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First published November 2015 by the Universities and Colleges Employers
Association (UCEA)
UCEA registered and operational address:
UCEA
Woburn House
20 Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9HU
Tel: 020 7383 2444
Email: [email protected]
© The copyright for this publication is held by UCEA. No portions of the publication should be
copied, transmitted or hosted without prior permission from UCEA.
Foreword
The Higher Education Workforce Survey 2015 is the sixth survey of recruitment and retention
in the sector undertaken by UCEA in association with the Higher Education Funding Council
for England (HEFCE). The survey plays an important role in monitoring the attractiveness of
employment in the sector and identifying trends and issues that may need to be addressed in
order for higher education institutions (HEIs) to maintain their position as employers of
choice in international, national and local labour markets. The survey has evolved over the
years to respond to changes in the workforce and the external environment and now gathers
information on the use of apprentices, approaches to workforce efficiency, staffing of
transnational education ventures and outsourcing.
With investment in research and innovation widely viewed as a fundamental component of a
successful economy, international competition for higher education staff and students is at
an all-time high. Against a background of change and increased competition, staff numbers
in the UK reached nearly 400,000 in 2013-14 according to HESA with a record number of
academic staff employed across the UK (194,245).
Higher education is a people-intensive industry and the investment in staff comprises over
half of all expenditure in the sector. UCEA’s annual monitoring of pay levels in the sector
shows that earnings have remained in step with comparators in the wider economy since the
2008-09 recession. HEIs also continue to offer total employment packages that provide, for
example, excellent pensions, sick pay arrangements and flexible working opportunities. In
addition to this, HE employers have prioritised well-being and staff engagement and focused
substantial efforts on addressing staff equality and diversity.
We are very grateful to HEFCE for their analytical support and contribution to the survey
design. We would also like to thank the 98 UCEA member institutions that took the time to
provide a detailed response to the survey and the 10 senior HR professionals who provided
additional feedback through one-to-one interviews.
This year’s survey shows that the HE sector has maintained its attractiveness as an employer
during a period of economic recovery and an improving labour market. There is no evidence
of any systematic recruitment and retention issues, although the report highlights increasing
challenges in recruiting and retaining experienced IT, finance, marketing and estates staff.
Consistent with previous surveys there are certain academic disciplines that present more
difficulties with others, particularly for more experienced staff. However, there is no
indication that the sector is being complacent and the report highlights a range of activities
undertaken to support and develop academic and professional services staff as well as
creating new routes into the sector through apprenticeships and graduate schemes.
Efficiency, value for money and the modernisation of business processes has been high on the
sector’s agenda for several years and catalogued through two Universities UK reviews led by
Professor Sir Ian Diamond. The Workforce Survey 2015 provides further evidence of the steps
being taken by HEIs to enhance HR management and process including e-recruitment, selfservice HR and the review of overtime and additional payments. We see a sector of high
performing institutions that continue to develop their practices, and share their experiences,
in delivering cost-effectiveness through staff that are clearly focused on delivering worldleading higher education.
Helen Fairfoul
Chief Executive, UCEA
Contents
1
Executive summary ................................................................................................................. 2
2
The profile of respondents..................................................................................................... 4
2.1
Use of HESA data............................................................................................................. 5
3
The labour market in 2015 ..................................................................................................... 5
4
Recruitment and retention of professional services staff ..................................................... 7
4.1
Recruitment ..................................................................................................................... 7
4.2
Occupation-specific issues ............................................................................................. 10
4.3
Location and sector image ............................................................................................ 11
4.4
Market supplements...................................................................................................... 11
4.5
Staff retention ............................................................................................................... 13
4.6
Employee turnover ........................................................................................................ 14
5
Recruitment and retention of academic staff ..................................................................... 16
5.1
Market supplements...................................................................................................... 19
5.2
Reasons for difficulties .................................................................................................. 19
5.3
Responses to academic recruitment difficulties ........................................................... 21
5.4
Retention ....................................................................................................................... 22
5.5
Supporting academic careers ........................................................................................ 24
6
Staffing flows ....................................................................................................................... 26
7
New roles in higher education ............................................................................................. 29
8
Apprenticeships .................................................................................................................... 31
9
The international workforce ................................................................................................ 34
9.1
10
10.1
International operations ............................................................................................... 35
HR efficiency and effectiveness ........................................................................................ 36
Outsourcing and shared services................................................................................... 39
11
Hourly-paid and casual staff ............................................................................................. 40
12
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 43
1
1 Executive summary
This is the sixth survey of recruitment and retention in the sector undertaken by UCEA in
association with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). We received
98 responses from HEIs across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales covering 63 per
cent of the HE workforce. This survey report reviews a range of workforce issues including
recruitment and retention for academic and professional services staff (Chapters 4 and 5),
staff flows into and out of the sector (Chapter 6), use of apprenticeships (Chapter 8), and HR
efficiency and effectiveness (Chapter 10).
Professional services staff
Recruitment of professional services staff in the sector does not appear to be
problematic overall and over a third of responding HEIs reported no recruitment
challenges which compares to a quarter of organisations in the most recent CIPD survey.
A further third reported challenges in only one area. However, recruitment challenges have
increased noticeably from 2013, particularly for IT professionals for which 52 per cent of
respondents reported problems compared to 35 per cent in 2013. Other areas of difficulty
included ‘Estates’, ‘Finance’, and ‘Marketing’.
The three most commonly cited reasons for recruitment difficulties were ‘a lack of
necessary skills’, ‘pay levels’, and ‘insufficient or no applications’. There are some
differences in the proportion of pre and post-92 HEIs reporting specific reasons with 62 per
cent of post-92s reporting lack of necessary skills/expertise compared to 50 per cent of pre92s. The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) reported a similar ranking
of the main reasons for recruitment difficulties in other sectors, although ‘lack of applicants’
appears to be considerably more problematic in HE than in other sectors. For IT professionals,
salary levels and applicant pay expectations appear to be the most problematic with some
HEIs resorting to market supplements in order to recruit and retain. Data on the use of
market supplements (additional pay required to recruit and retain individuals as a result of
competitive market pressures) confirms the survey responses.
HEIs are experiencing few retention challenges. The areas of retention difficulty with the
highest number of HEIs reporting issues mirror those for recruitment difficulties, but tend to
be reported by half as many institutions. Where challenges are reported, lack of career
development and high turnover were identified most commonly as the retention problems.
The voluntary employee turnover (or ‘resignation rate’) for all full-time professional services
staff is lower than for equivalent organisations in the wider economy but the rate for some
part-time occupations such as skilled trades is higher. Across all categories part-time staff
have, on average, a voluntary turnover rate that is 3 percentage points higher than full-time
staff and are 43 per cent more likely to leave the organisation voluntarily than full-time staff.
Academic staff
Academic staff recruitment challenges are limited to specific occupations and primarily
to professorial and experienced lecturer roles with nearly half of respondents reporting
difficulties in at least one subject area at these levels. Fewer HEIs reported difficulties
recruiting academic staff into research roles and teaching-focused positions with 18 per cent
and 11 per cent reporting difficulties respectively. Consistent with the findings of the 2013
report, business and management studies is the most commonly cited subject grouping for
recruitment difficulties with 38 per cent of HEIs reporting difficulties. Weighted according to
2
the number of HEIs actually offering a subject, clinical medicine, clinical dentistry and
economics & econometrics are top of the list with business and management ranked sixth.
The number one reason cited for recruitment difficulties is lack of necessary skills /
expertise (cited by 64 per cent of HEIs) followed by insufficient or no applicants (59 per
cent). According to additional comments by respondents, the lack of expertise was often in
relation to particularly niche areas. Pay levels were cited by fewer HEIs as a main reason for
academic recruitment difficulties compared to professional services difficulties; this is likely to
be due to the challenges regarding IT and finance staff.
The most common response to academic staff recruitment difficulties is to appoint
people who have the potential to grow (51 per cent of respondents) followed by more
targeted searches (46 per cent) and increasing starting salaries (44 per cent). In contrast
to the results for professional services recruitment, only 22 per cent had increased the use of
recruitment agencies (compared to 45 per cent for professional services).
Voluntary turnover for academic staff tends to be lower than equivalent rates for
professional services staff and is particularly low for experienced academics. The
voluntary turnover rates for full-time academic leaders, professors, and lecturers are all at or
below 6 per cent compared to a median resignation rate of 9.9 per cent in the wider
economy. Improving induction processes and improving line managers’ skills are the main
changes being made to improve employee retention. There is also a significant focus on
improving career pathways of academic staff and this featured prominently in the interviews
with senior HR staff.
Apprenticeships, the international workforce and HR efficiency
More than half of respondents (57 per cent) currently offer apprenticeships in one or
more areas and a further 4 per cent have done so in previous years. One in five
responding HEIs do not currently offer apprenticeships but plan to do so in the near future.
Post-92 respondents are more likely to offer apprenticeships but a higher percentage of pre92 respondents were considering introducing apprenticeships in the near future. Lack of
internal resources was the main reason cited by institutions that did not host apprentices.
Business administration is by far the most common area for apprenticeships to be offered,
followed by IT and engineering.
11.4 per cent of the academic workforce were from non-EU nationalities in 2013-14. The
figures are significantly higher in STEM disciplines; 20.1 per cent of the sector’s academic
workforce in engineering and technology are from non-EU nationalities and 14.1 per cent of
those in biological, mathematical and physical sciences. 14 per cent of respondents reported
issues with visas often leading to the inability to recruit the best candidate.
Over a quarter of respondents have teaching operations outside of the UK that require
them to employ staff within that country. According to respondents, there were 350 ‘flying
faculty’ in 2013-14 across all operations and a further 34 staff were posted on secondments.
The most common approach reported to improving HR efficiency is to implement
process or system improvements with 59 HEIs citing recent work in this area. This was
followed by restructuring and redeploying staff to new roles and an increased use of direct
recruitment methods – primarily e-recruitment. Catering, cleaning and security are the most
commonly outsourced areas, particularly on a fully-outsourced basis. 18 HEIs reported no
outsourcing at all.
3
2 The profile of respondents
The survey was sent to all UCEA member institutions and we received responses from 98 of
them. In an increasingly diverse sector it is difficult to group institutions together
meaningfully but the analysis provides splits of the data between pre-92 (46 per cent of
respondents) and post-92 institutions (49 per cent of respondents). Although this distinction
is becoming outdated as time goes on, the data show noticeable differences between these
broad groups and we are aware that institutions still find these groupings useful for other
benchmarking. We have not been able to include separate analysis for HE colleges as the
sample size was too small, in part due to the reclassification of many colleges as universities.
