People Strategy

Alongside our work on the Student Experience, our People Strategy is designed to underpin the mission and values of Strategy 2030 by creating an environment that fosters a warm community, where everyone feels proud to be part of our University. This will help strengthen our role as a place of transformation and of self-improvement, driven to achieve benefit for individuals, communities, societies and our world. 

The People Strategy will inform and be aligned to five-year operational plans in each budget area across the University, and will support the priorities that will be delivered in the short, medium and longer term to 2030. 

Aims

Our People Strategy has twelve aims divided into three themes:  

Strengthening our community 

We work together to benefit our communities, within and beyond the University:

1. The University Values and Behaviours are visible in all our work

2. We are all citizens of the University and we feel part of and care about what happens here 

3. We are all included, informed and involved in what goes on at the University 

4. We feel safe and well at work 

Developing our potential 

We each have the opportunity for personal and professional development to support individual and organisational achievement:

5. We have regular conversations so everyone knows what and how they are doing 

6. We are responsible for accessing the development we need to be the best we can be  

7. Managers have the behaviours, skills and resources to do their jobs well 

8. The way we recruit means we attract and retain a talented, diverse workforce

Enhancing our working environment 

We work in an environment that supports and motivates us to do our best work and to achieve the University’s goals: 

9. We design our estate to enable us to do our best work 

10. Workloads are reasonable and achievable 

11. People processes and systems make our lives easier 

12. Equitable pay, benefits and working conditions improve our working lives 

How we developed the People Strategy

Our People Strategy incorporates significant work from across the University around pay and reward, pensions, workload and wellbeing. It also reflects our University’s overarching strategic themes of equality, diversity and inclusion, sustainability and leadership. 

The strategy draws on a range of data, including staff survey responses. It was developed collaboratively through extensive consultation with people across the University, including: 

• Trade Unions
• Participants on our staff development programmes
• Management teams in Colleges and Professional Services Groups
• All HR staff
• Growing Research Together Group
• Academic Strategy Group
• Staff Experience Committee
• University Executive
• The Leaders’ Forum
• Strategic change project teams such as Curriculum Transformation 

Further information

If you have any questions about our People Strategy, please contact HRHelpline@ed.ac.uk.  

You can access an infographic with information related to the People Strategy using the below PDF link

People Strategy Infographic