Hybrid Working Project

Alignment to PS vision and ambitions:

Background:  COVID-19 changed the way many colleagues work and so in August 2020 we asked colleauges to share what they had learned about working during the pandemic. We had more than 2,000 responses to our What Works? survey  What Works? Survey | Staff Surveys | StaffNet | The University of Manchester and the findings were used to shape our future approach to Professional Services (PS) hybrid working.

Our PS leadership and project team listened carefully to what our colleagues told us. A key theme to emerge was flexible and remote working.   

As part of our University’s longer term COVID-19 recovery and to contribute towards the Our People, Our Values theme within Our future, the PS Hybrid Working Project was established to co-design and test a new approach to flexible and hybrid working. This work was part of the wider PS remit to look at our priorities, processes, systems, and ways of working.

Vision

The vision of the Hybrid Working project was to “work smarter, live better.” The aim was to create a flexible workforce and campus that would embed new ways of working to enable increased flexibility; re-think how we unlock peoples’ potential and optimise out estates and technology to enable the workplace of the future. 

Our PS Leadership Team also took a different, more values-led approach during this project by being very clear that this would be an experimental – we didn’t have all the answers at the start. We were still living with Covid-19 and had to be ready to listen and adapt as our work progressed. This open approach to leadership, embracing our knowledge, wisdom, humanity and courage values, meant that we had the freedom to involve and engage a wide cross-section of colleagues in developing our plans, placing the employee voice at the heart of decision making.

The Project’s Planned Outcomes

Using the knowledge,wisdom and experience of our colleagues to, develop a hybrid model of working that meets the needs of our staff and students and recognises the many different roles on campus – gathering data insights and feedback to inform new ways of working 
To introduce hybrid working in a way that benefits our people, environment, and our estate: 
Supporting individual wellbeing and employee engagement, maximises performance and productivity, and enables us to attract and retain talented employees 
Supporting our zero carbon aspirations  
Gathering insights around the optimal utilisation of our estates 
To collaboratively create an approach to hybrid working to enable consistent adoption across PS, ensuring partnership with Academics, that will mature as we learn and experiment 
To identify, manage and mitigate risks, issues, and dependencies through the pilot and how this interacts with other critical programmes of work 
To empower individuals, managers, and teams to identify the benefits of hybrid working and embed in a way that enables teams to work smarter

The Project’s Planned Objectives vs Delivery

Objectives	Outcomes Realised
To develop a value-led hybrid model of working that meets the needs of our staff and students and recognises the many different roles on campus	81% PS staff satisfaction with hybrid working, 83% positive sentiment on PS staff wellbeing Established views of staff undertaking the pilot in order to understand the successes and challenges of hybrid work An effective recruitment and induction process for hybrid workers including changes to contracts and job descriptions A robust approach for Working Together Charters and individual ways of working 250 people managers attended development sessions through pilot Led good practice discussion in the HE sector on hybrid working
To introduce hybrid working in a way that enables us to attract and retain talented employees
To introduce hybrid working in a way that maximises performance and productivity
To introduce hybrid working in a way that supports individual wellbeing and employee engagement, with the employee voice at the heart of decision making
To collaboratively create an approach to hybrid working to enable consistent adoption across PS, ensuring partnership with Academics, that will mature as we learn and experiment	Flexible Working Champion network cultivated and ongoing Connected with HE partners to learn and partner on approaches Positive P&OD SC and SLT feedback on progress made in PS hybrid working pilot Commitment from Academic leadership to continue discussions in phase 2
To introduce hybrid working in a way that benefits our estate, gathering insights around the optimal utilisation of our estates	High level agreement from PSLT on future strategy and plan for shared spaces and occupancy monitoring on campus
To ensure we are elevating the student experience – from a learning perspective and maintaining a quality ‘campus life’	Student Focus Group conducted High level discussions with Academic FLTs Positive stories told through Student services, Disability services and Mentoring services – services have expanded, and utilisation rates constant/enhanced

Planned Benefits

Improved staff satisfaction and wellbeing feedback due to enhanced flexibility
Increased take up of hybrid working to 50 – 60% by September 2022
Improved talent acquisition due to competitive response to enhanced flexibility
Maintain and in places, enhance the academic staff and student experience

Feedback

Feedback captured from impacted colleagues is shown below:

“The hybrid working pilot is an enabler for me and my team to re-evaluate and challenge working practices within our local area. It has also empowered my team to shift from a belief that 'we are just admin' to being challengers, change makers, opportunity seekers and owners of process and procedures. I'm not saying we are there, but we are getting there...”

“I think it's greatly improved the morale of the staff members I line manage. It gives them a better work life balance, and helps reduce stress levels”

“It is the best thing to have happened to the University in the 10 years I have worked here.”

“I've worked at the University for 22 years and hybrid working is one of the largest changes I have seen. I am very proud to work at the University and have been very pleased to see how the University has embraced hybrid working from the very top of the organisation.”

“If it’s made a long term approach, we need to invest in the infrastructure e.g. strong enough Wi-Fi on campus, appropriate kit for colleagues at home, lockers/kitchen space on campus, budget for away days/team planning days so you don't lose team connections.”

“We need better equipped spaces to make it easier to just turn up and work, not to have to sort out an appropriate workspace every time you come into the office… invest in proper video conferencing type facilities so that we can hold hybrid meetings.”

“I think it's vital to take into account that we haven't really been able to pilot hybrid working under 'normal' circumstances. Think we need to really encourage staff back into campus for the final phase of the pilot (or extend the pilot) in order to make a properly informed decision on how hybrid could/would work for UoM.”

For more information on Hybrid Working please click here.