[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”on” _builder_version=”3.17.6″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”4″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=”3.17.6″ featured_placement=”above” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n
Director of HR, Karen Heaton, discusses how the \u2018great homeworking experiment\u2019 of 2020 is being used to shape the future of flexible \u2018hybrid\u2019 working at the University.<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we all\u00a0moved to working from\u00a0home\u00a0back in\u00a0March 2020, I\u2019m\u00a0not sure\u00a0that any of us really expected\u00a0that we would still be working remotely in 2021.\u00a0As I write this blog post we are once again in lockdown,\u00a0and it is highly likely that there are many more months of\u00a0full-time\u00a0homeworking to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The great homeworking experiment<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n
This period of time has often been referred to as a \u2018great homeworking experiment\u2019.\u00a0But\u00a0when organisations normally adopt remote working they usually do so in a strategic way,\u00a0with much planning and organising.\u00a0Like all organisations the pandemic forced us to adopt remote working at speed and in difficult circumstances.\u00a0Our\u00a0\u2018What Works\u2019\u00a0survey<\/a>\u00a0last year clearly told us that many of you have faced real difficulties when working from home, and this is especially true of those staff that were also trying to undertake childcare and\u00a0homeschooling\u00a0at the same time.\u00a0Yet despite this, you also told us that you have found many benefits along the way too.\u00a0From increased productivity to more time for family and exercise;\u00a0homeworking, even during a crisis, is something we\u00a0know that you want to retain.\u00a0Our staff predominantly want a hybrid or blended approach \u2013\u00a0as well as\u00a0more autonomy and choice about how they work.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Our future strategy<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n As well as those personal preferences\u00a0remote working\u00a0also\u00a0brings us organisational opportunities in terms of attracting and retaining talented individuals, and this needs to be part of our\u00a0future\u00a0strategy.\u00a0Our strategy will also be broader than just remote or home working; this is\u00a0of course\u00a0just one form of flexibility that can benefit staff and the University.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve discussed in previous open meetings, we have been carefully considering our approach in the last few months.\u00a0How can we embrace the potential of more flexible forms of working and meet the desires of our staff, whilst also ensuring that we operate effectively and efficiently, meeting the needs of our colleagues and students?\u00a0Our organisation is large and complex and finding this balance will be a challenge \u2013 but one we are keen to meet.\u00a0There is one other key balancing act; how do we ensure that we have a broad consistency of approach whilst also providing sufficient flexibility for departments and teams so that they can make new policies and approaches work for their specific context? These are issues that need careful consideration in the next few months.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Revising our existing policy<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of our response will be about\u00a0revising our\u00a0existing\u00a0policy, and that work is\u00a0already\u00a0underway.\u00a0 It also requires us to think differently about how we collaborate, lead and manage, train and develop,\u00a0and build effective team relationships.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Whatever the final policy contains, there are some commitments\u00a0that\u00a0we can make\u00a0right now in relation to our new approach:\u00a0<\/p>\n Feedback<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n We have already received a great deal of feedback from staff about their future working preferences.\u00a0We have extensive data from our What Works survey, and several departments have also been taking feedback from their teams\u00a0about future ways of working\u00a0and have shared this with us. We are engaging with Athena Swan committees and will of course also consult with our trade union colleagues\u00a0in due course.\u00a0We are engaging with both PS and academic colleagues, including some who are already involved in writing about and researching flexible working.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Later in January we will be holding a\u00a0small and focused meeting<\/a>\u00a0with colleagues\u00a0to discuss specific proposals\u00a0and to gain any further suggestions\u00a0for the new policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n We will continue to share our thinking\u00a0with you all\u00a0as we develop our approach in the months to come.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.17.6″ prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” in_same_term=”off” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.17.6″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related posts” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ locked=”on”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Subscribe” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”et_pb_widget_area_3″ locked=”on” \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”sidebar-1″ show_border=”off” locked=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This period of time has often been referred to as a \u2018great homeworking experiment\u2019. But when organisations normally adopt remote working they usually do so in a strategic way, with much planning and organising. Like all organisations the pandemic forced us to adopt remote working at speed and in difficult circumstances. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":3471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" [et_pb_section bb_built=\"1\" fullwidth=\"off\" specialty=\"on\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"][et_pb_column type=\"2_3\" specialty_columns=\"4\"][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=\"Row\"][et_pb_column_inner type=\"4_4\" saved_specialty_column_type=\"2_3\"][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" featured_placement=\"above\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"]<\/p> When I\u2019m out and about meeting staff I hear much debate about the why, what, when and how of change in our University. I wanted to share my thoughts on this often contentious topic \u2013 and hear your views too.