1
HE College
0%
10%
Post-92
20%
Pre-92
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Looking at respondents by region and nations, there is an overall balance of representation
but the North East (5 out of 5), Yorkshire and Humberside (9 out of 11), the South West (9
out of 12), Northern Ireland (3 out of 4) and the North West (11 out of 15) had above average
response rates - Figure 1. Only two regions, the West Midlands (4 out of 12) and the East of
England (3 out of 9), had response rates below 50 per cent.
Figure 1: Survey respondents by region/nation
45
Number of HEIs
40
35
Total HEIs
30
Respondents
25
20
15
10
5
22
11
11
9
9
9
5
0
5
5
4
3
3
The size of the responding HEIs, as measured by the number of employees, varies significantly
with 47 per cent employing between 1001 and 3000 staff - Figure 2. However there are
several smaller and larger institutions in the survey with 16 employing fewer than 500 staff as
well as 13 institutions that employ over 5,000 staff.
4
Figure 2: Survey respondents by workforce size
Number of HEIs
30
24
25
20
15
10
21
16
9
9
9
4
5
4
0
Fewer than 501-1000 1001-2000 2001-3000 3001-4000 4001-5000 5001-6000
500
6000+
Number of employees
In addition to the 98 survey responses, UCEA interviewed 10 senior HR professionals from a
balance of post-92 and pre-92 universities to discuss recruitment and retention challenges
and responses, apprenticeships and initiatives to improve efficiency in HR systems and
processes. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded in QDA Miner. Verbatim
quotes from these interviews appear throughout the report to elaborate on some of the key
findings from the survey. Some quotes have been edited for readability.
2.1 Use of HESA data
HESA data used in the survey is from the 2013-14 collection unless stated otherwise. Turnover
and staff flow figures are for HEFCE-funded (England) institutions only.
If you have any questions regarding the survey results please contact UCEA by
email [email protected] or telephone 020 7383 2444.
3 The labour market in 2015
The labour market has recovered well from the 2008-09 recession but improvements in the
unemployment rate and net employment levels mask important changes to its structure and
composition and differing fortunes in the private and public sector. The economic recovery
between 2010 and 2013 was characterised by significant growth in low-paid and ‘nonstandard’ employment in the form of self-employment, part-time and temporary working.
Although all these forms of employment are often entered into by choice to accommodate
other responsibilities and commitments, the proportion who were taking up these jobs but
wanted to be in full-time work or have more hours increased considerably. Youth
unemployment was high throughout the recession but topped one million during this period
and public sector employment, primarily in local government and the civil service, fell
markedly. Wages during this period also stagnated and fell in real-terms. This was due to
several reasons, among them the reduced bargaining power of employees in a loose labour
market, stalling productivity of workers and changes in the composition of the workforce.
The most recent phase of the labour market, from 2014 to the present day, is noted for a
surge in full-time employment, near ‘equilibrium’ unemployment, and improving real wages
albeit with concerns about workforce productivity. The economy is growing at a steady pace,
inflation is close to zero and wages are increasing in nominal and real-terms. Most labour
force indicators have returned to or surpassed their pre-crisis levels. Between the three month
periods April to June 2013 and April to June 2015, job vacancies have increased by 36.5 per
5
cent to 726,000, which is higher than at any point pre or post-recession. Redundancy levels
since 2014 are also low by historical standards.
Higher education has fared relatively well compared to the wider economy. According to
HESA data, net employment fell from 387,430 in 2009-10 to 378,250 in 2011-12 but has since
recovered, reaching an all-time high of 395,780 in 2013-14. Growth in academic employment
has been particularly strong since 2011-12 increasing by 7 per cent in the two years to 201314 compared to a 2.3 per cent increase in staff in professional services and support roles. The
growth in net employment levels during this period stands in contrast to what has happened
to local government employment levels and staff numbers in the Civil Service - Figure 3. Local
government employment has been badly affected by public funding cuts and overall levels
have fallen 21.7 per cent while in the Civil Service there has been a 15.9 per cent reduction.
However, other public sector employment, including police and NHS workers, has increased
by 11.3 per cent.
Figure 3: Change in government employment (excluding public corporations), 2008 to 2015
115
110
Index 2008 Q1=100
105
100
95
90
85
Central Government
(excluding Civil Service)
Civil Service
80
Local Government
75
Higher Education
2008 Q1
2008 Q2
2008 Q3
2008 Q4
2009 Q1
2009 Q2
2009 Q3
2009 Q4
2010 Q1
2010 Q2
2010 Q3
2010 Q4
2011 Q1
2011 Q2
2011 Q3
2011 Q4
2012 Q1
2012 Q2
2012 Q3
2012 Q4
2013 Q1
2013 Q2
2013 Q3
2013 Q4
2014 Q1
2014 Q2
2014 Q3
2014 Q4
2015 Q1
70
Source: ONS/HESA. Notes: Estimates for Q1 2011 include 15,000 temporary staff employed in
connection with the 2011 Census. English further education colleges and English sixth form college
corporations are included in Central Government estimates from 1993 to Q1 2012, but not in
subsequent quarters which largely explains steep fall in that quarter. Local authority maintained
schools are classified to local government. HESA figures are released annually and therefore appear
static through each period.
There is a high level of congruence between the headline labour market indicators and the
situation that organisations are reporting in employer surveys. The CIPD Resource and Talent
Planning Survey reports that, in a tightening labour market, skill shortages are escalating and
four-fifths of respondents feel that the competition for talent has increased over the past
two years (CIPD, 2015). According to the CIPD report, over three-quarters of respondents
experienced recruitment difficulties with ‘other managers and professionals’ and ‘technical
staff’ the most difficult positions. Three quarters also reported retention difficulties.
Organisations were confident about the year ahead with more than half of private sector
6
respondents planning to increase headcounts in 2015, which is also supported by the findings
of the Bank of England’s survey of employment intentions in the second quarter of 2015.
Despite significant media interest in zero hour contracts and temporary working the CIPD
notes that there is ‘not an obvious trend towards the greater use of a temporary or contract
workforce’.
With the labour market providing more opportunities, it is to be expected that employee
turnover would increase as it did in 2014. Indeed, labour turnover has picked up for the first
time since comparable data were collected in 2005 and is back to pre-recession levels. The
most recent XpertHR labour turnover report covers rates for 2013 and found that the median
resignation rate was 9.9 per cent and that on average 12.5 per cent of employees resigned
from their jobs. This was up from 8.9 per cent and 10.6 per cent respectively in 2012. Median
total turnover in 2013 was 16 per cent which includes all forms of employee turnover
including retirements and redundancies. Manufacturing tends to have the lowest turnover
while the retail and hospitality sector has by far the highest.
Efforts to address recruitment and retention difficulties are often focused on improving the
‘employer brand’ with particular focus on enhancing websites and improving the candidate
experience, according to the CIPD survey. The CIPD also reports that employers are focusing
on becoming age diverse recruiters with two-thirds actively recruiting in such a way
compared to 45 per cent in 2011. Apprenticeship and internship schemes remain popular and
more organisations are offering structured graduate programmes. In response to retention
difficulties the most common approaches are improvements to pay, learning and
development opportunities and improving line mangers’ people skills.
4 Recruitment and retention of professional services staff
4.1 Recruitment
Recruitment of professional services staff 1 in the sector does not appear to be problematic
overall and over a third of responding HEIs (33.7 per cent) reported no recruitment
challenges compared to a quarter of organisations in the most recent CIPD survey. A further
third reported challenges in only one area. Only 7.6 per cent reported recruitment difficulties
in three or more functions. However, recruitment challenges have increased noticeably from
2013. Interviewees typically responded that outside of one or two problematic areas or roles,
they received healthy numbers of applications as a result of strong employer brands,
competitive pay, a good work environment and attractive benefits.
Although recruitment challenges are confined to a small number of functions, these
functions are important and the recruitment and retention of IT professionals appears to be
presenting significant challenges to a majority of HEIs irrespective of institution type. IT
recruitment challenges have intensified since the 2013 survey with the proportion of
respondents reporting recruitment challenges increasing from 35 per cent to 52 per cent – see
Figure 5.
Other difficulty areas included ‘Estates’, ‘Finance’, and ‘Marketing’ although a higher
proportion of pre-92 HEIs reported difficulties than post-92 HEIs in these areas - Figure 4.
Similar to IT, the proportion of respondents reporting difficulties in these areas is noticeably
‘Professional services’ refers to staff that support the operation of the HEI but not in an academic capacity. These
include IT, finance, marketing, HR, catering, security and information services.
1
7
higher than in 2013 - estates increased from 12 per cent to 28 per cent; finance from 11 per
cent to 22 per cent; and marketing 15 per cent to 20 per cent - Figure 5.
There are also noticeable differences in reported difficulties between post and pre-92 HEIs in
the areas of information services (22.7 per cent and 12.5 per cent of respondents reporting
difficulties respectively), HR and related functions (9.1 per cent and 20 per cent), company
management / operations (13.6 per cent and 5.1 per cent) and research support (2.3 per cent
and 14.6 per cent).
Figure 4: Percentage of institutions that experienced recruitment difficulties by function
in 2013-14
51.7%
52.3%
51.3%
Information Technology
Estates and related functions
Finance and related functions
Marketing, PR, Fundraising and
related functions
Information Services
HR and related functions
Health and Safety
Company Management/Operations
Research Support
Business Development
Student Support and Administration
Quality Assurance
Library Services
Corporate Strategy, Planning and
Management Information Systems
Student and Staff Facilities
27.9%
20.9%
34.1%
22.1%
20.0%
22.5%
19.5%
13.6%
24.4%
17.6%
22.7%
12.5%
13.3%
9.1%
20.0%
10.0%
9.3%
10.0%
10.1%
13.6%
5.1%
9.1%
2.3%
14.6%
8.0%
9.3%
7.7%
3.4%
4.7%
2.6%
3.4%
7.1%
0.0%
2.2%
2.4%
2.5%
2.2%
4.5%
0.0%
1.1%
2.3%
0.0%
Overall
Post-92
Pre-92
0%
20%
40%
60%
% of HEIs that experienced recrtuiment difficulties
8
Figure 5: Reported recruitment difficulties in recruitment hotspots, 2013 and 2015
34.9%
Information Technology
11.6%
Estates and related functions
10.5%
Finance and related functions
Marketing, PR, Fundraising and related
functions
51.7%
27.9%
2013
2015
22.1%
15.1%
19.5%
12.8%
13.3%
HR and related functions
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
% of HEIs reporting difficulties
60%
The three most commonly cited reasons for recruitment difficulties were ‘a lack of necessary
skills’, ‘pay levels’, and ‘insufficient or no applications’ - Figure 6. These three areas were also
the most commonly cited in survey respondents’ additional comments. There are some
differences in the proportion of pre and post-92 HEIs reporting specific reasons with 73 per
cent of post-92s reporting lack of necessary skills/expertise compared to 65 per cent of pre-92s
and 59 per cent of pre-92s reporting that insufficient or no applicants is a problem compared
to 43 per cent of post-92s.
