People Strategy 2022-25

MAKING LEARNING WORK

PEOPLE STRATEGY

Our Mission, Purpose and Values

CORE VALUES

At Forth Valley College, we recognise the contribution that our staff make to deliver our mission of ‘Making Learning Work’.

Fully Inclusive

Aspirational, Empowering and Encouraging

Genuine and Transparent

Strive to be the Best in Everything We Do

Making Learning Work is Forth Valley College’s mission statement. It is also the fundamental basis with which we place students and their learning at the centre of a fully integrated learning “ecosystem”.

Making Learning Work symbolises our commitment to ensuring we provide highly successful, integrated, whole college systems, providing high quality learning that leads to tangible positive outcomes and doing so in a way that is inclusive, efficient and sustainable. Our purpose is to ‘deliver the right learning at the right time in the right way for the communities of Forth Valley’.

Our ambition, realised through our People Strategy, is to be an employer of choice, in attracting talent, in retention and in career development. The college will be a place of work that demonstrates the ‘RITE’ values through its actions, and one that combines results with a nurturing culture.

MAKING LEARNING WORK

Our staff are central to our present and our future, to developing and nurturing a healthy and thriving professional environment that creates a pathway to success and contributes to our student’s futures.

We also aim to realise the potential of our staff to create a workforce for the future, recognising it is through our people we will succeed. We will ensure our staff are supported, developed and deployed appropriately..

Our People Strategy aims to support our staff, allow individuals to contribute to the direction of the College and provide opportunities for them to flourish working in state-of-the-art environments, benefiting from flexible working, and through initiatives to support their health and wellbeing.

We are committed to ensuring that all staff work in an environment that is free from discrimination, harassment and victimisation and that everyone can progress equally.

We strive for fairness and inclusion in all that we do and are committed to many national initiatives.

We are very proud to be accredited as a Living Wage Employer and as a Disability Confident Employer.

Our People Strategy will be reviewed after three years to ensure its continued fit with the College Strategic Plan and that it complements other key strategies.

College Strategies

People Strategy Objectives

Establishing a holistic approach to health and wellbeing

We will do this through:

• Creating and maintaining a range of initiatives that recognise our staff needs as complex and diverse

• Providing accessible support options for staff and for managers

• Developing a working environment that is flexible, adaptable and appropriate to the needs of staff and of students

• Celebrating and nurturing the individual and the team contributions

• Providing the skills to manage change and the support to adapt to and contribute to change

• Continuing our consultative approach to organisational change to ensure staff understand and trust ambitious decisions being taken

How we will recognise success:

• Demonstrate our commitment to health working lives through our activities and through relevant accreditation

• Application and success in wellbeing awards

• Favourable feedback gathered through the surveys and maintenance of the high standards resulting in low reportable health and safety incidents

• Attendance at work comparable positively with sector

• Evidence of consultation and support on key areas of change

• Continually review working patterns to support work-life balance and business need

• Invest in innovative mental health and wellbeing support for staff throughout the College

Supporting our staff to be all they can be

We will do this through:

• Provision of relevant and timely learning and development opportunities for all

• Encouraging productive review meetings and personal goal setting

• Resourcing and planning for the future to ensure continuous growth and contribution

• Placing health and wellbeing at the forefront of our planning

• Providing opportunities to realise potential

• Giving each voice a platform

• Promote flexible and innovative work options to staff to promote inclusion and enhance contribution

How we will recognise success:

• The indicators for success are having staff with the required skills, performing highly in appropriate roles to realise the College’s vision and aims – quantified through a monitoring and evaluation of the personal review and development process (PRD) and activities which are undertaken, together with engagement in reflective practice and objective setting

• Measurement and evaluation of CPD activity

• Quantify and analyse data and feedback from staff survey and staff groups on flexible work options

• Annual training needs analysis for all staff throughout the College linked to PRD

• Analysis of establishment and equalities data actioning change

• Recognising and celebrating our success through multiple mediums

Celebrating the contribution of all, as one team

We will do this through:

• Promotion of one team of many parts, achieving success together through listening, sharing and recognising the roles and contributions of others

• Encouraging collaborative working, breaking down silo working whilst embracing the unique contribution of different roles and responsibilities

• Embedding equality, diversity and inclusion into all that we do

• The provision of core skills and professional development related to college needs

• Reviewing staff structures to achieve the optimum balance between service and student provision with the right roles, right resourcing, right support

• Driving continuous improvement

• Celebrating our success, recognising we are one team

• Monitoring, reporting and adapting

• Maintaining employee relations

How we will recognise success:

• The College will use equality and diversity reporting and statistical evidence to identify and indicate the extent to which the organisation attracts and employs staff reflecting the diversity of the local community

• Evidence of management and staff partnership working

• Evidence from equality impact assessments to action and align to inclusive practices

• Evidence of the staff experience from survey results and activities relating to decision making, communication, equality and team work

Empowering and nurturing a progressive leadership culture

We will do this through:

• A top down approach, leading by example, demonstrating our values as exemplars, acting with integrity and sound judgement

• Developing approaches to leadership that are people centred, practical, and supportive of individual and team needs as well as meeting college objectives

• Recognising change management as a management function and embedding change through leadership, engagement and communication

• Providing options for development that reflect the diverse needs of the individual and the College

• Promoting ethical decision-making to influence strategic direction

• Develop future leaders, ensuring effective succession planning

• Communicating effectively with staff at all levels, including them in key decisions and ensuring their opinions are valued

How we will recognise success:

• New managers undertaking a bespoke induction process

• The availability and utilisation of management and leadership programmes

• Mentoring and coaching programmes developed for all managers

• Change management training embedded and linked to significant changes or challenges