The review of Technical Services is taking place across the University. It aims to strengthen our technical structures to provide a more future focused, agile service that operates across historical and organisational boundaries, and takes a more integrated view of the research and teaching requirements of the University overall. The Humanities review is being overseen by the Technical Services Review Group, chaired by Kay Hodgson.

With just over 20 Technical Services colleagues, the Humanities review will take a more ‘light touch’ approach than the other Faculties. With no plans to reduce the number of roles, our focus will be on understanding what our Technical Services colleagues, and those who benefit from their expertise, would hope to see from the Service going forward.

No. There are no plans for any reduction in headcount.

• To strengthen our technical structures to provide a more agile, sustainable, and sector-leading technical service for the disciplines within the Faculty, while maintaining current staff numbers.
• To ensure the service operates across organisational boundaries.
• To enhance the visibility and expertise of our technical staff.
• To support the development and career progression of our technical staff.
• To take a more integrated view of the research and teaching requirements of the University overall.

The Faculties of Science and Engineering (FSE) and Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) initially focused on aspects of leadership. This is something we will also focus on. This will ensure that Humanities continues to play a role in the strategic decision-making related to Technical Services at a University level.

We can also capitalise on FSE’s recent appointment of Colin Baines to a University-wide leadership role which will look at development and training of technical staff. Furthermore, we will also benefit from FSE and FBMH’s work on the Higher Education Technical Taxonomy (HETT) Framework which looks at consistency in job titles and descriptions at all grades. You can find details from the HETT website.

Your input into the review, through the stakeholder’s survey or the survey for Technical Services staff, and through collaborative workshops, will help us to develop a Technical Services structure that meets the needs of our Faculty and stakeholders.

All our Technical Services colleagues were invited to a briefing on 8 February where they found out more about the review and asked any initial questions they had. They were also invited to take part in an anonymous survey so that they could share any thoughts, recommendations, questions and concerns they have.

Key academic stakeholders have also been invited to feed in their comments via the stakeholder survey. They will also be invited to a stakeholder workshop to share their views. However we would also like to encourage all staff with an interest in our Technical Services, whether PS or academic, to complete this survey by 23 March to ensure their views are heard.

The survey results will help the Technical Services Review Group to shape the agenda for several face-to-face workshops that will be scheduled in the coming weeks. Initially there will be one workshop for Technical Services staff and one for academic staff, but more will be arranged if needed.

We have decided to have workshops with technical staff on their own and academic staff on their own, so we can focus on the needs of each group more effectively. We will also speak to Technical Services leads to seek their feedback on workshop participation, and check whether they thought all views were raised, and ensure participants got all their points across.

Colleague who would prefer to share their views outside of the workshops or surveys are encouraged to speak directly with Kay Hodgson, Chair of the TSRG, or Jenny Hughes, Academic Lead for the TSRG, with any comments or suggestions.

You can also talk to Martin Banks, People and OD Partner, with any relevant questions.

Both. A lot of our facilities and technical areas have external partnerships and external stakeholders. It’s important we look at all levels of partnership to help support research and teaching wherever that may be.

The review will establish what, if any, changes we make to roles and job descriptions. This is a collaborative process and we will seek to engage with colleagues as the review progresses. The plan should be concluded by the summer 2022.

Any change process can cause uncertainty. While there will be no job losses in the Humanities Technical Services Review, we understand this time can be unsettling for staff. There is a range of wellbeing support services and a ‘building and maintaining resilience’ training session specifically for colleagues affected by changes. You can also contact your People and OD Partner or your line manager for support.

Resources:

• Looking after yourself through change – SL&D course for affected colleagues
• Learning and Development Toolkit – Coping with uncertainty
• Sixty Second Skills – Tips to help reduce stress ‘in the moment’
• University Counselling Service
• Wellbeing through change support on StaffNet

One of the drivers for the review is to support the development and career progression of our technical staff. We encourage you to share your experiences and aspirations for your ingoing development during the review process.

It is very much our intention that the Technical Review will bring about a structure and working practices which allow for individuals to strengthen existing skills and develop new skills and experience, by utilising shadowing, mentoring and formal training.

It will also bring standardisation of terminology across similar roles and job families so that routes for career progression are clear and fair.