The CIPD’s 2013 and 2015 Resourcing and Talent Planning surveys, reported a similar ranking
of the main reasons for recruitment difficulties although ‘lack of applicants’ appears to be
considerably more problematic in HE than in other sectors.
Figure 6: Reasons for recruitment difficulties, ranked by importance
Lack of necessary skills /
expertise
68.4%
Pay levels deemed insufficient /
not competitive
61.8%
Insufficient or no applicants
51.3%
Location of the HEI
18.4%
Insufficient experience
High cost of living in the area
Lack of required qualifications
Image of sector / occupation
Work permit problems for nonEU staff
18.4%
Post-92
9.2%
Pre-92
5.3%
All HEIs
3.9%
1.3%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
% of all HEIs that reported recrtuitment difficulties
9
4.2 Occupation-specific issues
IT - Comments from respondents indicate that issues with pay levels and skills/expertise are
coupled which explains the similarity in the percentage of respondents reporting these as
issues. This is particularly the case for IT professionals, for example one respondent noted that
they could not match the salary expectations for the skills that they need and another noting
that the required skills mix is ‘rarely available at the salary we would like to pay’ while a third
noted that with regard to IT roles it is ‘difficult to attract strong candidates on the salaries we
offer, particularly for technical roles’. Other respondents mentioned a ‘buoyant market’ for IT
skills, particularly high rates charged by contractors, and difficulty finding specific IT skills
including SAP and IT architecture. For one HEI, making adjustments to their role profiles
helped address a perceived skills shortage among candidates:
We found that people had technical skills but not the project management
experience, so again what we did with that one is we reviewed the role profile, took
out some of the technical aspects and then recruited two roles, one technical and then
one project management and that worked.
The use of agencies to find suitable applicants appears to be a common response and one
institution reported that international recruitment was the only solution to its skills
requirements in this area which had previously only been used for academic staff. Another
HEI detailed the impact that IT recruitment difficulties had on operations:
If you think about the number projects that had to be put on hold over that period
you are talking at least six to eight months delay, there could have been some key IT
projects and that seems the case year-on-year. We are pretty much fully staffed at the
moment in terms of IT, but this has been an ongoing problem for us; so some of our IT
work has been delayed because of resources.
Finance - The salary/skill factor was also mentioned with regard to the recruitment to finance
and related roles, particularly in London. One pre-92 commented that they are having
‘difficulty in getting substantive appointments at the right level for money offered’ and
another said that they are having ‘difficulty in recruiting procurement category managers for
the salary offered’. Two institutions in Scotland and one in Wales commented that they have
only been able to find suitable candidates through the use of agencies often following failed
recruitment exercises. One interviewee explained that they had introduced market
supplements for finance roles due to ongoing recruitment and retention difficulties:
We've struggled to recruit and we've often had to go back out on a number of
occasions and still not been successful. In the last 12 months we brought in a market
premium that applies specifically to that area so we did a huge piece of work with Hay
to analyse the market and justify that that was acceptable for that area over other
areas. So that's been our response to that one and it's meant that we are successfully
recruiting.
Estates - Specific roles in estates were hard to fill, particularly project management roles (in
London and the South East) and maintenance. Some HEIs reported specific issues with salaries
not matching the wider job market and some have introduced market supplements for
certain roles.
Marketing and fundraising - Those HEIs facing difficulty in attracting marketing and
fundraising professionals commented that there is increasing competition for HE-specific
marketing skills and that market rate issues are arising as HEIs are ‘fishing from a limited
10
pool’. Other HEIs reported that they are receiving applications from qualified candidates but
that they lack sufficient experience.
HR - Respondents reporting difficulties in recruiting HR staff indicated issues at different
levels. For example one post-92 in the South East said that two senior HR positions had to be
re-advertised while three pre-92 universities in London and the South East reported difficulty
in recruiting at HR systems administration roles with one post being re-advertised three
times.
4.3 Location and sector image
According to interviewees, location is important with HEIs reporting positive and negative
perceptions from candidates. For example, some HEIs outside of London said that their
location had put candidates off early in the process or that their location meant they had a
more limited talent pool. One institution reported that it was doing more to communicate to
candidates the benefits of working in their location such as the short distance to Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty. However, interviewees from London provided different
challenges:
In the London market there's such a diversity of organisations and organisations that
have got the ability to pay very significantly more; that is a pressure as well.
One interviewee outside of London recognised this trade off:
If you are recruiting in a London market or a Leeds market you are competing with the
big accountancy firms and big finance sectors. We probably haven't got the same
competitors but then also we haven't got that market.
While sector image was not cited by many respondents as a major issue for recruitment,
several interviewees felt that universities and the sector as a whole needed to do more to
combat some negative perceptions about working in professional services in the sector. As
noted by one interviewee:
I think the reputation is that universities are behind the times, they're bureaucratic, they
don't use technology as effectively as other organisations do. There are perceptions
about the sector that are problematic.
Another interviewee recounted their own personal experience:
I think my perception when I joined would be that it would be quite slow, that there
would be little change but that it would be interesting. I would say that the only thing
that's right about that is that it is a really interesting sector to work in but I think people
outside that don't know that it's fast, it's changing and it's exciting. I think we probably
do have a general image issue.
4.4 Market supplements
Market supplements are a fixed and separate amount of money added to an individual’s
basic salary where such an addition is required in order to recruit or retain that individual;
they will be set and paid in accordance with the organisation’s market supplement policy. In
order to be compliant with equal pay legislation, the organisation must be able to provide
evidence that justifies the level of the additional payment, typically in the form of pay
benchmarking data. The incidence of market supplements is a useful way of quantifying
recruitment and retention difficulties as it is directly linked to the markets in which these
11
staff are recruited and objective in the sense that it is quantifiable in both the number of
market supplements paid and the level of those supplements. As explained by one
interviewee:
We did the market analysis and realised that we were out of sync with the market.
We have just recently agreed a market supplement in that respect. Paying a market
supplement is quite rare, but we have now got two to three cases where we have had
to resort to market supplements because of a retention issue.
A total of 1,123 market supplements were paid to professional services staff across the 98
respondents which is low relative to the 129,645 staff employed in these areas by
respondents (HESA, 2013-14). Consistent with the responses regarding recruitment difficulties
the market supplements are concentrated in a handful of functions: IT (207), finance (135),
student support (92) and estates (76) which together cover 52 per cent of all market
supplements at these institutions - Figure 7. There are significant differences between pre-92
and post-92 HEIs with pre-92s reporting a disproportionate number of supplements in estates
and finance while post-92 HEIs reported more in IT and student support and administration.
It is not immediately clear what is responsible for these differences but some of the
difference in estates and IT is due to a small number of institutions reporting a high number
of supplements. For example, five post-92 HEIs reported more than 20 IT staff in receipt of
market supplements.
Figure 7: Number of market supplements by functional area
207
Information Technology
135
Finance and related functions
92
Student Support and Administration
76
Estates and related functions
44
Business Development
30
HR and related functions
26
Marketing, PR, Fundraising and related…
25
Company Management/Operations
24
Student and Staff Facilities
Total
Pre-92
Post-92
23
Research Support
14
Quality Assurance
13
Corporate Strategy, Planning and…
10
Information Services
4
Health and Safety
4
Library Services
0
50
100
150
200
Number of market supplements
12
250
4.5 Staff retention
According to the respondents, retention is less of an issue than recruitment which suggests
that once staff are recruited into the organisation they tend to stay or at least turnover is not
so high that it is affecting organisational performance. Over half (50) of respondents
reported no retention difficulties at all and only 22 HEIs reported difficulties in more than
one area. Some interviewees felt that although low turnover is generally positive, a healthy
level is needed to ensure that new ideas are brought into the organisation. Several
interviewees noted that they had recently finished organisational change programmes which
involved staff taking up voluntary severance and therefore their turnover was artificially
induced.
The areas with the highest number of HEIs reporting issues mirror those for recruitment
difficulties but tend to be reported by half as many institutions. The two main exceptions to
this are HR and related functions, which is second highest (compared to sixth highest in the
recruitment difficulties list), and finance and related functions which falls to sixth (from
second place) - Figure 8. The small numbers of HEIs reporting difficulties means that it is not
meaningful to look at functional differences between pre-92 and post-92 institutions but
there was a balanced reporting of difficulties across all functions for pre and post-92 with the
most notable differences in HR and related functions where 10 post-92s compared to four
pre-92s and in marketing, PR and fundraising with seven pre-92s reporting difficulties
compared to only two post-92s.
Figure 8: Staff retention difficulties, by function
Information Techology
HR and related functions
Student Support and Administration
Estates and related functions
Marketing, Fundraising and related…
Finance and related functions
Student and Staff Facilities
Research Support
Health and Safety
Information Services
Business Development
Library Services
Corporate Strategy, Planning and MIS
Quality Assurance
Company Management/Operations
0
19
14
12
10
9
8
4
4
4
4
2
2
1
1
1
2
4
6
8
10 12 14 16 18
Number of HEIs reporting difficulties
20
Lack of career development and high turnover were identified most commonly as retention
problems with high turnover appearing to be particularly problematic in HR departments.
Most interviewees identified IT as an area where retention is a problem and that it is a
growing concern, with difficulties reported regarding the flexibility institutions have to pay
the salaries necessary to recruit and retain. Short duration job tenure was also identified as
an issue for IT staff specifically as well as the lack of ‘cutting-edge’ IT equipment and
software.
13
We've had employees that have been targeted by recruitment agencies because I
think that's how ICT employees get jobs, it's through agencies. It's a bit more dynamic
and there’s a lot more competition.
Our retention of IT is quite interesting because we've been incredibly stable until the
last 12 months….But suddenly, I think this year we've had more movement than we've
ever had…and very long-serving IT people have left.
Interviewees also reported that staff in IT and finance were often doing short stints in HE to
gain experience with the intention of using this experience to progress their careers and pay:
[Finance staff] use us to gain an awful lot of very specialised skills and then they can
sell themselves anywhere.
IT people can move on very quickly once they've gained expertise. So for us in IT
particularly on the network side it's been a bit tricky.
It tends to be an ongoing problem; we recruit, they stay one or two years then move
on to higher salaries. Retention seems to be an issue as well as recruitment for those
posts. We haven't really cracked it yet.
4.6 Employee turnover
…Someone was saying that we needed to get the turnover down to as low as possible,
and I said no you don't necessarily need to do that, because some turnover is good for
an organisation otherwise it becomes stale and stagnant. (Interviewee)
Voluntary turnover rates are an important measure of employee retention and enable
comparisons between the higher education sector and other sectors of the economy. Changes
to the HESA staff record have improved the recording of turnover information as it is now
possible to differentiate between voluntary turnover and other forms of turnover such as
retirement. The analysis for this section was supported by HEFCE and therefore only covers
HEIs in England.
