People Strategy | Human Resources - University Of Cambridge

Download the People Strategy (PDF)

Introduction

This strategy sets out our commitment to our people over the next three years. It aims to make the University of Cambridge a great place to work, for our existing colleagues and those we are yet to welcome. It has been developed following extensive engagement with colleagues across the University, as well as a thorough analysis of people-related data. It will help us focus our efforts on the activities that will have the most impact on our employee experience and on the University as a whole.

The last few years have also brought changes in employee expectations. Colleagues have different views about how they want to work, where they want to work and what support they would like to progress their careers. This strategy and its supporting action plan propose ways to meet these different needs, but we will need to be responsive as expectations continue to evolve in the coming years.

A workplace that is grounded in the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion will enable us to foster a thriving community in which people can do their best work and reach their potential. It will also enable us to develop wider policies and strategies that actively support our ambitious sustainability agenda. Equality, diversity and inclusion is therefore not listed as a separate theme but forms a ‘golden thread’ that runs through everything we do.

Our workforce consists of academic, research and professional services colleagues. This strategy seeks to enable our people to maximise their potential in support of the University’s mission to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

We are proud of what we have achieved over the last three years and committed to further advancing our people agenda in support of the University’s mission. We have overhauled our Dignity at Work Policy to drive positive culture change and launched a new Hybrid Working Policy to enable colleagues to work more flexibly.

We have introduced new career pathways and titles for our academic colleagues. We have opened a fourth nursery to increase our childcare provision. We have voluntarily recognised the University and College Union and extended the scope of our existing recognition agreements with Unite and UNISON to strengthen local industrial relations. We have improved our support measures for colleagues facing financial hardship and made additional payments to mitigate the rising cost of living. However, we know there is still much more to be done

Mission and Values

Our mission

The mission of the University of Cambridge is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

Our core values

Freedom of thought and expression

Freedom from discrimination

Our values underpin the way we work together towards common goals. They inform the behaviours that we expect to see from our colleagues on a day-to-day basis.

The Strategy

Strategies are, at their heart, about adapting to changes in our environment. As an institution and a community, we have experienced an unprecedented level of change over the last few years. Brexit, a global pandemic, industrial action, a ferocious war for talent and the cost-of-living crisis have all had a big impact on our people and the way we work. The outside world continues to change at a rapid pace, and we must strengthen our ability to adapt and respond.

While this strategy applies to all staff, specific approaches will be taken to address the needs, aspirations, and challenges of different groups.

Our strategy revolves around the following five themes:

1. Talent attraction

2. Reward & recognition

3. Talent management

4. Culture & community

5. Organisational effectiveness

Measuring our success

We will evidence outcomes with metrics and qualitative surveys. Accordingly, we will regularly assess our progress in delivering the outcomes of the People Strategy via:

• Internal community metrics an overall internal ‘satisfaction’ measure via regular pulse surveys.
• Process metrics measures of the efficiency and effectiveness of systems and processes.
• Talent metrics assessment of the effectiveness of our talent and progression.
• Financial metrics quantifying the cost of processes and programmes.
• Programme and project metrics assessment of delivery against key strategic initiatives e.g. delivery to time, cost, and quality measures

enabling_the_strategy_to_happen.png

Enabling the strategy to happen

For this strategy to be successfully delivered, we will ensure effective collaboration and engagement by:

• Listening, understanding and responding to the needs of our leaders, managers and colleagues.
• Engaging with colleagues and representative bodies and involving them in planning and delivery of our action plans
• Continually reviewing and improving our service delivery in providing proactive, pragmatic, and strategic advice and guidance to empower and develop our people to deliver.