Team Brief
Feedback from March 2011
Responses / comments
1. FCH Refectory
Q: Will FCH refectory be adequate to cope with the increase number of
students on campus? The opinion was that while Park and Oxstalls will have
very pleasant facilities FCH will be left with the same old dull refectory which
will be overcrowded. It’s not very fair from a student experience point of view.
A: Although Park has just undergone significant remodeling we are aware that
FCH will expect the same standards come September. Brian Coyne , new
Catering Manager for Baxter Story, is working on the set up to maximize flow
and the offer to be supplied by his team in refectory and bar, seeking to
maintain consistency and quality matched with value for money across all
sites.
2. Team Brief
Q: Information contained within Team Brief is thought to be out of date as
much of the information has already come via Staff News, 1:1s or Roadshow
talks.
A: The intention with internal communications is that it is made available via
the various channels so that staff can access news and information through
these different mediums. Currently not all staff have access to team meetings
and roadshows so enabling them access to content via the other channels is
essential. We will, however, be developing Team Brief so that it contains
shorter, more up-to-date information for managers to share with their staff.
3. Management Development Programme
Q: Why does the Management Development Programme only focus on those
invited or part of UMG? What about all those ‘support’ staff managers?
A: We run a number of courses aimed at other management levels for
example the ILM Certificate and other one to one or in-house courses. We are
in the process of providing some specific training for Senior Managers and so
some of the course are available to that group first for example the
Employment Law Sessions. The plan is to develop programmes from the new
academic year at all staff levels based on feedback received from this group.
4. UMG
Q: Who is on UMG and what is its remit?
A: The University Management Group is made up of Heads of Department
and Senior Managers. The group meets regularly and is a news sharing and
briefing forum led by the Vice-Chancellor.
5. Estates
Q: What is the formal position with the Estates structure review?
A: The estates review has been completed and the broad proposals have
been recently approved by the Executive team. We are currently preparing
briefing notes for all the different staffing groups within estates to explain the
proposed relocation of staff as a consequence of closing Pittville and opening
the new facilities at Park, FCH and Hardwick. Our plans predict that we
should be able to achieve our budget targets and required staffing levels to
deliver our services without any compulsory redundancies, however we do
need to support staff who will be transferring to alternative sites as a
consequence of the changes.
6. Strategy and Business Plan
Q: University Strategy and Business Plan. At what stage will the Business
Plan be shared with support staff?
A: Senior managers have received the Business Plan and they are tasked
with briefing their staff more widely.
7. Reviews
Q: The technical team were unanimously unhappy with no mention of the
Technical review. The failure to mention it during uncertain times made the
team feel undervalued.
A: 'The admin review included several groupings of staff and the technical
review element has been a particularly complex piece of work. The work to
date was discussed at University Executive on the 28th March.
The discussion has resulted in the need for additional work, which will be
taken forward by Paul Drake. It is anticipated that the review element will be
concluded by late May. Paul will be making arrangements to meet staff over
this period.
We apologise for the lack of mention previously but there was clearly a need
for Executive to consider progress to date and given the various tasks
undertaken by technical staff Executive felt that this required more attention
before reaching any conclusions from which to consult. It is recognised that
more time is now required but the hope is that you will be reassured by the
desire across Executive to get this right.