People Strategy

Executive summary

The aim of the People Strategy is to set out what is important to us in relation to the University's staff and the priorities for people, culture and organisational development for the University, to support achievement of the University Strategy.

The People Strategy informs practices, policies and operational plans for all Faculties and Services and for the University as a whole. It is intended to be an enabling strategy, to support and guide all University employees, including the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and all those with responsibility for staff, to achieve the University's goals as set out in our Strategy 2025–30 and in the other supporting strategies.

The core aim of the People Strategy is to deliver the University Strategy 2025–30 outcome to:

Continue to be recognised as an excellent employer, attracting and retaining the best staff, with a culture that promotes wellbeing and inclusivity, supports staff development and enables staff to thrive and contribute fully to the University community.

Strategy

We know that our people are the heart of the University and that Abertay's success depends on the commitment and passion of our staff, working together towards a common purpose — (Abertay University Strategy 2025–30)

Abertay's people are the University. Our staff surveys show that Abertay employees are enthusiastic about their jobs and care passionately about the University. We particularly value our committed and supportive colleagues, the friendly atmosphere, flexible working conditions and supportive line management. Our passion and commitment are demonstrated in the success of our students, our achievements in research and knowledge exchange and external awards and recognition, ranging from success in teaching quality and the Research Excellence Framework to our Race Equality, Athena Swan and Inspire HE awards.

Through our People Strategy we aim to foster the best possible conditions for Abertay staff to develop and thrive and to address the key strategic challenges and opportunities for our people.

Unsurprisingly, given the University's overarching purpose and as a people-oriented organisation, people commitments are woven into the strategies supporting our University Strategy, including the Digital, Student Success, Research, Knowledge Exchange and Innovation, and Estates Strategies. The People Strategy does not duplicate these specific commitments, but seeks to articulate underpinning objectives to promote the University's success through our people.

For the purpose of this strategy, 'people' relates to Abertay University employees and workers and, where appropriate, to associates who contribute to work for the University on a voluntary basis or as part of their professional development, such as Court members, visiting and emeritus academics, postgraduate students and students undertaking work experience.

In developing this strategy, we have considered the key strategic challenges and opportunities relating to the University's people, and how we wish to respond to these. We have reviewed qualitative and quantitative evidence and considered external factors and trends. The strategy has been particularly informed by feedback from staff through staff surveys and open sessions as well as discussions with the University's trade unions, Lead Voices, Staff Wellbeing, Engagement and Empowerment Team (SWEET), SLT, People Health and Equality Committee and the University Court.

Strategic objectives

Recruitment, resourcing, pay and benefits

We will continue to be recognised as an excellent employer, attracting and retaining the best staff — (Abertay University Strategy 2025–30)

Recruitment, retention and recognition of talented colleagues to deliver the University's purpose is seen as an ongoing priority and challenge. This is underpinned by the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and of transparency to ensure fair and inclusive recruitment, resourcing, pay and reward.

We will:

• Further review and enhance our recruitment policy and practice, including the training of recruiters, to enable timely recruitment of high-quality staff — promoting the tangible and intangible benefits of working at Abertay, including flexible ways of working, offering rewarding roles with training and development opportunities and making opportunities accessible to our students.

• Explore cost-effective ways to improve and promote the benefits available to staff including ways for staff to save money and reduce environmental impact.

• Ensure inclusive recruitment practices with the aim of improving diversity and balance, where any protected groups are under-represented.

• Keep the staff profile under review to make the best use of our staff resources and promote organisational resilience and high performance, developing analytics to support workforce and succession planning. This will include ensuring that all staff are performing well and are fairly graded and supporting staff development and redeployment where role requirements change.

• Develop a professional services career development framework, including reviewing the regrading process and ensuring promotion of opportunities for personal, professional and career development and recognition.

• Ensure that the University's branding and marketing actively promote Abertay's values and the benefits of working at Abertay, to support the attraction and recruitment of excellent staff.

Staff learning and development (L&D)

We are committed to … supporting staff development

We will be adaptable and flexible to respond to changes in the world around us, equipping our staff and students to make effective use of emerging technology — (Abertay University Strategy 2025–30)

L&D is essential to the University's success and is a key theme in other supporting strategies and plans, including in relation to digital, teaching and research skills. We aspire to be known for offering strong support for our employees' development, including qualifications, work experience, mentoring and leadership.

We will:

• Develop a holistic approach to staff development, ensuring that individual employees, line managers, Faculties and Services understand their roles in supporting staff's personal and professional development and career aspirations. We will recognise that L&D encompasses a wide range of work, experience, self-learning and support, including mentoring and coaching, as well as workshops, courses and conferences, and aim to obtain best value from investment of resources, both time and money, in L&D.

• Continue to ensure comprehensive, high-quality induction and probation processes at individual, local and University level, addressing both practical and cultural aspects, to make sure that new staff are welcomed into the Abertay community and supported to reach their full potential in their work and careers.

• Ensure that effective systems and support are in place to enable high performance and accountability. This includes reviewing performance management arrangements to ensure that development discussions and plans are integrated with work plans and objectives to enable effective, supportive performance management and promote long-term career development.

• Promote excellence in leadership and management of people, providing development and support to address the needs of new and existing Abertay managers.

• Further develop and integrate digital training and support to equip staff with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make best use of existing systems and adopt new technology effectively to enhance delivery across both academic and professional services work.

• Develop mentoring for all staff groups, ensuring an inclusive and flexible approach to address the needs of staff from diverse backgrounds and with different professional, career and personal development requirements.

