Reward was an area that received a lot of comment in last year’s staff survey and you will recall that, back in May, the VC wrote, in his update on the findings of the survey, “we recognise the effort and commitment made by so many in our community, and continue to examine better ways in which we can ensure that reward is connected to achievement.”
I have also gone on the record as saying that, as part of the process of realising our vision to become one of the world’s leading global universities, we will engage with, and support, academic staff to excel and develop their potential within a stimulating environment.
An important piece of work in that arena is the Academic Reward Project.
The project’s objectives came out of an extensive consultation with the academic community in 2011/12. This involved University-wide meetings, a website and emails, whereby colleagues engaged in conversation with me, sharing an initial set of proposals for a new approach to rewarding, and recognising academic staff and the University plans to implement key changes from 2014.
Many of the ideas and concerns expressed by academic colleagues were incorporated into a revised proposal and this was approved by the University Executive Group. During this process we have been keen to ensure that the University of Southampton builds on its strong, positive relationship with UCU.
Main areas of focus for the project are:
• Recruiting, retaining, developing and motivating the best international talent
• Adopting flexible pathways
• Recognising achievement in research and education equally
• Recognising the achievement of enterprise staff
• Developing the potential of staff
• Aligning Reward & Recognition to the University’s ambition and strategy
• Modernisation for the challenges of the 21st Century
This last year’s work has involved extensive collaborative work with the academic community to build on the previous consultation and five work streams have been established, with over 70 volunteer staff. The work streams are led by:
• Simon Cox (Enterprise);
• Jane Falkingham (Level 7);
• Tim Minshull (Titles and Pathways level 4-6);
• Peter Atkinson (Appraisal best practice 4-6);
• Andy Gravell (Promotions and Probation).
To date there have been over 30 work stream meetings held, supported by the HR Reward team. All the work streams have met their objectives for this stage of the project and we will continue to keep staff informed as we progress.