The Professional Services Vision
Our approach to reshaping Professional Services
Our PS Vision sets out our collective aspiration for PS at The University of Manchester to be the global standard in inclusive, agile, sustainable, high quality service delivery, and partnership working with a one university mindset in Higher Education.
In the context of our ongoing strategic review, Manchester 2035, it is imperative that we continuously evolve, particularly in a world that is rapidly changing and innovating at an unprecedented pace. Our future centres on our ability to be more impactful, more engaged and more innovative than ever before. This era of Hyper-Change presents both exciting opportunities and challenges, demanding that we evolve and grow in service of our academic mission.
Realising this vision is not the work of a single project, but an ongoing effort that will involve everyone. We each have an important role to play in this collective endeavour for PS and our wider community. Here’s how we’re bringing the vision to life:
- Everyone’s Contribution: Every one of us plays a vital role in making The University of Manchester a great place to work. Whether you’re on the frontlines of student support or working behind the scenes in administration, your contribution matters.
- Clear Purpose and Alignment: We’re committed to showing how PS colleagues contribute to the University’s broader strategic goals.
- Celebrating Progress: Throughout this journey, we’ll be celebrating the changes and improvements happening across all areas of PS.
- Supporting and Empowering Change: We are committed to giving you the support and confidence needed to make meaningful changes, whether that’s improving processes, developing new skills, or working together in innovative ways.
To achieve our PS Vision, we are taking organisation development-led approach to rethink and transform how we work. This involves:
- Leading with Our Values: Driving change in a way that stays true to the core values of the University.
- Enhancing Services: Continuously improving how we deliver services to benefit our community.
- Engaging and Inspiring Our Colleagues: Motivating staff to feel empowered and connected.
- Fostering Talent and Growth: Supporting the development of skills and unlocking the full potential of our colleagues.
Why do we need to enable improvements through our Professional Services?
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor, recently delivered a speech at Foundation Day, discussing the compelling case for change within our institution. Key themes from Duncan's case for change relevant for PS include: Higher volumes of students expecting seamless blended experiences, growing population illness and economic inactivity, and creating 'happy' Universities.
The world is changing and innovating at an ever-increasing rate. This era of Hyper-Change creates new and exciting opportunities and challenges to which organisations need to rise to meet the needs of those we serve. For Manchester, this involves mining deeply into our Courage value to take risks in pursuit of innovation, to embrace both success and failure in innovation as a pathway to Wisdom, and to hold our Humanity value as the compass for our flightpath to delivering world-class professional services.
Organisations that are most likely to thrive are those that are adaptable in the face of change; innovative in their thinking; demonstrate agility in delivery, open to learning and inclusive of new ideas, perspectives and people in creating novel solutions to new problems. This is Our Future, Manchester 2035.
Over the last few years we have been hearing consistent feedback from our colleagues and students that we need to improve how we deliver our services, how we partner with colleagues, how we prioritise our workload, and improve our systems and technical debt.
We also know we have to respond to external pressures globally, nationally and within our own sector around the student market, digitalisation, sector funding and growing cost pressures, customer expectations and more.
The PS Vision
Our purpose at The University of Manchester is to advance education, knowledge, and wisdom for the benefit of society. Within Professional Services, we are committed to delivering exceptional experiences that enhance our academic reputation, working closely with students and colleagues to support our core goals of Teaching & Learning, Research & Discovery, and Social Responsibility.
Our University vision is to be globally recognised for the excellence of our people, research, learning, and innovation, and for the positive impact we have on society and the environment. In Professional Services, we strive to set the global standard for inclusive, resilient, scalable, and sustainable service delivery, excelling in partnership working and providing high-quality services in Higher Education.
