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HR Strategy of the University of Tampere for 2012–2015
The HR Strategy constitutes a part of the actualisation of the University’s Strategy. It is based on the
University’s central values: social responsibility, academic freedom, creativity and equal opportunities to learn,
acquire knowledge, participate and make an impact on society. The methods for fulfilling the University’s
mission are recorded in the Regulations of the University of Tampere and the University of Tampere’s
Regulations on Human Resources. The implementation of the HR Strategy is governed by the principles of
openness and justice.
The main objectives of the HR Strategy are as follows:
Supporting the skillset, development and career advancement of every employee
Improving the attractiveness and incentives of working at the University
Increasing openness, communality and responsibility within the University community
Ensuring that the principles of justice, equality and parity are observed in the work community
The central measures of the programme are as follows:
Supporting the career advancement of teaching and research staff
Developing the research period system
Encouraging a system of one month’s leave of absence from the employee’s regular job in order to
accomplish a development task that benefits the work at the University
Institutionalising the practice of development discussions
The HR Strategy replaces the previous HR Strategy as well as the principle and action plan of the University
community.
Equality
The University of Tampere is an international and pluralist work environment. The University supports equality
in all of its operations. Furthermore, promoting equality is the duty of every member of the University
community. A separate Equal Opportunities Plan defines the measures that are to be taken to promote
equality.
Recruitment and contracts of employment
According to the principles of the University’s resource planning, HR planning and monitoring are a part of the
profit centres’ annual planning and reporting. The profit centres assess their HR resources and the needs for
developing them in their annual plans, while the University promotes recruitment and contractual matters in
the following ways:
Generally, contracts of employment are continuous. The use of fixed-term contracts must have
grounds in the Employment Contracts Act.
For each position, the University of Tampere recruits the applicant who best fulfils that position’s
requirements concerning education and expertise. Recruitment is based on the HR plans.
The main principle is open recruitment that is based on the University’s principle of equality.
The University shall recruit international teaching and research staff more vigorously than at this time.
Moreover, the University develops integration services for international personnel in accordance with
the Internationalisation Strategy.
Pedagogical knowledge constitutes a part of the comparison of merits in the recruitment of teaching
and research personnel.
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The Schools and University Services are required to have an orientation plan. New employees are
oriented to work, the work community and the work environment in accordance with the plan.
The University standardises its practices concerning discretionary leaves of absences. For jobs outside
the University of Tampere, the leave is generally limited to a maximum of two years. Leaves of
absences are based on being practical to both the operations of the profit centre and the career
development of the individual. The University supports the mobility of its personnel and their working
abroad.
When an employee’s contract is terminated, the supervisor and the leaving employee are jointly
responsible for transferring the employee’s knowledge and skills to the other employees in the work
community as well as circumstances permit.
The University has a positive approach towards secondary occupations that strengthen the quality of
teaching and research as well as social impact. However, secondary occupations must not interfere
with the University’s interests or the employee’s normal duties. Secondary occupations require a
notification procedure in accordance with separate instructions.
Career advancement of teaching and research personnel
The objective of the University of Tampere is to increase the predictability of academic careers, encourage
career advancement that is based on scientific merits and improve equality among personnel with the
following measures:
Advancement in teaching and research careers requires defining the objectives for work and assessing
how well those objectives are achieved. The School’s management board decides on the principles of
career advancement, based on expert evaluations.
The Rector may, based on a proposal by the Dean of a School and an expert evaluation, change the
following positions:
o The position of a postdoctoral researcher who has exceptional scientific merits into a position of
university lecturer, clinical instructor or senior researcher
o The position of a university lecturer, clinical instructor or senior researcher who has exceptional
scientific merits into a position of associate professor
o The position of an associate professor who has exceptional scientific merits into a position of
professor
The title of associate professor is in use only in this connection.
The proposal must be in accordance with the HR plan approved by the School’s management board.
Supporting teaching and strengthening research conditions
In broad-based degree programmes, work is distributed based on learning outcomes. Work plans are a tool to
ensure that work is distributed reasonably and fairly. The University supports teaching and strengthens
research conditions in the following ways:
The Schools adopt a research period system. Employees who are a part of the teaching and research
personnel have the chance to focus on research for at least one semester at regular intervals. The
research work is, however, required to support the School’s operations and be based on a plan that
includes a schedule. The Schools connect the research periods to their teaching schedules.
The University develops the pedagogical skills of the teaching personnel. The objective is that the
personnel teaching at the University are offered studies in university pedagogy in connection with
postgraduate education or as staff training.
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The University strengthens the use of its own experts not only in degree education but also in nondegree education. The University’s social mission is included in work plans and remuneration.
The University improves the research conditions and the attractiveness of a research career by making
project positions permanent. Within recurrent projects, employees are recruited into continuous
contracts of employment. The Schools prepare themselves for these costs in their financial planning.
