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Best Practice in Student Employment
Ian McCartney – CEO, University of Strathclyde Students’ Association
Gareth Oughton – Director of Membership Services & People Development, Exeter University Student’s Guild
Claire Marsland – HR Consultant, NUS
Session Overview
• Share some thinking on best practice from SUs on employing students and why it matters
• Focus in on two particular aspects of student employment – pay rate and employability
• Discuss, as a group, some broad questions around student employment and what our role should be
Why Consider Student Employment?
• Students’ unions employ around 22,000 people - 17,000 of them students
• Students want more ‘value’ from their time at university
• Range of issues like living wage and zero hours contracts being more widely discussed in society
• Our movement’s values and our opportunity to influence
• Link between employee engagement and performance
Business Case
‘Engage for Success’ - employee engagement correlates strongly with performance
Benefits for organisations:• Higher individual performance/productivity• Better customer service• Higher retention and lower absence rates• Underpins innovation• Seen as an ‘employer of choice’
Benefits for employees:• Better employment ‘package’ overall• Better psychological wellbeing and positive emotion
www.engageforsuccess.org
The Impact of Employee Engagement
• Employee engagement survey results linked with NSS Q23 scores
• 2014 correlation 0.61
• 2015 correlation 0.59
• Engagement index 2015 averages 76% (based on 33 SUs)
Best Practice Guide
• Review of the key themes in student employment:
Context and values Recruitment and selection Contracts Pay Rates Induction Training and development Performance management Employability Democracy
• Published on the HR Hub
Case Studies - Pay Rate & Employability
• Good examples of students driving change
• Both issues are likely to become more relevant over time
• Show the issues SUs as employers are dealing with
• Interesting because they look at the practical expression of SUs’ values
Case Study: Living Wage
University of Strathclyde Students’ Association
Living Wage @ USSA – democratic process
• Living Wage Society lobbied Student Executive
• Executive Committee agree in principle, and full costing conducted – approx £30k
• Range of implementation options discussed with Living Wage Society – 3-year implementation preferred
• Final approval by Trustee Board June 2012
Living Wage @ USSA - implementation
• 3-year phased implementation• Year 1 = £6.54 per hour (from £6.19)• Year 2 = £7.02 p/h• Year 3 = £7.65 p.h (had budgeted £7.50)• Living Wage as at August maintained for
financial year to minimise confusion
Benefits of Living Wage……to employees
• Improved buy-in to values of the organisation
• Student staff more loyal to Association
• Other staff feel more valued
• Perception of “the right thing to do”
…to USSA
• Increased awareness of commitment to being ethical employer
• Assists in putting pressure on University re Living Wage
• Highest pay rates in Glasgow for bar/catering work make recruitment easier
Case Study: Employability
University of Exeter Students’ Guild
LAUNCHSupport active students to articulate the
skills they gain
Gareth OughtonDirector of Membership Services & People
Development
Contents
1. What is LAUNCH?2. Why LAUNCH3. The competencies4. Intention5. Using LAUNCH6. Next Steps7. Your input
What Is LAUNCH?
LAUNCH is a framework which allows students to easily identify the skills and competencies they have gained as a result of their volunteering and/or employment, so that this can be clearly communicated in other endeavours
Why LAUNCH
• After ‘having fun’, the next highest reason for engagement with the Students’ Guild is ‘to enhance my CV’
• Internal reflection on how we can boost our existing offering to engaged students & reward student staff members
Why LAUNCH
• Students develop a range of fantastic skills and experiences through their engagement and employment
• Many students don’t want to engage with a formal awards system (Exeter Award / NUS Skills Award)
• Want a non-labour intensive model for staff, so our time isn’t spent ‘polishing the Rolls-Royce’
What Is LAUNCH?
• We identified eight key competency areas and developed four levels of attainment within each group
• These competencies were based on research from the sector, the University’s employability team and alumni
• Sectors researched included those in for-profit, public and not-for-profit – looking for what each group were looking for by way of behavioural competencies
Intentions
• LAUNCH will support students to translate their experiences into solidly articulated messages, that will continue to support and shape them long after graduation.
• It is not a replacement for the Exeter Award; more an informal, self-reflection mechanism which signposts to the Exeter Award if students want a rounded experience
The Competencies
1. Commitment to the organisation2. Communicating & influencing3. Customer focus4. Embracing change5. Equality & diversity6. Leadership7. Team working8. Working efficiently & effectively
The Competencies
Within LAUNCH, each competency:
1) Is defined2) Has four levels of attainment3) Has a list of positive indicators
Using LAUNCH
• We have developed the LAUNCH framework so that it can be used by different students in the way it suits them best
• Students can work through the framework on their own and use it as a tool for self reflection
• Students can also return to the framework at key points during their journey and map their progress against the framework levels
Using LAUNCH
• LAUNCH is not an accredited model and doesn’t ask students to produce work. As a result, it isn’t certificated
• Students involved in ALL areas of volunteering or employment will see more commonality with their peers in other parts of the Guild and AU
• Our new volunteer tracker module can assess progress through the scheme on the student’s behalf
Next Steps
• Fully implement the volunteer tracker module (which will automatically fill information in)
• Tweak existing documentation to fit employees better
• Relaunch for 15/16
Any Questions?
Discussion Questions:
Issues for Students’ Unionsand NUS
Discussion Questions
• How do we respond to the growing emphasis on the living wage?
• What are the implications for SUs? • What support might be required?
• How should we manage employability in SUs?• Should there be different approaches for
members, volunteers and student staff? If so, what should they be?
• How should/could NUS support SUs on employability?
Closing Comments
• Thank you very much for your interest and contribution
• Any final questions or comments for Ian, Gareth or me?
• Please remember to look at the HR Hub on NUS Connect for information and resources
• Talk to me at the HR Support Unit [email protected]