• Improve our systems for managing and recording L&D, to support line managers and staff with professional and career development and performance management and support efficient L&D management processes.

• Embed effective processes for ensuring timely completion of compulsory learning and development.

Management, leadership and the working environment

We are committed to being an excellent employer, and to supporting staff development, engagement and empowerment to enable our people to thrive — (Abertay University Strategy 2025–30)

Leaders at all levels have a pivotal role in developing the culture of the University and upholding the University values. Line managers are also critical to supporting staff's professional development, managing workload, ensuring effective business processes and enabling and ensuring high performance by individuals and teams. So, development of professional management and leadership capability and providing robust support for managers is a key priority.

We will:

• Continue to ensure effective resource management and prioritisation, including fair and effective workload distribution and performance management — keeping resources, and workload allocation and other relevant policies and processes under review.

• Further develop leadership and people management knowledge, skills, competencies and processes to support operational excellence, high performance, accountability, role modelling our values and staff engagement. This includes ensuring that staff have clarity about their roles and objectives and are supported to enhance their performance, and that performance is managed effectively.

• Promote effective consultation and involvement in decision-making and collaboration across teams. Engage with, and listen to, staff impacted by change to improve change management while enabling a culture of learning and continuous improvement, including effective processes for learning lessons when issues are identified.

• Maintain and evolve effective staff engagement structures in all Faculties and Services, via Staff Wellbeing, Engagement and Empowerment Teams, or equivalent, integrated with local Health and Safety committees, to ensure that the staff voice is heard and action is taken.

Wellbeing, health and safety

We will deliver … creating a culture which promotes and supports physical and mental wellbeing — (Abertay University Strategy 2025–30)

Wellbeing, health and safety are a continuing priority in relation to both the University's corporate responsibility, legal, social and moral, and risk management. They are key to being an excellent employer, underpinning and contributing to employee engagement, performance and organisational resilience — with a positive effect on recruitment, retention, absence levels and service to students, stakeholders and colleagues.

We will:

• Continue to actively promote health at work and a wellbeing culture, developing an integrated approach and policy on wellbeing within a supportive and open workplace culture that normalises conversations, consideration, support and management of health and wellbeing in the workplace. Key to this wellbeing culture is leadership and support at all levels and embedding consideration of staff health and wellbeing into decision-making.

• Work with the main University Health and Safety committee and with local committees to maintain and enhance our health and safety culture and practices. This will be achieved through regular monitoring and review of the effective operation of health and safety management systems and identifying priorities for action and improvement, including reviewing policies and guidelines; ensuring timely implementation of actions and plans; ensuring appropriate training is provided and completed; and promoting personal ownership of health and safety by all staff.

• Review and enhance the support for staff working internationally.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

We will continue to welcome and support staff from a wide range of backgrounds and personal characteristics in sustaining a fair and inclusive working environment. — (Abertay University Strategy 2025–30)

EDI is embedded across all the University's strategies and seen as part of who we are as an organisation. It is a key component of being an excellent employer, providing principles for inclusion and equity in recruitment and the treatment of staff, underpinning employee engagement.

We will:

• Continue to embed equality, diversity and inclusion in all we do, building EDI into operational planning, policies, projects and practices, supported by equality impact assessment.

• Sustain and develop our Lead Voices scheme, to promote a supportive and inclusive working environment for staff in relation to all protected characteristics — age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation — and other diverse backgrounds, and help attract and retain staff from under-represented groups.

• Develop our holistic approach to EDI through participating in the first cohort of Advance HE's Inclusive Institutions Framework, building on and maintaining our commitment to the Athena Swan and Race Equality Charter principles.

• Ensure staff, and particularly managers, are trained in EDI relevant to their roles — keeping training under review in line with evolving needs and good practice, and to embed our value of inclusion.

• Enhance and promote reporting mechanisms and support for staff to raise discrimination and harassment issues, including developing EDI points of contact arrangements.

• Undertake a comprehensive disability self-assessment, working with disabled staff to identify challenges and a prioritised action plan.

• Support members of the armed forces community in Abertay through continued commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant and participation in the Employer Recognition Scheme.

Alignment with University Strategy

Strategy 2025–2030

Values

The University values, of aiming to be Inclusive, Caring, Innovative and Collaborative, were developed with the People Strategy, and are fundamental to the strategy. In addition to the objectives set out above, there is one further strategic objective.

Embedding our values

We will embed our values in our culture, policies and practices and develop an ethos of ownership across all staff and all Schools and Services.

All staff have a responsibility to uphold our values individually and as part of the wider University community; and a right to expect to work in an environment where colleagues espouse our values.

Managers at all levels have a core responsibility to lead by example, embodying and upholding our values in their day-to-day working. We will strive to ensure excellence in our leadership and management of people.

Our staff, students and partners should recognise our values in their interactions with colleagues and the University.

We also aim to develop a culture of good practice and ownership, where constructive challenge is welcomed and all staff are empowered to address issues where they see them and to contribute to continuous improvement in their own work and the wider organisation. Through shared responsibility and individual ownership, we aim to ensure a culture of best practice in relation to health and safety; wellbeing; dignity and respect; cybersecurity, data protection and information management; environmental sustainability; and all of our core values to the benefit of the whole University community.

Milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs)

We will continue to monitor and report regularly on a range of indicators, including:

• Health and Safety accident, incident and near misses.

• EDI information on staff and students; gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps; and progress with Abertay's equality outcomes, including the National Equality Outcomes.

• Sickness absence rates.

• Staff turnover.

These indicators are reviewed through internal governance processes and are therefore not included here

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