Values Programme: Staff Focus Groups

Sharan Virdee

Values Programme Leader

Equality and Diversity Advisor

Values Programme Staff Sessions: Presentation Outline

The Values Programme

Progress to date

The Heriot-Watt University Brand

Today’s session

Focus on the FutureHEADLINES

Reshape and grow academic base by 50% in ten years

Fulfil ambition to be like a leading 1994 Group

institution

People Theme Team SUMMARY

Established to ‘build staff capacity to meet the performance challenges of the strategic plan’

4 projects:

• Values programme

• Development programme

• Staff survey

• Development framework

Develop and embed a shared understanding of University core values (and associated behaviours) that help foster a supportive and inspiring learning and research environment

Values Programme

Values Programme Methodology

Values Programme Workshop held April 2009

Staff Survey Questions

Focus Groups

Wider staff focus groups at Edinburgh and Scottish Borders Campuses

Communication with Dubai and Orkney

Staff Survey VALUES

VALUING PEOPLE

PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

NURTURING POTENTIAL

FORWARD THINKING & FLEXIBLE

SERVICE FOCUS

COLLABORATION

RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP

COLLEGIALITY

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES

INTERNATIONALISATION

Staff Survey Feedback:

The values were difficult to rank – they were of equal importance and linked

There is a need to fully represent services and academia in any ‘values’

Student focus/student experience – is this explicit enough?

Some cynicism by respondents of Motherhood and Apple Pie statements

Staff Survey OVERALL VALUES RANKING - QUESTIONS

2 values came out as the most highly ranked: Valuing People - over 50% rated

this as the most important value Over 30% rated Pursuit of

Excellence as the 2nd most important value

The other values were clustered together

The values needed further refining

Senior Management Focus Groups

4 Focus Groups held with Senior Management to consider the staff survey outcomes

The ranked values and comments used to further refine values

A new outline of 5 values produced – incorporating rankings, comments and feedback from the Staff Survey

Core Values:

The Spirit of HWU

Pursuing Excellence

Valuing and Respecting Everyone

Pride and Belonging

Shaping the Future

Outward Looking

Purpose of the Session

Bringing the Values to Life

The Heriot-Watt Brand

The Brand activity informs the Values

The Brand is expressed internally via the values

The Values enable the Brand come to life in all our activities

Today’s Session

1. What does each value mean to you? If this value was happening, what would it look like?

2. What would we not be doing?

3. What examples do you have of bringing the value to life?

Exercise

5 Tables

5 Values

5 Minutes

What happens next?

A final outline of core values including:

What they are

What they mean

What they look like

How we make it happen