Summer Term 2018 ONE STOP Bringing you the latest news from HR In this edition: Ways to Engage HR Directorate Senior Team Director of Human Resources Business Support and Education Policy, Reward & Resourcing and International People & Organisational Development and Research & Knowledge Exchange Welcome to the first edition of One Stop, your one stop guide to all the latest news and updates from the HR Directorate. 2018 has seen a host of exciting changes and new opportunities across the Directorate and this termly newsletter is designed to bring together news, updates, and stories to keep you informed. Head of Health & Safety earcu Explained As many of you will know, in January 2018 the Directorate of HR, along with seven other directorates, moved into the remit of Professional Services, reporting into the Chief Operating Officer, Professor Karen Moore. This gave HR the opportunity to assess and refresh its services to form a more cohesive and strategy driven offer in line with university wide priorities. Following this merger, a new Director was appointed to steer HR Services toward reaching its goals and ambitions. Professional Development For You Frances Hewison joined Manchester Metropolitan University after serving as Director of HR at the University of Greenwich for nearly four years. Frances has raised the bar for quality and been a driving force for customer focussed development across the Directorate. She has overseen a number of positive changes already during her first six months at Manchester Metropolitan including the implementation of the new e-recruitment site, eacru. [Continued on page two.]
Reflecting upon her first six months at Manchester Metropolitan, Frances said It s a great privilege to be back in my home town of Manchester as HR Director of this ambitious and exciting university. In my Directorate I have a group of people who care passionately for the University and are committed to providing the highest standard of service. My job is to ensure that we understand the needs and aspirations of those we support and are able to deliver services, projects and organisational development interventions that have a real impact on achieving the University s objectives and providing opportunities for all of our staff to fulfil their potential. I ve enjoyed meeting colleagues across the University and am thrilled to be working alongside the dedicated Professional Services teams who support our university. How are we doing? In HR we value your opinion and would love to hear from you. We hope your experiences with us are always positive but good or bad, please do let us know by contacting us at HRD@mmu.ac.uk This email address is monitored daily by members of the HR team and your feedback will be passed on to the relevant team leaders. Other ways to engage: By contacting any member of the HR senior team as follows: Frances Hewison f.hewison@mmu.ac.uk David Jackson d.s.jackson@mmu.ac.uk Josie Elson j.elson@mmu.ac.uk Julie Griggs j.griggs@mmu.ac.uk Marie Parkinson marie.parkinson@mmu.ac.uk or your HRBP (see page 7 for contact details) Photo: Frances awarding colleagues their ILM certificates.
Our Structure Director of Human Resources Business Support and Education Policy, Reward & Resourcing and International People & Organisational Development and Research & Knowledge Exchange Head of Health & Safety Our HR Directorate is proud to provide expert, professional guidance on issues such as health and safety management, career frameworks, employee and organisational development, and helping the University reach its goals. However as the role of HR has grown in recent years, with such a wide breadth of customers across services, and faculties, it has needed a streamlined approach to conducting day to day business. One of the key changes which Frances has implemented has been the unification of HR teams, breaking down silos to ensure that customers can be clear on who they should contact when they need help or advice. Frances said: Our structure should help you easily access the support and guidance you need; provided by skilled professionals who help us to maintain and develop the HR systems - earcu and myhr - that provide you with basic, when you need them, services. Photo: Frances Hewison
Meet the HR Department Leaders David Jackson of Business Support and Education I am responsible for the HR Business Partner and HR Advisory teams, the HR Service Centre and Data Management. The Business Partners and Advisors provide support to managers on both strategic workforce development challenges and on day to day operational people management issues. The HR Service Centre provides transactional HR services to the whole University. Teams in the Service Centre make sure that our systems are accurate. Our Data Management team maintains our HR information system and produces reports including the annual return to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). With a strong customer service ethos, we provide Manchester Metropolitan University with the HR business support it needs to succeed. Julie Griggs Acting of Policy, Reward & Resourcing, and International The University Reward and Resourcing teams support university strategy by recruiting, rewarding and helping to retain talented colleagues. We create an outward facing recruitment strategy that encourages talented individuals to consider a career with Manchester Metropolitan. We do this via targeted marketing, head hunting, searching the local market and farther afield, spreading the employer brand message and encouraging our current colleagues to leverage their networks and act as ambassadors for Manchester Met. Our reward strategy is evolving and over the next few months you will see some exciting developments. We re looking at the benefits we have on offer and what these mean to colleagues. In addition, we continue to ensure that the University remains competitive and that everyone is treated fairly and there is transparency in our pay and reward. My teams provide expert advice and maintain our pay structure through role evaluation and working with internal clients in the reward structure in their areas."
