Introduction

Schools and departments in the second phase of the University's annual staff surveys are being invited to share their views of Kent as a place to work from Monday 11 September.

If you are part of this phase you will have received an email from staffsurvey@kent.ac.uk with a link to the online survey. This is a chance for you to give feedback about what your working environment is like now and what needs to be done so that it develops in a positive way that enables you to do your best. Responses will be entirely anonymous and we have made the survey deliberately short so you will find it quick to complete (5-10 minutes).

Find out more, including the survey schedule, as well as guides for staff,  managers and Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Teams

At the University of Kent we have a long standing practice of doing our utmost to support colleagues who are terminally ill. We all recognise the vital role that work can play in establishing some normality, security and social support when colleagues and their families have to face the challenges and difficult decisions raised at this time.

We wish to announce that the University has signed the TUC’s Dying to Work Charter and will offer enhanced protection to employees who are diagnosed as terminally ill. Further information on the Charter and what this means for employees can be found here.

From 1 September 2017, the University will be using the Hay Framework to evaluate all jobs except academic and research roles; these roles are covered by the National Role Profiles and are not affected.

Presentations on the new job evaluation framework will be held in August and September. Presentations are aimed at managers but staff are welcome. Please register your intention to attend by visiting the Job Evaluation webpage.

The EDI Annual Report 2015/16 (plus Work Plan 2016/17) is now live on our EDI web site: https://www.kent.ac.uk/hr-equalityanddiversity/annual-reports/index.html

Executive Group (EG) have approved a variant of the Efficiency Retirement Scheme.

The new Scheme, entitled the Short-Term Enhanced Efficiency Retirement Scheme (STEERS), provides an opportunity for academic members of staff who meet the eligibility criteria, to request to leave the University with a severance payment.

The University is undertaking the first phase of what will become annual staff surveys, to understand your perception of Kent as a place to work. This is a chance for you to give feedback about what your working environment is like now and what needs to be done so that it develops in a positive way that enables you to do your best.

The surveys are being rolled out in four phases to enable efficient administration and to ensure we have the capacity to provide follow-up support to respond to any issues highlighted. The first phase begins 5 June, with the remaining phases planned for September, November/December and March 2018.

Responses will be entirely anonymous and we have made the survey deliberately short so you will find it quick to complete (5-10 minutes). When the time comes for your department/school, you will be sent an email from staffsurvey@kent.ac.uk with a link to the online survey. Your opinion matters, so please respond to the survey and encourage others to do the same. We want to get as high a response rate as possible so that we can gain credible insight into what we do well and what we need to develop.

The information we collect will also be used to support our Athena SWAN work and to help us make changes to enhance your working life.

Find out more, including the survey schedule, as well as guides for staff,  managers and Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Teams

Human Resources are pleased to announce the following people practices have been updated and/or created:

• Internal Secondments - Policy & procedure (link to PDF)
• Interview Expenses - Policy & procedure
• Retirement - Staff Guide
• Efficiency Retirement Scheme - Policy statement (link to PDF)
• Probation Scheme - for professional managerial, support & research staff