In professional services, the employee category with the highest voluntary turnover was parttime staff in the skilled trades (12 per cent) followed by part-time staff in caring and leisure
occupations (11 per cent) - Figure 9. These are both higher than the UK median resignation
rate of 9.8 per cent (XpertHR). The full-time group with the highest rate was associate
professional occupations (9.7 per cent), which means that all full-time rates were below the
UK average. Across all categories part-time HE staff have, on average, a voluntary turnover
rate that is 3 percentage points higher than full-time HE staff and are 43 per cent more likely
to leave the organisation voluntarily than full-time staff. This may be a result of
underemployment within this category, whereby the individual would like to work more
hours through additional hours in their current job, additional hours in another job or a
replacement job with longer hours. According to the ONS, one in five part-time workers are
underemployed across the whole economy. 2 Associate professional occupations is the only
group where full-time and part-time turnover rates are aligned.
The employee groups with the lowest turnover figures are full-time skilled trades (5.8 per
cent), which conversely has the highest part-time figure, followed by full-time technical
occupations (6.3 per cent) and full-time professional occupations (9.8 per cent).
2
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_387087.pdf
14
Figure 9: Full-time and part-time sector voluntary turnover figures by occupation,
England, 2013-14
0%
Voluntary turnover (%)
2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%
8.2%
Managers
9.9%
7.5%
Professional occupations
9.8%
6.3%
Technical occpations
Full-time
9.0%
Part-time
9.7%
9.9%
Associate professional occupations
7.7%
Administrative
9.7%
5.8%
Skilled trades
12.0%
7.7%
Caring and leisure
11.0%
Source: HESA. England only. Excludes staff that joined the HEI in the previous 12 months.
Redundancy rates in the sector in 2013-14 were low among professional services staff ranging
from 1.6 per cent for managers to 0.8 per cent in administrative occupations - Figure 10.
These redundancy rates are broadly in line with the wider economy over this period (0.9 per
cent 3).
Figure 10: Redundancy rates, by occupation, England, 2013-14
Redundancy rate (%)
0.0% 0.2% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8% 1.0% 1.2% 1.4% 1.6% 1.8%
Managers
1.6%
Professional occupations
1.1%
Technical occupations
0.9%
Associate professional occupations
1.2%
Administrative
0.8%
Skilled trades
1.0%
Caring and leisure
1.4%
Source: HESA. England only. Redundancy rate is redundancies as a proportion of total staff
(headcount).
3
August 2013 to July 2014. ONS.
15
5 Recruitment and retention of academic staff
Academic staff comprise 49 per cent of the total workforce but are heterogeneous in contract
type, responsibility level, subject focus and mode of employment. Universities typically
compete for these staff in both national and international labour markets as opposed to
professional services staff who tend to be recruited locally or regionally except for
managerial and some professional positions. Our previous surveys have shown that academic
recruitment challenges tend to be focused in a small number of disciplines outside of which
few problems are reported. This year we collected additional qualitative and quantitative
data in an effort to provide a richer description of the types of challenges facing HEIs as
employers.
Recruitment difficulties were most commonly reported among professorial and academic
staff with teaching and research duties (lecturers) - Figure 11. Nearly half of the respondents
reported difficulties in recruiting staff in these categories, although the difficulties were in
specific disciplines so these figures should not be read as evidence of a systemic recruitment
issue in the sector. Indeed, 30 respondents reported no academic recruitment difficulties at all
and only a third reported difficulties in two or more contract categories. Only four
respondents reported difficulties in all four contract type categories. Pre-92 HEIs were more
likely to report difficulties recruiting professorial staff (63 per cent reporting difficulties) than
post-92 HEIs (41 per cent) with the situation reversed for lecturers. According to interviewees,
the recruitment (and retention) difficulties for professors intensified in the lead up to the
Research Excellence Framework (REF).
Fewer HEIs reported difficulties recruiting academic staff into research roles and teachingfocused positions with 18 per cent and 11 per cent reporting difficulties respectively. As the
vast majority of research-only staff reside within pre-92 HEIs, it is unsurprising that they were
more likely to report difficulties in recruiting these staff.
Figure 11: Recruitment difficulties by academic contract type, 2013-14
41.3%
Professor
62.8%
49.5%
58.7%
Academic - Teaching and
Research
41.5%
47.8%
9.3%
Academic - Research only
24.4%
18.0%
Post-92
Pre-92
7.0%
Academic - Teaching only
17.5%
11.2%
0%
All respondents
20%
40%
60%
% of HEIs reporting difficulties
16
80%
While a number of HEIs reported recruitment difficulties, previous surveys have always shown
that these are concentrated in specific disciplines, rather than indicative of a general
difficulty in attracting academic staff. Consistent with the findings of the 2013 report,
business and management studies is the most commonly cited subject grouping for
recruitment difficulties with 38 per cent of HEIs reporting difficulties - Figure 12. ‘Nursing and
allied health subjects’ was the second highest category with 30 per cent of HEIs indicating
recruitment difficulties. The categories used this year are expanded and so whereas
economics was grouped with social and political studies in 2013, this year it has its own
category and was the third most commonly cited area of difficulty. More than one in five HEIs
also reported difficulties in clinical medicine, law and biosciences.
Figure 12: Recruitment difficulties by subject area (HESA cost centre) – top 20
Business & management studies
Nursing & allied health professions
Economics & econometrics
Clinical medicine
Law
Biosciences
IT & computer software engineering
Electrical & computer engineering
General engineering
Mechanical, aero & production engineering
Health & community studies
Psychology & behavioural sciences
Pharmacy & pharmacology
Clinical dentistry
Civil engineering
Architecture, built environment & planning
Chemical engineering
Mathematics
Art & design
Social work & social policy
Media studies
38.1%
30.2%
28.6%
22.2%
22.2%
20.6%
17.5%
15.9%
12.7%
12.7%
12.7%
12.7%
11.1%
9.5%
9.5%
9.5%
7.9%
7.9%
7.9%
6.3%
6.3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
% of HEIs reporting difficulties
Although Figure 12 identifies the most commonly cited areas of recruitment difficulties, not
all HEIs recruit employees in all areas so it is possible that more commonly taught subject
areas appear higher in the list due to coverage rather than due to higher incidence of
recruitment problems. Figure 13 attempts to address this issue by weighting the subjects
according to the number of HEIs that have employees in those categories. Using this
approach, clinical medicine jumps from fourth place to first and clinical dentistry from
fourteenth to second. One interviewee had this to say about recruitment of clinical
academics:
Clinical academics are a small market and can be significantly affected depending on
how small a specialism you are looking to recruit from. Clinical academics are
generally quite challenging positions to fill because of the complexity of competing
with other clinical academic markets and NHS markets.
17
Reported difficulties in chemical engineering and veterinary science are also much higher
when viewed relative to the number of HEIs with those courses. On the other hand, business
and management studies only falls from first to seventh suggesting that there are still
significant recruitment challenges for this group but that relative to the number of HEIs with
business and management studies courses the difficulties reported are below those for six
other subject areas.
Figure 13: Recruitment difficulties by subject area (HESA cost centre), weighted by
subject provision*
56.3%
Clinical medicine
53.3%
Clinical dentistry
45.3%
Economics & econometrics
Chemical engineering
38.4%
Nursing & allied health
professions
38.2%
Veterinary science
37.5%
30.5%
Business & management studies
28.8%
Pharmacy & pharmacology
25.0%
General engineering
Law
23.2%
Electrical, electronic & computer engineering
22.5%
Mechanical, aero & production engineering
22.1%
20.7%
Civil engineering
18.9%
Biosciences
Health & community
studies
IT, systems sciences & computer software
engineering
17.8%
16.3%
15.1%
Architecture, built environment & planning
13.5%
Agriculture, forestry & food science
Psychology & behavioural sciences
11.4%
Theology & religious studies
11.3%
Mathematics
10.8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
% of HEIs reporting difficulities (weighted)
* Percentages are calculated based on the number of HEIs reporting difficulties as a proportion of survey
respondents that had staff in those cost centres in 2013-14 (HESA). Top 20 subjects only.
18
5.1 Market supplements
The number of market supplements paid to academic staff in the respondent institutions is
low as a proportion of total staff employed. The relatively low numbers suggest that salaries
in the sector are competitive, but that pay flexibility is required in some circumstances to
attract or retain individuals. The most striking feature of the data collected is that the vast
majority of these are paid in pre-92 HEIs which account for 84 per cent of market
supplements for professors and 80 per cent of market supplements for other academic staff Figure 14.
For academic staff below professor level, the most common subject areas for market
supplements to be paid were: Business, engineering (various), and clinical medicine.
Economics and econometrics, health (excluding clinical medicine) law, and psychology were
also cited by several respondents. For professorial staff, the most common subject areas for
market supplements were business and clinical medicine. There were several other subjects
mentioned by four or more respondents including engineering, law, biosciences, computer
sciences, physics and statistics.
Figure 14: Number of market supplements paid, by professor and other academic
positions and institution type
1200
Number of supplements
1000
800
600
400
1019
All
Pre 92
813
Post 92
479
404
200
86
71
0
Professor
Other academic
5.2 Reasons for difficulties
The number one reason cited for recruitment difficulties by those who reported recruitment
difficulties is lack of necessary skills / expertise (cited by 64 per cent of HEIs) followed by
insufficient or no applicants (59 per cent) - Figure 15. While the proportion of HEIs identifying
‘lack of necessary skills’ as a key issue is similar to the proportion citing this in the CIPD’s all
sector survey (61 per cent), only 16 per cent cited insufficient applicants in the CIPD survey
compared to 59 per cent in higher education. While pay levels comes in as the third most
commonly cited reason (43 per cent), it is in line with other sectors (44 per cent).
There are some notable differences in the responses of pre and post-92 HEIs. Post-92s (69 per
cent) are more likely to report issues with lack of skills or expertise than pre-92s (56 per cent).
Location (21 per cent) and insufficient experience (26 per cent) are less commonly cited issues
but more likely to be issues in pre-92 HEIs than post-92 HEIs. Lack of required qualifications is
19
cited by 22 per cent of post-92s but only 6 per cent of pre-92s. For one interviewee, the lack
of qualifications is a self-imposed issue reflecting a recent change in policy:
We are trying to make [a PhD] essential at appointment stage. That can be a challenge
because particularly if you are recruiting from a finance field you might have
somebody that is an accountant that hasn't got a PhD or the same with IT or
physio…So we have set criteria that are limiting [our applicant pool].