Meet the HR Department Leaders Josie Elson of People & Organisational Development and Research & Knowledge Exchange Our focus is on ensuring that we have committed and high performing staff, and are a great place to work and develop. We are an enabling unit that works with leaders, managers, individuals and key stakeholders, designing and implementing strategies that support a healthy, diverse and inclusive workforce and align people development with individual, team and organisational capability needs. My teams are responsible for key organisation-wide initiatives that drive organisational behavioural change in support of our culture, values and new ways of working. We provide specialist expertise in the development of organisational culture, performance management, leadership, employee engagement, equality and diversity, wellbeing and all aspects of organisational change and development. We deliver ways of working, tools, skills development and learning interventions that support organisational and cultural change in line with the University s strategic plan. Marie Parkinson Head of Health and Safety Our role is to provide a risk based professional health and safety service and support continuous safety improvements within Manchester Metropolitan and those affected by its activities, liaising with Enforcing Authorities ensuring compliance with safety and health standards. We aim to achieve this by developing and implementing safety management systems across the University and completing impact assessment of emerging health and safety legislation to ensure we are always on track. My teams ensure effective consultation with Manchester Met staff or their Safety Representatives on decisions that affect their safety and health and provide high quality health and safety training alongside professional advice. We coordinate and review reactive and active monitoring arrangements including looking after the accident/near miss database. We develop, publish and review corporate health and safety strategy policy, standards, annual plan and guidance documents and review and audit Manchester Met safety management systems.
earcu Explained In November 2017, the University launched its new recruitment system earcu. earcu is now the system applicants will use when applying for roles at the University will use to track the progress of applications. It is intuitive and has significantly improved the user experience making it more streamlined and considerably more user friendly. The changes that have been made were designed to give a better candidate and hiring manager experience, providing more meaningful data to help support both the University s onboarding and departure processes. Five Fab Facts about earcu: Our candidate survey data shows that 88% of candidates rate our application process as Good or Very Good. 78% of candidates also rate the information provided prior to interview as Good or Very Good and perhaps most importantly, 94% of candidates would recommend applying to us to a friend. 1. Our Resourcing team now has much more insightful recruitment data. This allows us to see how well adverts are performing, the number of applications that we are receiving and where they come from. We can then use this information to evolve the processes and technology we use in future. 2. Over 8000 applications have been completed since earcu launched earcu gives us flexibility to tailor application processes that are appropriate to the role. This reduces the amount of information we need candidates to provide and also allows them to apply via mobile. As a result, the number of applications that are abandoned before being completed has almost halved since the system was introduced. 3. earcu helps boost equality We are also able to use the inbuilt tools within earcu to assess our adverts for gender bias and quickly make changes ensuring inclusivity in our application process. 4. Possibilities are endless! There are options for adding more functionality including an onboarding module, asynchronous video interviewing, videos in job descriptions, and online questionnaires for volume roles to remove the need for CVs in roles where CVs are not traditionally required. 5. earcu makes it simple to get vacancies authorised. Functionality such as mobile access means it is quicker and easier to get the appropriate information to the correct approvers and the average time to approve a role has fallen from 29 days to 11 days! We also have more data available so approvers can make a more informed decision.
Professional Development For Managers Whilst the University does have a number of very popular courses and products for professional development, it is also possible to work with employees on an individual basis to devise bespoke solutions where they are needed. At Manchester Metropolitan University helping staff achieve their full potential is crucial to our ethos. If you would like to discuss either your own professional development, or that of your team, please contact your HR Business Partner (full list below) who can help you access expert support from colleagues across Human Resources. Academic Services Amy Carr amy.clare@mmu.ac.uk Arts & Humanities Audrey Parr a.parr@mmu.ac.uk Business and Law Catherine Crossley c.m.crossley@mmu.ac.uk Cheshire Campus Jess Pringle j.pringle@mmu.ac.uk Education and Health, Psychology, and Social Care Heather Adkins-Whitehead h.adkins-whitehead@mmu.ac.uk Although it is handy to have an idea of the sort of help and development you are looking for, there is no need to come forward with a fully fledged action plan! As a manager at Manchester Metropolitan University, you have access to our Directorate s vast experience and knowledge and your colleagues in HR are here to support you on your development journey from the start. Employment Law Advice Manchester Metropolitan s HR teams benefit from having first hand Employment Law advice from Gemma Hardiman, Employment Lawyer. Gemma has been instrumental in a number of complex cases and policy changes and has a wealth of experience that she is able to share with our HR Business Partners. This means that you can rest assured that the advice you receive from your HR Business Partner is the very best advice for your needs and ensures that our policies are always correct and up to date. Professional Services Jennie Brown jennie.brown@mmu.ac.uk Science and Engineering Angela Shields a.shields@mmu.ac.uk
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