Resource Strategy

• Barbara Bush
• Director of HR, University of Sussex
• 29 March 2004

2

• A strategy is a pattern or plan that integrates
  an organisations major goals, policies, and
  action sequences into a cohesive whole. A
  well-formulated strategy helps marshal and
  allocate an organisations resources into a
  unique and viable posture based on its relative
  internal competencies and shortcomings,
  anticipated changes in the environment, and
  contingent moves by intelligent opponents.
• J B Quinn 1990

3

• HR should be defined by what it delivers, not
  what it does, and should be able to answer the
  following questions Does the organisation have
• the right culture to meet its goals?
• the necessary knowledge skills and abilities?
• the appropriate measures, rewards, incentives?
• the right organisation structure, communication
  systems and policies?
• the ability to improve work processes, to change
  and to learn?
• the leadership to achieve its goals?
• Ulrich 1998

4
Rewarding and Developing Staff in HE (RDS)

• Recruitment and Retention
• Staff Development
• Equal Opportunities

• Resource Planning
• Performance Management
• Managing Poor Performance

5
Responses to HRS consultation

• under Strengthening Management Practice... staff
  also have to cope with considerable role
  conflict/role overload...which links to the later
  appendix on Management Responsibilities and
  Performance Management - where in order to manage
  performance people and managers themselves need
  to have a clear understanding of what's expected
  of them.. Should we include something therefore
  about clarity of workloads as well as standards?
  

6

• It is a very comprehensive document, and I can
  find very little to disagree with within it. I
  agree that we need much clearer management of
  staff development, staff planning and performance
  throughout the University and for all kinds of
  staff.

7
Example

• Strengthening management practice
• Delivery of residential training for key groups,
  incorporating SD planning
• New structures and reporting lines
• Job descriptions

8
White Paper 2003

• RDS to be extended to 2006
• 170M in 2003/4 baseline
• 220M in 2004/5
• 287M in 2005/6
• Earmarked funding added to baseline HEFCE grant
  where HEFCE satisfied an institution has a sound
  HR Strategy which is being properly implemented.

9
White Paper 2003

• Use of market supplements or other differentiated
  means of recruiting and retaining staff of the
  right calibre
• Commitments to reward good performance especially
  in teaching
• Improvements in EO for staff
• Use of golden hellos to assist recruitment to
  academic posts in shortage subjects
• Measures to support junior research staff

10
Key initiatives over next 12 months
11
RDS II

• Detailed statement of investment 2001/2 to 2003/4
• Revised HRS or extended investment plan
• Golden hellos and Promising Researcher Fellowship
  Scheme rolled in
• to help institutions recruit, retain and
  develop staff as well as helping to modernise
  management processes
• Light touch

12
Part I

• Explicit approach to teaching career progression
  including specific recognition schemes
• Development of young researchers
• Professionalisation of support staff
• Fixed term contracts
• Part time staff

13
Part II

• Supportive of institutional strategy
• Investment added to or extension of existing
  investment
• Additional investment can be specified as
  activities that can be monitored and reported
• SMART targets

14
Part III

• Within three years-
• Institution wide job evaluation
• Annual performance review
• Flexible reward systems covering market rates and
  contribution pay