Archive for category: FD Bulletin

Email sent to all FD staff from Ann Allen, Director of Campus Innovation and Development, on Monday 4 November.

I’m sure you’ll all join me in giving a warm welcome to our new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shearer West. If you haven’t already, I suggest you find a moment to read her first blog post on the staff intranet or watch the video.

Very early on in her blog, Shearer mentions how inspired she is by the diversity and inclusivity of our community. We know that inclusivity is a University value and an FD value. As such it is core to our People Positive work, and it’s great to see the posters promoting this area, including the learning from the behaviours training that everyone is attending. We’ve had great feedback and there is plenty more activity to come next year.

I was also interested to read the final blog post from our former interim Vice-Chancellor, Hai-Sui Yu. In it, he reviews progress against the six priorities he set out a year ago and key among those is ‘excellence in everything we do’, including research and student education, and implementing the University Strategy.

I want to say again that the Facilities Directorate is key to achieving this excellence. The work that we do directly affects the smooth running of the University and the wellbeing of students, without which our communities cannot achieve and succeed. So thank you for all you do.

Hai-Su also referred to the challenge faced by all universities as we see a decline in the numbers of international students coming to the UK to study. Thanks to skilful planning, Leeds is less affected by this than many other institutions, and we are optimistic about the numbers of home students still choosing Leeds. But we should all keep an eye on cost savings where we can.

Our Way Ahead & the Employee Engagement Survey  

It’s important to remember that our business plan – Our Way Ahead – is the guide for all of us in the FD. The aims still stand and they align with the University’s strategic priorities.

Please do take time to refresh your understanding of it online or check the copies on noticeboards. You can pick up a copy from Prue Griffiths or Matt Shevlin in the Marketing & Comms team too, or they will arrange delivery to your area if you drop them a message.

The way that we deliver the business plan has been shaped by activities like the outputs from the Employee Engagement Survey that ran in 2023, and the recent Pulse Survey. For example, the People & Culture strategy includes a focus on helping staff to be heard: the Staff Voice group is a clear example of this.

Similarly, people wanted to hear more about what was going on across the University and we have started our own town hall meetings. Look out for more of these soon!

You can find more information about the FD and employee engagement in the Employee Engagement Hub on the staff intranet. And look out for details soon about the 2025 survey.

I’ve said many times how much I value collaboration – this is an FD value, a University value, and core to our business plan. Not only do we learn from each other, but we can also work smarter.

‘Working in partnership to transform our core services’ is the topic of the Professional Services Open Meeting tomorrow, 2:05pm-2:55pm, with Rachel Brealey contributing. Please do join the meeting if you can.

Campus Reimagined

I hope that many of you enjoyed seeing the campus and indeed the centre of Leeds lit up by Light Night, a great example of how our spaces can be used to create genuine impact. The Campus Reimagined project is about how we all use campus, and how it inspires our communities. My thanks to those who came to the online town hall on 15 October to find out more. Here’s a link to the recording of the town hall if you missed it.

The Campus Reimagined student survey went live on 28 October and has had a fantastic response rate so far. There will be plenty of opportunities as well for staff and other communities to tell us what they think. If you have any specific thoughts, please do email us at campusreimagined@leeds.ac.uk

Thanks too to everyone working on the building assets condition survey which will establish a baseline for the campus and feed into Campus Reimagined.

Office Space

People based in the FD building may have been hearing different ideas about how we use our space. The Staff Voice group have made suggestions and the Operational Excellence team have also been looking at opportunities to create better spaces.

I am thrilled that this is an initiative led by your ideas and I look forward to hearing more from both the teams. And don’t worry, there will be an opportunity for everyone to share their thoughts.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Karina Kendrick, who has been appointed Head of Conferences and Events and to Sarah Djuric, who has been appointed as the new College and University Business Officers (CUBO) Residence Life Steering Group Chair.

And finally a date for your diary: the next FD Staff Social will be on Monday 9 December at 3:30pm in the Refectory.

Regards,

Ann Allen,
Director of Campus Innovation & Development

Email sent to all FD staff from Ann Allen, Director of Campus Innovation and Development, on Tuesday 3 September.

As we gear up for the start of the new academic year, my thanks go to everyone who is working so hard to prepare campus. Thanks also to those who have delivered conferences and other events over the summer. There’s never a dull moment for our teams!

Staff Pulse Survey: results

I’m keen to share with you the FD’s results of the University’s Staff Pulse Survey, which many of you completed in June. Look out for an email this week with an invitation to join an online, FD-only ‘town hall’ meeting on Monday 9 September, 12pm-1pm to hear about them. If you can’t make the session, it will be recorded and sent to everyone, but I hope to see you there.

The Pulse Survey was a follow-up to the main Employee Engagement Survey that ran in 2023. The intention was to check in with staff and assess what we all thought about actions taken by the University and the FD following the results of the main survey.

The overall results of the Pulse Survey have been released by the University – you can read about those on the Employee Engagement Hub. A few of the FD’s results are not as positive as we might have hoped, but there are encouraging signs that we are heading in the right direction with the changes we’ve been making to the FD. Jane Clayton and I will talk you through this in the session and you’ll be able to ask questions.