Pay levels were cited by fewer HEIs as the main reason for academic recruitment difficulties
compared to professional services difficulties which is likely to be due to the challenges
regarding IT and finance staff. As shown in Figure 15, 43 per cent of HEIs cited pay as a
contributing factor compared to 62 per cent of HEIs with regard to professional services
(page 9). Insufficient experience is slightly more of an issue in academic recruitment (26 per
cent of HEIs compared to 18 per cent in professional services recruitment).
Figure 15: Main reasons identified for academic recruitment difficulties
69.4%
56.3%
64.3%
Lack of necessary skills / expertise
61.1%
56.3%
58.6%
Insufficient or no applicants
41.7%
40.6%
42.9%
Pay levels deemed insufficient / not
competitive
19.4%
31.3%
25.7%
Insufficient experience
13.9%
Location of the HEI
31.3%
21.4%
16.7%
15.6%
15.7%
High cost of living in the area
Post 92
22.2%
6.3%
14.3%
Lack of required qualifications
Work permit problems for non-EU
staff
5.6%
3.1%
4.3%
Image of sector / occupation
0.0%
6.3%
2.9%
0%
20%
40%
% of HEIs
Pre 92
All
60%
80%
According to additional comments by respondents, the lack of expertise was often in relation
to niche areas including petrochemical engineering and marine engineering and that for
these areas there are worldwide shortages. Some respondents who cited location did so
tentatively as they were not certain that this was an issue but suspected it could be. One
respondent noted that their salary scales were not attracting people to the right roles and
therefore the applicant pool lacks the appropriate skills and experience – not necessarily
because these skills are not in the labour market. Another respondent remarked that they
20
suspected candidates were having offered salaries matched by their current institution which
was leading to applications being withdrawn. The respondent felt that they needed to
develop better systems to collect feedback from applicants who withdraw.
5.3 Responses to academic recruitment difficulties
The most common response to academic staff recruitment difficulties is to appoint people
who have the potential to grow (51 per cent of respondents) followed by more targeted
searches (46 per cent) and increasing starting salaries (44 per cent) - Figure 16. Offering
flexible working (35 per cent), investing in the employer brand (33 per cent) and redefining
the job (28 per cent) were also cited by several institutions. Only 4 per cent of respondents
had not taken any action. In contrast to the results for professional services recruitment, only
22 per cent had increased the use of recruitment agencies (compared to 45 per cent for
professional services) and 15 per cent were ‘taking account of a broader range of qualities’
compared to 23 per cent for professional services. Relative to professional services
recruitment, respondents were much more likely to appoint people with the potential to
grow (51 per cent compared to 40 per cent) target workers from other countries (19 per cent
compared to 3 per cent) and provide golden hellos (16 per cent compared to 5 per cent).
Figure 16: Main responses to academic recruitment difficulties
40%
Appointing people who have potential to grow
More targeted search
46%
41%
44%
37%
35%
31%
33%
44%
28%
45%
22%
30%
20%
Professional
19%
services
19%
Increasing starting salaries or benefits package
Offering flexible working
Investing in employer brand
Redefining the job (responsibilities, grade etc)
Increasing the use of recruitment agencies
Training existing staff to fill posts
Focus on employee retention
3%
Targeting workers from other countries
5%
Golden hellos
Taking account of a broader range of qualities
Created apprenticeships
Other
No specific initiatives
Providing 'job previews'
51%
38%
19%
16%
15%
23%
29%
5%
3%
4%
3%
4%
0%
1%
0%
Academic
20%
% of HEIs
40%
60%
In terms of other approaches not listed, two organisations noted their involvement in Athena
SWAN and Aurora to improve female employment outcomes and one mentioned the
STELLAR HE programme for leaders from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.
21
Athena SWAN was also mentioned positively by several of the interviewees – the following is
typical:
Some of the work that we’re doing here is trying to support the Athena SWAN
initiative which has had a very positive effect in terms of making people think about
how they’re actually recruiting and who they’re recruiting in particular.
Other approaches included the use of market supplements, secondments between
organisations and the use of fixed-term contracts with support for the individual to acquire
the necessary qualifications during the term of the contract.
5.4 Retention
…Turnover is healthy for any institution. In order to get new academics in there has to
be a reasonable amount of income generation or to some extent turnover from your
existing staff pool. (Interviewee)
Voluntary turnover for academic staff tends to be lower than equivalent rates for
professional services staff and is particularly low for experienced academics. As illustrated in
Figure 17, the voluntary turnover rates for full-time academic leaders, professors, and senior
lecturers are all below 6 per cent with experienced lecturers at 6 per cent. This compares to a
median resignation rate of 9.9 per cent in the wider economy (XpertHR). Part-time
equivalents typically have higher voluntary turnover. It should be noted that the number of
staff in the administrative and research assistant levels is very low compared to numbers in
other levels. These figures exclude staff on fixed-term contracts which are used for a majority
of research staff. The turnover figures are higher than in 2012-13 when the rate for all fulltime academic staff was 4.5 per cent, and 5.3 per cent for part-time staff. However, the
figures are not directly comparable with the 2013 survey report as it was not possible to
differentiate between voluntary and involuntary turnover at that time.
Figure 17: Voluntary turnover, academic staff by HESA contract level, England, 2013-14
Voluntary turnover (%)
0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0%
D/E - Academic leadership
F1 - Professor
I - Senior lecturer
J - Lecturer B
5.8%
11.2%
5.5%
5.1%
10.8%
Full-time
7.4%
Part-time
6.0%
7.0%
8.1%
8.8%
K - Lecturer A
L - Research Assistant
6.8%
M - Administrative
9.6%
8.3%
13.1%
Source: HESA. Excludes staff that joined the organisation during 2013-14. England only. Job level titles
are indicative and represent common titles at pre-92 institutions for academic staff. A description of
the contract levels and equivalent job titles can be found here: http://ow.ly/TKC5q
22
Redundancy rates in 2013-14 were similar to those for professional staff with only research
assistants exceeding a 2 per cent redundancy rate - Figure 18.
Figure 18: Redundancy rates, academic staff by HESA contract level, England only, 201314
0.0%
0.5%
Redundancy rate (%)
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
D/E - Academic leadership
F1 - Professor
I - Senior lecturer
3.0%
1.2%
0.4%
0.9%
J - Lecturer B
1.2%
K - Lecturer A
Full-time
1.4%
L - Research Assistant
M - Administrative
2.5%
2.6%
1.0%
Source: HESA. Excludes staff that joined the organisation during 2013-14. England only. Job level titles
are indicative and represent common titles at pre-92 institutions for academic staff. A description of
the contract levels and equivalent job titles can be found here: http://ow.ly/TKC5q
Improving induction processes and improving line managers’ skills were cited by three in five
respondents as the main changes that had been made to improve employee retention, with
similar figures for both professional services and academic staff - Figure 19. The main
difference between approaches to academic and professional services staff is the
improvement of career pathways which 41 per cent of respondents report doing for academic
staff but only 27 per cent for professional services staff. Counter offers are also more likely to
be used for academic staff. However, a significant number of respondents (14 per cent) noted
that they have redesigned professional services jobs to improve job satisfaction while only
five per cent have done this for academic roles. Other approaches include the introduction of
a leaver process and exit questionnaire and the introduction of annual benefits statements.
One respondent noted that several of the initiatives were in use but not all were specifically
introduced to address employee retention.
23
Figure 19: Changes to improve employee retention
63%
57%
Improved line managers' people skills
[Academic]
61%
59%
Improved induction process [Academic]
51%
49%
Offered coaching/mentoring/buddy
systems [Academic]
55%
Increased learning and development
opportunities [Academic]
45%
39%
38%
Improved selection techniques
[Academic]
27%
Created clearer or improved career
paths [Academic]
41%
26%
31%
Revised the way staff are rewarded so
their efforts are better recognised…
28%
24%
Promoted the employer brand more
effectively to employees [Academic]
24%
23%
Made changes to improve work–life
balance [Academic]
22%
20%
Improved benefits [Academic]
18%
16%
Improved pay (in addition to a basic
uplift) [Academic]
17%
16%
Improved physical working conditions
[Academic]
10%
Increased use of counter-offers
[Academic]
Professional
services %
Academic %
19%
14%
Redesigned jobs to make them more
satisfying [Academic]
5%
2%
2%
Other [Academic]
0%
20%
40%
60%
% of HEIs making changes
80%
5.5 Supporting academic careers
The focus on improving academic career paths and providing better development
opportunities featured prominently in interviewees with senior HR staff. Generational
analyses of staff in the UK show that career progression is the number one priority in
considering jobs for so-called ‘millennials’ (those born between 1980 and 1999) even ahead of
pay and financial incentives. 4 While such headlines may be influencing the sector,
interviewees appeared to have drawn these conclusions as a result of institutional need or
because this is fundamental to the organisation’s strategy:
For example, see www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/career-progression-top-priority-for-millennials or
www.pwc.com/gx/en/managing-tomorrows-people/future-of-work/assets/reshaping-the-workplace.pdf
4
24
From our exit interview data, the people that are leaving are indicating lack of career
management as part of their reasons for going, that's one key theme. So we know
that's got to be a priority for us this year.
There is a developing skill shortage nationally and particularly in London…If you’ve
got really great people who have got potential then rather than them going off and
going somewhere else you can tailor and target their development so you keep them
but give them career pathways and trajectories.
We’ve just started the new university strategy, building better career paths for
academics which will encourage some of our own graduates to stay.
Two of the interviewees noted new programmes that focus on career tracks from research
fellow into lecturing positions. One of these, a pre-92 university, is increasing its academic
staff numbers through a programme of fellows who start as researchers and then move into
an academic teaching and research position:
We’re creating that pipeline right down to the bottom, hoping that they’ll go through
to lecturers and then readers and then professors.
The other university, a post-92, has established a programme in the last year that provides
lecturer-level posts where individuals form part of a networked cohort that spends 12 months
doing a 50/50 split between teaching and research. The aim is to build up the next generation
of research-active staff that will improve research excellence at the university ahead of the
2020 Research Excellence Framework. The interviewee explained:
What’s different to a normal recruitment or post-recruitment induction in particular is
that they are brought together in a group as a network, they have special events, they
get access to the VC and the DVC, they get more support in that 12 months in
particular than other people coming in and then it’s ongoing support from that point
onwards with things like their individual research plans. It’s a career path plan more
than just an appointment.
Another interviewee explained how as a university with strong industry links they are
focusing on support for academic staff that may have spent the majority of their career in
industry and needed to develop teaching and research skills. In some cases the individual
would be appointed to a slightly reduced job profile with a reduced salary for a period of
time with clear short-term objectives, such as gaining a masters or a postgraduate certificate
in teaching or further academic experience, before they progress. The interviewee said that:
“It’s still very structured but it’s about bringing people in with potential.”
