Career development

6-12 months

Institutionally as part of our Athena Swan work we are in the process of piloting career pathways for professional services colleagues which show what is required at each grade level and the development opportunities to support career aspirations. We will to extend this work to technical staff, as part of this it would be valuable to encourage lateral as well as vertical moves to ensure that all staff, especially female staff have the opportunity to develop a breath of experience as well as a technical specialism. To this end we will be encouraging job shadowing, (including exploring opportunities for shadowing at other Universities within the Midlands Innovation group), mentoring and buddy systems.

All Colleges have structures with a clearly defined career pathway support and funding for Technician’s development
Technical staff can work across Departments, Schools and Colleges, and have a wider/diverse skill set
Evidence of career progression across the university
Mechanisms for coaching and mentoring in place.

Expansion of our current apprenticeship scheme to make the best use of the apprenticeship levy.
Definition of the departments and schools who will take apprentices.
Target numbers established.
A budget of £36K to be made available to support technical training in order to achieve the two items above.

Further expansion to be explored.
Establishment of an apprentice network to enable sharing of best practice and development.

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for both apprentices and supervisors. Succession plans to ensure career paths for apprentices.
Clear requirements for supervisory activities defined.