<\/p> Early in 2020 we will launch our University\u2019s new vision and strategic plan \u2013 Our future. In order to fulfil Our future we need to ensure that we are in a financially sustainable position so that we have the funds to invest in the new staff, facilities and infrastructure which will be needed to bring our plans to life.<\/p> Our Financial Statements<\/a> for 2018\/19, which have been published following approval by the Board of Governors, confirm that more than 95% of our \u00a31.1bn income is spent on our core goals - on our staff and our students - to deliver research, education and social responsibility; with the remainder invested in the long term sustainability of our University. You can find a summary<\/a> of the Financial Statements on StaffNet.<\/p> However, this is a testing time for UK universities, due to the many external factors that have an impact on us - current home tuition fees are falling in real terms, whilst our costs (not just pay but non-pay too) are increasing. There are further and even greater tuition fee funding risks outlined in General Election manifestos as well as a range of Brexit-related risks that could affect our operations. The Office for Students (OfS) demands that we demonstrate both value for money for our students and our financial sustainability (in the sense of being able to invest to deliver our ambitious strategy, rather than survival). There are, of course, also ongoing unresolved national issues around pay and the continuing challenges around funding pensions in the higher education sector.<\/p> Our Financial Statements show an improved operating surplus (3.7% of income compared to \u00a324.7m (2.3%) in 2017\/18), with a rise in income from tuition fees, education contracts and research. As I mentioned earlier, we re-invest the surplus we achieve each year in activity in line with our strategy. Recently our funds have been used to create some new academic and Professional Services posts; to invest in key infrastructure including IT; to invest in some new buildings like our student accommodation at Unsworth Park; to improve the student experience by funding more full-time Residential Life staff and to upgrade a range of buildings and research and teaching spaces and resources. Increasingly it is also invested in environmental sustainability and meeting our ambitious carbon targets. So even when we are making difficult decisions in some parts of the University we continue to invest our surplus.<\/p> Whilst we have reported an operating surplus, our Board of Governors expects us to deliver a much larger surplus than this (at least 5%) if we are to be sustainable in the long-term. Our strategic change programme (including IT Modernisation<\/a>, the Student Experience Programme<\/a>, and the Research Lifecycle Programme<\/a>), alongside our continuous improvement plans, will ensure that we create the financial headroom to invest in people and facilities. The strategic change programme will also enable us to embrace new technologies and new ways of doing things that better support all our staff and students to be the best that they can be.<\/p> Yes, this means that some individual roles will change. New roles (some that we haven\u2019t yet identified) will be created and some roles will no longer be required. I appreciate that this will cause some uncertainty and where that is the case we will do everything we can to support staff, but the alternative is that we never change anything. If we fail to take advantage of advances in technology and develop more joined-up ways of working we will ultimately find ourselves outdated in the eyes of future students, funders and other stakeholders. Staff want to work for a progressive and successful institution, of which they can be proud. This means we cannot stand still.<\/p> When I talk to staff and students I often hear their frustrations about how difficult it be can be to get some straightforward things done, grappling with paper-based, manual and repetitive processes, on outdated systems and infrastructure, all of which serves to increase staff workloads. Everyone wants to do a good job, but regularly feel that our world-class status is earned in spite of our internal systems and processes, not because of them.<\/p> To deliver our new vision and strategic plan we will need to embrace new opportunities and face challenges with courage and determination. That will sometimes mean we have to make tough decisions and no-one is claiming it will be easy or that mistakes will not be made along the way. But where we do have tough choices to make we will commit to implementing changes fairly and with compassion to support the wellbeing of all our colleagues.<\/p> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" prev_text=\"Previous\" next_text=\"Next\" in_same_term=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" custom_button=\"on\" button_text_color=\"#ffffff\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text admin_label=\"Related posts\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" locked=\"on\"]<\/p> [related-posts-thumbnails]<\/p> [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\"1_3\"][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=\"Subscribe\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"et_pb_widget_area_3\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"sidebar-1\" show_border=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pslt","category-slt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3423"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3472,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions\/3472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Related<\/h1>\n
Related posts:<\/h3>
Matt Atkin: Developing our new vision and strategic plan<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Ad\u00e8le MacKinlay: Reflections on a privileged life<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Nancy Rothwell: The value of universities to society<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
Improving our financial performance will help to deliver our ambitious future plans, but we must also increase our capacity to create the funds and time to invest in our core goals. One of the ways we can do this is by changing what we do and how we do things.<\/p>Related<\/h1>