Succession and workforce planning also appears to be an area of growing importance within
universities, although some interviewees felt it was not given enough priority. Part of the
workforce planning focus includes the need to reduce spend on agency workers including
interims as well as identifying areas where the HEI is vulnerable to losing people with specific
skills. One interviewee noted that although they had benefited from some ‘vacancy savings’,
it was important to understand the effect that short-term cover can have on the student
experience.
25
6 Staffing flows
While academic staff are typically recruited from within the sector, there are considerable
inflows from the public sector, voluntary sector and private sector. As illustrated by Figure 20,
which is based on data for HEIs in England, there is also noticeable variation by seniority,
with 74 per cent of professors’ previous employment being with another HEI compared to 53
per cent of experienced lecturers (Lecturer B and equivalent). Early career and experienced
lecturers and their equivalents (Lecturers A and B) are more likely to come from the private
sector (10 per cent in each category) than professors (just 3 per cent). Unsurprisingly 13 per
cent of staff in Lecturer A or equivalent positions are recruited from being a student.
Although the majority of academic leadership positions are filled by people whose previous
post was in the sector, a combined 17 per cent moved to the sector directly from positions in
the private, voluntary and public sectors.
Figure 20: Previous employment of academic staff in 2013-14, England
100%
3.4%
90%
7.8%
80%
70%
6.6%
4.0%
9.0%
Not in regular
employment
Other employment
6.3%
10.0%
6.2%
6.5%
3.8%
3.0%
4.4%
60%
9.6%
14.0%
11.1%
50%
40%
Private sector
Public sector, voluntary
sector, and health service
Student
7.3%
2.8%
30%
Self-employed
9.6%
12.8%
Research institute
3.4%
Another HEI
74.2%
66.8%
65.2%
53.2%
43.1%
20%
10%
0%
Academic Professor
leadership
Senior
lecturer
Lecturer B Lecturer A
Source: HESA. Excludes unknown. Figures are for all academic staff not just those joining the HEI in
2013-14. Research assistant and administrative levels are excluded due to greater than 25 per cent
unknown. Job level titles are indicative and represent common titles at pre-92 institutions for academic
staff. A description of the contract levels and equivalent job titles can be found
here: http://ow.ly/TKC5q
For support staff the picture is completely different with a minority of staff joining from
another HEI and significant inflows from the private, public and voluntary sector. The
percentage of managers and professionals (excluding academics) whose previous
26
employment was in the private sector (29 per cent and 27.2 per cent respectively) is nearly
equivalent to the proportion who had another job in the sector before taking up their
current post (30.6 per cent and 28.8 per cent) – Figure 21. A similar proportion of staff in all
three occupational groups is joining from the public and voluntary sectors.
Figure 21: Previous employment of professional services staff in 2013-14, England
100%
Not in regular employment
90%
Other employment
80%
70%
29.0%
27.2%
60%
Self-employed
28.2%
Private sector
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
18.6%
15.8%
3.5%
6.1%
30.6%
28.8%
16.4%
5.6%
26.4%
Public sector, voluntary sector,
and health service
Student
Research institute
Another HEI
0%
Managers
Professional
occupations
Associate
professional
occupations
Source: HESA. Figures are for all professional services staff not just those joining in 2013-14. Staff in
technical, administrative, skilled trades, and caring and leisure occupations are not included as
‘unknown’ are greater than 25 per cent of the total population.
The main destinations for academic staff that left their HE employer in 2013-14 were
employment in another HEI and retirement, except for those in Lecturer A levels where ‘not
in regular employment’ was the second most common activity after leaving – Figure 22. For
professors, retirement (40 per cent of leavers) is almost as common as moving to another HEI
(43 per cent) with only 2 per cent moving to the private sector and 3 per cent to the public
and voluntary sector. Moving to the public, private or voluntary sector was more common at
lecturer levels, as was self-employment.
27
Figure 22: Activity after leaving of academic staff in 2013-14, England
100%
90%
9%
15%
16%
17%
19%
80%
70%
8%
29%
40%
29%
20%
Student
Self-employed
60%
Private sector
50%
Public sector, voluntary
sector, and health service
40%
Research institute
30%
20%
Not in regular
employment
Retired
Another HEI
49%
43%
45%
43%
44%
Professor
Senior
lecturer
Lecturer B
Lecturer A
10%
0%
Academic
leadership
Source: HESA. Excludes unknown. Job level titles are indicative and represent common titles at pre-92
institutions for academic staff. A description of the contract levels and equivalent job titles can be
found here: http://ow.ly/TKC5q
Professional services staff in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations
are more likely to leave the sector to take up employment in the private, public and
voluntary sectors and less likely to enter retirement than senior academic staff - Figure 23.
The higher outflows to the private sector are noticeable in comparison to academic staff
which may reflect some of the reported retention challenges in IT and finance.
Figure 23: Activity after leaving of professional services staff 2013-14, England
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Not in regular employment
Retired
17%
11%
16%
18%
9%
9%
25%
26%
28%
Managers
Professional
occupations
Associate
professional
occupations
25%
13%
7%
Student
Self-employed
Private sector
Public sector, voluntary sector,
and health service
Research institute
Another HEI
Source: HESA. Excludes ‘unknown’ category. Staff in technical, administrative, skilled trades, and caring
and leisure occupations are not included as ‘unknown’ are greater than 25 per cent of the total
population.
28
7 New roles in higher education
Increased competition, scarce research funding and technological change in the sector is
likely to affect the type of jobs that HEIs are creating and recruiting to. We asked HE
employers to identify the completely new roles that they had created since 1 August 2013 to
see if there were any common trends. Respondents identified 390 new job titles covering a
wide range of occupations and specialities. The word cloud below provides a visual
representation of the types of roles that have been created by measuring the repetition of
words within job titles while removing common words and job-level related words such as
‘manager’. The words that feature most commonly provide an interesting insight into the
common focus of new roles – for example research, student, international and academic
reflect the typical foci of HEIs while communications, digital, project, development and
marketing reflect new operational requirements and priorities.
29
Using the most common words identified in the word cloud, the box below sets out some of
the typical job titles that were associated with those words.
Key word
Academic
Business
Communications
Development
Digital
HR
Marketing
Operating
Project
Research
Social
Student
Support
Example job titles
Academic enhancement manager
Academic quality manager
Director of academic administration
Business development manager
Business support officer
Business analysts
Digital communications coordinator
Communications and PR coordinator
Head of communications and public affairs
Organisational development manager
Business development manager
Outreach development manager
Digital communication officer
Digital content manager
Head of digital
HR data analyst
HR and OD director
Marketing manager
Marketing assistant
Digital marketing officer
Head of corporate marketing
Head of building operations
Operations manager
Head of academic operations
Data management project officer
Project manager
Project administrator
Strategic project manager
Director of research and innovation
Head of research excellence
Research grants co-ordinator
Head of research governance
Digital social editor
Social media officer
Student administration operations manager
Student opportunities officer
Student voice co-ordinator
Business support officer
Student services support officer
30
8 Apprenticeships
More than half of respondents (57 per cent) currently offer apprenticeships in one or more
areas and a further four respondents have done so in previous years - Figure 24. One in five
responding HEIs do not currently offer apprenticeships but plan to do so in the near future.
Post-92 respondents are more likely to offer apprenticeships but a higher percentage of
pre-92 respondents were considering introducing apprenticeships in the near future.
Figure 24: Do you employ apprentices at your HEI?
All
20%
20%
4%
57%
No, and no plans to do so at
present
Post-92
19%
13% 6%
No, but plan to in the near
future
62%
No, but we have done so in
previous years
Yes
Pre-92
16%
0%
27%
20%
2%
40%
60%
% of HEIs
55%
80%
100%
Lack of internal resources was the main reason cited by institutions that did not host
apprentices but several other reasons were also provided by respondents - Figure 25. One
respondent in Wales said that they had struggled to identify local providers but were
persevering in this area. Three organisations said that they offered graduate traineeships but
not apprentices and this was also a common comment from interviewees. The focus on
graduate traineeships is typically two-fold, to enhance student employability by offering
them placements during their studies and to identify individuals that could begin their
careers with the HEI. Many HEIs have been successful in using this route to recruit to graduate
level roles with one interviewee noting that six of the HEIs’ graduates were working in
payroll and training alone, excluding graduate interns. The same HEI also runs an internships
scheme which has worked well for the past four years. Another interviewee noted that they
had three internship schemes including one which provides 150 opportunities a year to
existing students to gain work experience. A second scheme focuses on graduate leavers who
work over the summer following the completion of studies with placements within the
university as well as with local employers. The third scheme has an international focus.
According to the interviewee:
Because we're investing so heavily in our own student population it makes it harder
for us to look at things like apprenticeships, although we are just doing our first
collaboration in September.
31
Figure 25: Main barriers to employing apprentices
Internal resource
15
Other
10
Time
8
Bureaucracy
5
Lack of information
5
Cost
4
0
5
10
Number of HEIs
15
20
The number of apprentices at HEIs is modest and has averaged between two and three
apprentices per HEI that has offered them over the past four years. Numbers, however,
increased steadily up until 2013-14 when the total number of apprentices in responding
institutions peaked at 202 - Figure 26. Figures for 2014-15 were compiled before the end of
that academic year so will be lower than at year’s end. One interviewee noted that the lack
of difficulty in recruiting experienced staff often meant that apprenticeships were not a
priority, especially where skill demands are immediate:
People are supportive of the concept of the apprenticeship, but when it comes down
to the practicality if they have got a choice between an experienced technician and an
apprentice they are going to go with an experienced technician. (HEI with four
apprentices)
Another HEI noted that they would definitely continue to hire apprentices but were unlikely
to increase numbers significantly in the next few years. The interviewee explained that
although apprenticeships were viewed positively the amount of support they require and the
management input required had sometimes been underestimated.
Figure 26: Apprenticeship starts and completions, 2011-12 to 2014-15
250
Starts
Completions
202
Number of apprentices
200
155
150
129
115
100
119
102
88
70
50
0
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15 (to June)
Note: The survey was conducted between June and August 2015 – 2014-15 data is therefore
incomplete.
32
Interviewees that had hosted apprentices were positive about the model and reported that
many had moved into substantive posts within the organisation.
We have a great deal of success with apprenticeships across different occupational areas
(engineering to business administration) and see it as an excellent way to bring in young
talent, with some being developed into future leaders.
Apprenticeships are proving to be an excellent way of identifying and recruiting young
talent.
Career progression for them has been really good. They've been able to move into
established posts quite quickly.
