'People Project' update from Deputy Vice-Chancellor Steve Mithen

Tuesday, 19 December 2017

Dear colleague,

Ahead of the Christmas break, I wanted to write to update you on the work of the, currently named, ‘People Project’.

I assumed responsibility of the project in October with two clear priorities in my mind – to bring together all the people and employment-related projects and to put in place a Project Board that can provide oversight and guidance on this work.

 I was delighted by the fantastic response to our call for volunteers to join the project board and rather than selecting just some of those who put themselves forward, all nominees were invited to join.

It is my pleasure, therefore, to announce the following volunteer members of the Board: Andre Mansi (ICMA Centre), Annika Newnham (School of Law), Bev Towner (Institute of Education), Carmel Houston-Price (School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences), Colin Campbell (International Study & Language Institute), Dawn Turner (School of Mathematical, Physical & Computational Sciences), Immy Jakubek (School of Politics, Economics & International Relations), Jane Clarke (Biology Technical Services), John Fisher (Insurance), Karen Ayres (Mathematics & Statistics), Karen Jones (Institute of Education), Lilly-Mae Liddicott (Careers & Employability), Mahesh Yanambakkam (International Recruitment), Nasreen Majid (Institute of Education), Paola Tinti (Alumni Relations & Development), Richard Tranter (Centre for Agricultural Strategy), Stephanie Sharp (Institute of Education), Stephen Haworth (Postal Services) and Tony Parr (Campus Services).

These colleagues represent a diverse cross-section of the University community, and join the following selected Board members to oversee the work of the project:

Orla Kennedy (Teaching & Learning Dean), Phil Newton (Research Dean), Ellie Highwood (Dean for Diversity & Inclusion), John Brady (Director of Human Resources), Victoria Pearson (Head of Corporate Communications), Claire Rolstone (Assistant Director of Human Resources) and Alison Hackett (Assistant Director of Human Resources)  are the other members of the Project Board.

The Board has met twice so far to discuss and agree the projects to be focused on.

Prominent among the projects to be overseen by the Board are those emerging from our 2017 Staff Survey and the work to build a strong employer profile for the University.

At the most recent meeting on 5 December the Board identified the priority work areas, within the work-streams, for the year ahead. These will be developing our employer brand (led by John Brady, Director of Human Resources) change management (led by Claire Rolstone and Alison Hackett, Deputy Directors of Human Resources) and leadership and management development (led by Susan Thornton, Leadership and Talent Development Manager).

All members of the Board have nominated themselves to be involved in the various project groups and work streams.

I will continue to keep you updated and I really hope that you will share your own thoughts and ideas on these priority areas by getting in touch with the colleagues involved.

In the meantime, my best wishes to you and your loved ones for the Christmas holiday and the coming year.

Best wishes

Steve

Steve Mithen

Deputy Vice-Chancellor