Functionality of services and HR development
The other personnel at University Services, Schools and Independent Institutes provide the support services
required by teaching and research. The University supports the development and career advancement of
these employees with the following measures:
The supervisors at Schools and University Services as well as the personnel of service processes ensure
they have a close connection with the core processes of research and teaching.
In development discussions, the supervisor and the employee discuss the employee’s career goals. HR
Services and the supervisor canvass the possibilities within the University for duties that are better
suited to the employee’s skills or for more demanding duties as well as the possibilities for
complementing the employee’s education.
In addition to participating in staff training, employees have the option of undertaking voluntary
studies supported by the University, if their work situation permits it.
Staff rotation promotes the development of expertise through varied tasks and learning new skills.
Depending on individual needs, employees have the opportunity to focus on the development of their
own work and a service provided by the profit centre. The requirement for this is that the
developmental work is target-oriented and based on a plan. For the duration of the developmental
work, the employee’s tasks are performed by a substitute. The work development period supports the
other personnel’s developmental approach, renewal and well-being.
Developing management
Managing an expert organisation requires good management skills, openness, trust, reciprocity and
interaction. With participatory management, the manager creates an active and enthusiastic work atmosphere
around her/him. Moreover, management skills influence the atmosphere at work, coping and the results of
work. The University secures good conditions for management on every level in the following ways:
Supervisors ensure that job descriptions are clearly defined and that work is distributed practically,
fairly and reasonably.
Managers and supervisors have the responsibility to disseminate enough information. The employees,
on the other hand, have the right and responsibility to seek current information.
Development discussions are a central tool in management. The supervisor and the employee hold an
annual development discussion and document it. With the help of the discussion, the supervisor aligns
the employee’s personal objectives with the profit centre’s objectives and gives her/him feedback on
her/his work. The development discussions are different from the performance evaluation discussions
that are a part of the salary system for universities.
Teaching and research personnel hold a development discussion with their supervisor in connection
with drafting their work plan. The work plan constitutes a defined version of the School’s operational
plan on the individual level.
The University supports management by training its personnel and evaluates the quality of
management with a regularly conducted survey on well-being at work.
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Developing skills
Employees are required to be active and have initiative when developing their skills and expertise. The
University creates opportunities for employees to maintain and develop their skills and expertise in the
following ways:
In connection with the development discussions, an individual plan on developing skills is drafted for
every employee. In the next development discussion, the employee and the supervisor evaluate how
the objectives in the plan have been achieved.
The supervisor guides the employee to participate in trainings that correspond to the profit centre’s
needs concerning employees’ skills and support the individual’s career advancement.
The University supports voluntary studies that are related to the employee’s duties. The employee
may use two hours of working time per week for studying. However, the amount of time is only
indicative and is applied on the annual level.
Human resource development is included as a part of HR planning and its implementation is
monitored as a part of the budget negotiations.
The University develops staff training and HR development services based on feedback and the survey
on well-being at work. The University’s own experts participate in the planning and implementation of
staff training.
Promoting well-being at work
The University takes care of its personnel’s capacity to work and coping as a part of its occupational health and
safety process. Developing well-being at work is a form of long-term cooperation between supervisors and
employees. The University promotes well-being at work in the following ways:
Supervisors have the responsibility to take immediate action when they observe or are informed about
occupational health and safety breaches, whether mental or physical.
The University promotes occupational healthcare and workplace sports services.
A good work community encourages sharing knowledge and skills. The profit centres are responsible
for the continuation of communal practices as well as developing new ones.
Employees have the right and duty to influence matters that concern themselves, their work and their
work community. The Schools standardise practices concerning good cooperation – these include, for
instance, regular staff meetings, open practices regarding the dissemination of knowledge and
participatory procedures.
Well-being at work is included as a part of HR planning and its implementation is monitored as a part
of budget negotiations.
The University monitors the health and well-being of its employees through chartings and the survey
on well-being at work.
Remuneration
Motivating management includes a remuneration system that supports the implementation of the University’s
Strategy. The University develops remuneration in the following ways:
The nomination and remuneration committee, appointed by the University Board, prepares a proposal
for the development of the remuneration system. An open and fair system takes into account different
personnel groups and the remuneration of both individuals and groups.
HR Services drafts a proposal for the Rector on the development of benefits for personnel.
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Implementation and evaluation of the HR Strategy
The University Board makes the decisions concerning the HR Strategy and the resources its implementation
requires. The Rector, on the other hand, is responsible for the implementation of the HR Strategy, aided by the
HR manager and the HRD Manager. The Schools handle the practical realisation of the strategy.
The University Board monitors the implementation of the HR Strategy as a part of the realisation of the
University’s Strategy. The realisation of the measures is assessed in the HR Report. The personnel’s
representatives participate in monitoring the HR Strategy.
The implementation of the HR Strategy starts at the beginning of 2012.