Business administration is by far the most common area for apprenticeships to be offered
with 99 apprenticeships starts reported since August 2013 - Figure 27. Estates and facilities
management and maintenance is the next most common area followed by IT and
engineering. Other areas included procurement, stablehands, teaching administration,
dentistry, theatrical production, print design, nursery teaching and animal technicians. It is
clear from the diverse range of areas where apprenticeships are being offered that the sector
has moved beyond anachronistic notions that apprenticeships are only relevant to technical
jobs and skilled trades, although these still remain important.
Figure 27: Number of apprenticeship starts since 1 August 2013, by function
Business administration
99
Estates and facilities management and
maintenance
55
IT
40
Engineering
36
Laboratory technicians
25
Other
23
HR
17
Sports and recreation
12
Finance
12
Catering
12
Communications, media and marketing
10
Customer service
4
Library and learning support
2
0
20
33
40
60
80
Number of apprentices
100
120
9 The international workforce
The academic employment market is highly international in scope and ranges from the
retention of non-EU research students studying in the UK, which comprise 29.5 per cent of
postgraduate research students, through to the recruitment of leading academics from
overseas. 11.4 per cent of the academic workforce were from non-EU nationalities in 2013-14
and the figures are significantly higher in STEM disciplines; 20 per cent of the sector’s
academic workforce in engineering and technology are from non-EU nationalities and 14 per
cent of those in biological, mathematical and physical sciences – Figure 28. These two subject
categories comprise 27 per cent of the total academic workforce and are critical to delivering
high-quality research and preparing STEM graduates for the UK economy.
Figure 28: Higher education staff by nationality and cost centre, 2013-14
Education
88%
Design, creative & performing arts
79%
Agriculture, forestry & veterinary science
75%
16% 8%
Medicine, dentistry & health
76%
13% 9%
Architecture & planning
73%
13% 10%
Social studies
70%
Humanities & language based studies &
archaeology
65%
Biological, mathematical & physical sciences
63%
Administrative & business studies
61%
0%
20%
EU (excluding UK)
Non-EU
12%
21%
67%
Engineering & technology
UK
16% 12%
21%
14%
15%
15%
17%
40%
60%
20%
80%
100%
Unknown
Source: HESA.
14 per cent of respondents reported that they had experienced visa issues and half of these
reported that this meant they were unable to recruit the desired person. One HEI reported
that it lost two preferred candidates due to visa issues. While only a minority recorded issues
in the survey, respondents provided a range of comments signalling dissatisfaction with the
current arrangements. The following comments are typical:
The processing of applications was very slow and the guidance poor when the
appropriate visa route was unclear.
34
The whole process is very complicated, expensive, time-consuming and the staff
coming here feel their ability to stay in the UK is more temporary than it is in other
countries.
One respondent noted that the recently-introduced NHS surcharge is expensive for families
and is putting people off applying.
While Tier 2 is primarily used to bring in academic and research staff, a small number of
institutions report that they have had to resort to Tier 2 to plug skills gaps on the
professional services side. As explained by one interviewee:
We are not talking big numbers, but we found we are having to use [Tier 2 visas]
where before we didn't or we might have only used one or two. Whereas now we
have probably got our five certificates that we have issued for this year, so if that goes
that would be a real challenge for us, particularly for IT.
The impact on university operations included delay of research contracts, short-term issues
with providing teaching and research cover, additional recruitment processes, losing
preferred candidates, and, in one case, ‘serious impact on the faculty concerned’.
9.1 International operations
Over a quarter of respondents have teaching operations outside of the UK that require them
to employ staff within that country - Figure 29. Pre-92s are much more likely to have
international operations with only seven post-92 HEIs indicating such arrangements
compared to 18 pre-92s.
Figure 29: Do you have operations outside the UK?
Post-92
84.8%
15.2%
Pre-92
58.1%
41.9%
Yes
No
All
26.3%
0%
20%
73.7%
40%
60%
% of HEIs
80%
100%
China is the most common country to situate international operations with 11 of the
respondents reporting bases there – Figure 30. However, five respondents employ 146 staff in
Malaysia making it the most significant country for HE employment, followed by Singapore
with 63. More staff were reported in France (28) and Qatar (28) than in China (23). This is
likely to be due to the setup of the operation, with partnerships more likely in China rather
than direct operations. In addition to the countries listed in the chart, operations were
reported in Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Kazakhstan,
Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
35
Figure 30: Number of international operations and employees, by country
160
12
146
140
Number of operations in
country
8
120
Number of staff FPE
(headcount)
100
6
80
63
4
60
40
2
28
23
28
20
2
0
Number of staff
Number of HEIs
10
0
Note: The number of staff refers to staff directly employed in that country. Given the variety of
arrangements in place, it is possible for HEIs to have operations in a country with a limited number of
directly-employed staff.
In addition to staff that are employed in the country itself, many HEIs use staff from their UK
operations to deliver teaching abroad. According to respondents, there were 350 ‘flying
faculty’ in 2013-14 across all operations and a further 34 staff were posted on secondments.
In terms of the challenges identified in international employment, a majority of HEIs that are
employing staff overseas reported issues relating to payroll and/or taxation of staff working
abroad. The issues identified are numerous and include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Finding a cost effective local payroll provider (most common).
Monitoring and identifying liabilities.
Agreeing parameters for exchange rates.
Incorporating existing contract and T&Cs while aligning with employment legislation
in host country.
Double taxation regulations.
Interpretation and compliance with local tax laws.
10 HR efficiency and effectiveness
Within an increasingly competitive and challenging funding environment, universities and
higher education colleges have focused on improving efficiency at all levels and achieved
£1.38 billion of efficiency savings in 2013-14 against a target of £1.23 billion. 5 The sector has
undertaken two reviews of efficiency in higher education led by Professor Sir Ian Diamond,
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen. The reviews have explored in detail the
savings achieved, trends in key sector metrics across different cost areas such as procurement
and estates, and identified good practices and processes that have contributed to savings at
HEI-level. The first report published in 2011 focused on procurement, benchmarking and
5
http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Documents/2015/EfficiencyEffectivenessValueForMoney.pdf
36
continuous improvement while the 2015 report included information on estates, research and
the workforce. The section on human resources highlighted the sector’s management of
paybill costs since the 2008-09 recession while at the same time maintaining the sector’s
attractiveness as a destination for world-leading academics and professional services staff.
The Workforce Survey sought more detailed information from HEIs on the practices and
improvements achieved at institutional level. The most common approach to improving HR
efficiency is to implement process or system improvements which 59 HEIs reported having
done recently, with a further 22 considering ways in which this could be done - Figure 31.
This was followed by restructuring and redeploying staff to new roles and an increased use of
direct recruitment methods – primarily e-recruitment. Direct cost reduction features highly
among the most common areas, with several HEIs reporting reductions in spend on agency
staff, additional payments (such as honoraria) and adjustments to overtime pay or policy. Less
common approaches are reductions in employee benefits, freezes or reduction in
contribution-related pay or a reduction in training expenditure. Other approaches identified
included voluntary severance schemes (three HEIs) and a reduction in the use of staff on
temporary contracts (two HEIs).
Figure 31: Steps taken to improve efficiency and effectiveness of HRM
Implementing HR process/system improvements
to increase efficiency
59
Restructuring and redeploying staff to new roles
57
22
12
48
Increasing the use of direct recruitment methods
6
43
Reducing spend on agency staff
16
33
Reducing spend on additional payments
25
Reducing headcount
16
Recruitment freeze
9
4
Reducing paid overtime or changes to overtime
rates/multipliers
12
9
Reducing the number/proportion of senior and
middle managers
12
12
Increasing the number of staff on fixed-term
contracts
11
Reducing training expenditure
10
Freeze or reduction in contribution-related pay
6
Changing grading structure(s)
6
Reducing employee benefit entitlements
7
0
15
Already
implemented
Considering
12
10
37
20
30 40 50 60
Number of HEIs
70
80
90
Consistent with the survey responses, interviewees most frequently described e-recruitment
and the use of automated HR systems, particularly ‘self-service’, as the main approaches to
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the HR function, with changes to overtime and
additional allowances also being raised. Recruitment approaches also appear to have been a
significant focus of HR teams in higher education with several interviewees mentioning not
only technological improvements to the advertising of posts and processing of applications
but the consideration of the ‘recruitment journey’ of the applicant. As described by one
interviewee:
We have looked at the recruitment process from the perspective of candidates so they
are getting a better recruitment experience on the basis that the ones that are
unsuccessful we want to leave with a good impression so next time around they apply
again or talk about having a good experience.
For others, moving to an e-recruitment system alone has achieved efficiencies that can either
become savings or reinvested into more valuable processes:
We were using a paper-based system until only a couple of years ago and introduced
e-recruitment. So in terms of efficiencies that was huge; going from having reams and
reams of hard copies of applications to all online shortlisting.
The biggest step forward we made last year was the introduction of an e-recruitment
system. That has absolutely revolutionised that process and created massive
efficiencies right through from the staffing approval process to advertising. As a result
of that we are utilising technology a lot more so we can use LinkedIn, Indeed, Twitter
and we reduced our advertising budget…we did a lean project and we worked out
that in our recruitment process, about £25,000 a month was tied up in people
connected to the recruitment process doing administration…[as a result] we’ve been
able to put the emphasis on the actual selection process itself which of course is the
most valuable.
While advertising online through avenues such as jobs.ac.uk is commonplace in the sector,
some interviewees noted alternative approaches that were reducing the cost of advertising,
with a focus on differentiating advertising routes for different levels of seniority:
We advertise a lot more now just on our website…we can recruit within the [local]
area for an administrative officer and can run that campaign for free in terms of the
advertising costs so that has made a difference.
We have been using LinkedIn a lot which has been really successful for specialist posts
in particular…we are finding that for IT-type roles and finance and a few particularly
specialist ones like organisational development we get a really good response rate.
In addition to e-recruitment, the introduction of new IT systems to improve payroll and HR
support is reported to be delivering immediate benefits to HR functions.
We have just developed a new HR payroll system which we’re devolving out to schools
as well so we’re moving to line manager and employee self-service...It’s not about
staff reduction, it’s actually about better utilisation of staff time and the right people
doing those pieces of work.
We’re in the process of putting in a new payroll, finance, and student system which
should fully automate and fully integrate and if that works it should have some
serious process improvement benefits for the whole university.
38
While some interviewees noted the focus on channelling time savings to more valuable
activities, one interviewee noted that reviewing staffing structures was an important part of
improving business processes:
We’ve been slow and inflexible in shifting and responding in terms of how we staff
certain activities after we’ve automated them…we have not been disciplined at really
looking at the impact that the investment will have and saying we need to reshape or
restructure…you’ve got administration and professional service structures and job
titles that were relevant 20 years ago…and yet the processes, the automation, the
landscape has changed dramatically.
Overtime and additional payments are another area that many HEIs have been reviewing to
manage staff costs. One interviewee said that they had standardised a range of practices at
the universities so that overtime and shift premia are now more transparent and logical while
another introduced a ‘time off in lieu’ (TOIL) policy which emphasises that overtime will only
be justified in rare circumstances which has been effective in reducing overtime costs. The
comments from interviewees also indicate that the management of underperformance is
equally important for the morale and motivation of all staff and that improvements to
contribution-related pay systems are also in the works:
We have had preliminary discussions with trade unions about performance-related pay
and we’ve got a new performance review that’s just been introduced. We are trying to
note the link between university strategy and the department/school service strategy
and then the individual…so rather than, at the moment where we’ve got a structure
that’s service-based, [we are aiming for one] that it is actually more contributionbased…that’s the direction of travel we are looking at.
10.1 Outsourcing and shared services
Outsourcing arrangements were reviewed for the first time in the 2013 Workforce Survey and
the results of this survey are similar. Catering, cleaning and security are the most commonly
outsourced areas, particularly on a fully-outsourced basis - Figure 32. Outsourcing of legal
services is also common but is more likely to be done on a part-outsourced basis. There has
been a small increase in the number of HEIs completely outsourcing cleaning from 26 per
cent in 2013 to 30 per cent in 2015, however most of the change appears to come from those
who only partly outsourced in 2013 as the overall figure is similar. The other noticeable
difference is an increase in the proportion of HEIs that are partly outsourcing security which
has increased from 11 per cent to 19 per cent while the percentage that completely outsource
is the same. Other outsourced operations not listed include occupational health, employee
assistance programmes and travel bookings. 18 per cent of HEIs reported no outsourcing at
all. The use of shared services is much less common than outsourcing, however one
interviewee identified this as an area where more could be done:
If we’re really serious about responding to the Diamond review and thinking about
efficiency and effectiveness in the sector, I think there’s a big opportunity both
individually and collectively for us to think about how we collaborate more rather
than every university duplicating all the functions that we do.
39
Figure 32: Outsourcing and shared services by function
Cleaning
29.6%
Security
27.6%
Catering
19.4%
34.7%
Legal services
12.2%
19.4%
Maintenance
11.2%
Grounds staff
11.2%
Payroll
19.4%
24.5%
18.4%
5.1%
100% outsourced
Partly outsourced
Shared service
5.1% 5.1%
Pensions
5.1%
IT
5.1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
% of HEIs
40%
50%
60%
40 respondents reported that they ran wholly-owned subsidiaries with an even split between
pre-92 and post-92 institutions. Four institutions reported that they are currently considering
such a move. Subsidiaries were most commonly set up for conferencing (7), commercial
services (6), catering (3), nursery (3), recruitment (2), and student residences (2). Of the 32
HEIs that provided figures, the average number of staff employed in subsidiaries was 121
with a median of 28. Only six subsidiaries employed more than 100 people.
Does your HEI have any wholly-owned subsidiary companies?
No, 52
No - but it is under
consideration, 4
Yes, 40
11 Hourly-paid and casual staff
Higher education institutions employ hourly-paid and casual staff to complement staff on
substantive contracts. There is no legal definition of casual work, but the New JNCHES report
on Hourly-paid and Casual Staff (2015) defines it as a contract under which workers are
engaged on an ‘as and when required basis’. Hourly-paid work refers to work where the pay
is calculated on an hourly basis, but could include fixed-term contracts with hours that are set
in advance (i.e. not fitting the casual definition). Hourly-paid and casual arrangements are in
place for both academic staff and professional services staff at universities and colleges across
the UK but there is variability in the way staff are contracted, managed and remunerated.
There has been a high degree of interest in the use of zero hour contracts across the UK and
40
in higher education and these are indeed one way of contracting casual and hourly-paid
staff. While not comprehensive, this section provides new information on the use and
management of casual staff in higher education.
One of the themes identified in the Hourly-paid and Casual Working Group report was the
tension between having good HEI policies at the centre and their application in departments.
Some HR departments had moved to centralise the management of casual staff in order to
improve consistency while others maintain that local flexibility is required to respond to
immediate needs. As can be seen from Figure 33, casual academic staff are typically managed
locally by department/school or faculty, but a significant proportion take a mixed approach.
For the management of casual staff supporting professional services, it is more common to
have central management although there is still a majority of respondents managing staff
locally or through a mixed approach. Post-92 universities are more likely to adopt a centrally
managed approach for academic casual staff with seven respondents indicating such an
approach compared to two pre-92 respondents.
Figure 33: Level at which casual staff are managed
Professional services
Academic
21%
13%
41%
49%
38%
39%
Centrally managed
Managed locally by department/school/faculty
Mixed approach
The use of staffing ‘banks’ is common at HEIs with 48 per cent of respondents reporting such
arrangements for casual staff including a majority of post-92s. Staffing banks are typically
used to support the delivery of professional services such as catering and conferencing and in
most cases will largely consist of students. Individuals will typically sign a registration
agreement which details the terms of engagement should work become available – it is not a
contract of employment but a registration of interest in undertaking ad hoc work where
available. Many of the institutions that identified a mixed approach at their institution use
staffing banks, which indicates that banks are one way to allow a degree of local
management.
Understanding the extent of the use of hourly-paid contracts in higher education is difficult
as the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) does not differentiate these in the staff
record and therefore there are no consistently collected data. The difficulty in identifying
trends and usage was flagged up in the New JNCHES Working Group report. The Workforce
Survey included some questions to improve the sector’s understanding. As noted in the
Working Group report, presenting figures in this area is difficult as the use of a contract
count does not provide an indication of the level of usage since there could be several
individuals undertaking small amounts of work. This survey attempted to address this issue by
calculating the hours paid through hourly-paid contracts per full-time equivalent (FTE)
member of staff. 65 out of the 98 respondents were able to provide the total number of
hours paid through hourly-paid contracts at their institution in 2013-14. For these institutions
41
the median number of annual hours paid per FTE was 21.8 or just over half a weeks’ work.
The interquartile range was 9.8 to 38 hours per FTE.
While comparable trend data is not available, the survey found that a minority (37
respondents) reported an increase in hours worked by hourly-paid staff while 41 reported
either a decrease or no change. Those HEIs that reported a decrease were more likely to be
higher uses of hourly-paid contracts with 32 hours per FTE, compared to 18.9 hours per FTE
for institutions that reported an increase and 17.6 hours per FTE for those that stayed the
same. The findings of our analysis chime with the analysis of atypical staff in the New JNCHES
Working Group report which found that despite the high number of atypical engagements
across the sector, atypical work accounted for less than 4 per cent of all academic work.
Our survey found that 48 per cent of respondents use zero hours contracts according to the
legal definition set out in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. In 2013, a
UCU analysis of FOI requests on zero hours contracts found that 53 per cent of the 145
respondents used zero hours contracts. The margin of error in our sample prevents us from
conclusively stating whether or not this is evidence of a fall in their use among universities.
The comments from respondents clearly emphasised that zero hours contracts were not a
common form of employment contract at the institution and often were used for specific
circumstances. The following comments are typical:
The vast majority of our employees are employed on permanent full, or part time
contracts, and the vast majority of the remainder will be employed on fixed-term
contracts. We do have a smaller number of people where hours are offered on a more
flexible basis and this is the position of Student Ambassador.
We use a very limited number of zero hour contracts mainly to facilitate small
amounts of research or research support activity where the size of the activity is
uncertain or the activity is to be carried out infrequently.
Under this definition engagement is limited to casual-type workers who cover core
staff absence. Examples include library and catering.
Zero hours contracts used for life models and student workers.
Some respondents distinguished their arrangements for hourly-paid lecturers from zero hours
contracts:
We do not class hourly-paid lecturers, who enjoy sessional contracts with us, as [zero
hours contacts]
We do not employ staff on contracts that we consider to be zero hours contracts. We
do however offer ‘variable hours’ contracts for hourly-paid lecturers. These are open
ended, flexible contracts to enable us to respond to fluctuations in the demand for
teaching and related duties. The contract includes a maximum number of hours to
safeguard these employees who, mostly, have employment or other commitments
elsewhere
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12 Conclusion
HEIs have spent the first half of this decade responding to major shifts in the UK and world
economy and higher education funding policies alongside ongoing technological change.
Our last two workforce surveys have captured some of the important and visible responses to
these changes as well as the sector’s success in maintaining its attractiveness as a destination
for international academic talent and an employer of choice in local and regional labour
markets.
The next half of the decade is set to be no less interesting or challenging for HEIs as
educators, knowledge creators and as employers. This survey finds HEIs looking at ways to
streamline and improve HR processes to focus staff time on more strategic and valuable
actions to support talent development, recruitment and selection, and line management. The
focus on improving organisational performance through better team and individual
performance appears to be a common endeavour that will direct the HE HR agenda over this
period. Getting the right people into the organisation is now seen as a core component of
creating a high performance organisation and therefore actions that improve the recruitment
process will be vital. Once individuals are in the organisation, high performance is being
sought not only through excellent reward packages but redesigned career pathways which
for academic staff consider the importance of teaching, knowledge exchange, leadership and
research.
HEIs will seek to achieve these improvements in the support of their workforce within an
improving UK labour market and with increasing recruitment challenges appearing in IT,
finance, marketing and estates management. HEIs will need to think strategically about how
they compete for these staff and how reward structures can accommodate what appear to be
necessary premiums, for example in IT and finance. Reliance on market supplements will
continue, but HEIs may consider other approaches that differentiate reward or emphasise
other aspects of the reward package that have not always been well-communicated.
World-class research requires HEIs to recruit internationally in order to maintain international
links and host the best and brightest academic talent irrespective of country of origin. The
survey shows that, with a few exceptions, international recruitment through the Tier 2 route
has not been too problematic to date, however there is a live risk that immigration rules will
be tightened in a way that is detrimental to the sector and hence to UK research and
innovation. The sector has been vocal and co-ordinated on this issue and the Government has
to date been receptive to the sector’s evidence and arguments.
Across all these many challenges UCEA has witnessed an ever-increasing demand for timely
data and information on workforce trends and HR practices. We will continue to support our
members in gathering and analysing pay and workforce data, identifying and sharing
innovative practice, and delivering quality conferences, workshops and seminars on our
challenging and varied workforce agenda. We hope that our members and stakeholders can
use the information and insights from this paper to enhance their own policies and practice
and we look forward to reviewing the workforce landscape in our next survey in 2017.
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Pay Data Research Feature
egotiations Wales Employ
Key Messages Total Rewa
earch Surveys England Up
Parliamentary Lobbying E
vents Scotland Interviews
quality Senior Pay Surveys
ay Consultations Pensions
Media Monitoring FAQs H
cal Academics Organisatio
Training Northern Ireland
HR Policy Wellbeing Europ
© UCEA November 2015
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