I want to make sure that you can share any comments directly with the senior team. You can do this through your Staff Voice representatives and I’ll be outlining next steps – including how to feed back – in the session on Monday.

Also on the hub you can read this Spotlight on the Facilities Directorate which details progress following the FD’s results from the Employee Engagement Survey. Key actions include the publication of the People & Culture strategy and the excellent work of the Staff Voice group.

Update on senior team recruitment

In the last year we’ve looked closely at the structure needed to help us all work together as effectively as possible. Our services are key to the success of the University and its strategy, helping students and staff to achieve their best and make the most of their time at Leeds. As you know, we have captured our ambition in our business plan – Our Way Ahead.

With our three directors in place, we looked at what other roles were needed to deliver the business plan, and I’m pleased to welcome Callum Williamson as Deputy Director of Campus Experiences, Residences and Physical Activity, reporting into Rob Wadsworth. Take a look at the updated org chart of the senior management team.

Also joining us this week in a key role is Geoff Brown, Head of Community Safety & Campus Security, reporting into Michael Longstaff. I know you’ll make them both feel welcome.

We will be announcing the date of the next FD Staff Social soon and this will be a chance for you to meet any of the directors or deputy directors.

Brownlee Centre refit supports Net Zero goals

New electrically powered heat pumps at the Brownlee Centre are in place and the installation of the pumps means that the centre, along with the rest of the Bodington complex, is now fully electrified.

The project is part of the University’s Net Zero Delivery Plan. The move from the previous primary heat sources to an all-electric heat pump solution will save the University around 58,850Kg and 2,610Kg of Direct and Indirect CO2 per year, respectively.

Thanks to everyone involved for their work on this.

Internal communications survey

Thanks also to everyone who has helped the Communications team by filling in their anonymous internal comms survey. The results will help them to understand how you like to hear about what is happening in the FD. It closes on Friday 6 September, so complete the survey now to have your say.

If you’d prefer a paper copy, please contact Prue Griffiths or Matt Shevlin.

And finally…

I was delighted to see another cohort of colleagues completing the ‘Learning to Log on’ training recently, with members of the Cleaning Services team receiving their certificates of achievement.
This is such an important initiative – collaborating with IT, People & Culture and the Organisational Development and Professional Learning teams, we are working to help colleagues develop IT skills that will be helpful both at work and outside it. It takes hard work and commitment to complete this course. My congratulations to everyone involved. Make sure you read this case study on the initiative.

Regards,

Ann Allen
Director of Campus Innovation and Development

Email sent to all FD staff from Ann Allen, Director of Campus Innovation and Development, on Tuesday 4 June. 

We are in one of the busiest times of the year for staff and students, with exams and assessments underway, plus planning for graduations. Many of you will be involved in this one way or another. Thanks in advance for everything you do to make this happen.

Action: Staff Pulse Survey

Last year the University ran an extensive staff survey to understand what matters most to you, what’s working and what’s not. It covered a range of themes including equity, diversity and inclusion, ways of working and leadership, and an action plan was published in December.

The FD has made excellent progress to build on learning from its own results, particularly through the publication of the People & Culture strategy and the excellent work of the Staff Voice group. You can read about those initiatives and all the other activity related to our staff survey results in this Spotlight on the Facilities Directorate published on the Employee Engagement Survey Hub.

The University is shortly launching a ‘pulse’ survey in June, a follow-up, shorter set of questions to sense-check how people are feeling and what they think about actions being taken following the staff survey. Senior teams – including the FD’s – want to hear from you so we can make informed choices about what happens next, and identify where to prioritise focus.

Look out for more information through the weekly eNews staff bulletin. As with the staff survey, you’ll receive an email linking to the questionnaire and paper copies will be available. Your heads of service can answer any questions. Please take this opportunity to let us know what you think.

Staff Voice update

Following neatly on…I was delighted to hear from Staff Voice reps at the FD senior management team meeting last month. Reps also presented at the Residential Services away day. If you’re interested in Staff Voice presenting to your team, please contact your Staff Voice representative.

It was fantastic to hear about their ‘you said, we did’ approach, including:

• Cutlery and cleaning supplies restocked in staff kitchens areas and a refresh of the showers in the FD building. Decaf coffee now supplied at all catered meetings.
• The physical and virtual Staff Voice suggestion boxes you’ll find across campus now have a process in place to manage the suggestions and ideas to ensure everything is read and considered.
• Awareness raising continues with posters, flyers and banners across campus in FD staff areas.
• The group will be at this year’s Staff Festival – go and say hello!

Senior team update

I’m delighted to share that following a competitive recruitment process, Michael Longstaff has been appointed Deputy Director for Campus Services and Engagement and Sam Glenister-Batey has been appointed Deputy Director for Commercial and Business Development. These are key roles in Rob Wadsworth’s area of the FD.

We will also be welcoming Geoff Brown to the University as Head of Community Safety & Campus Security from Monday 2 September.

We will share an update on recruitment to a third role in Rob’s area – Deputy Director for Campus Experiences, Residences and Sport – as soon as we can.

Congratulations

The University and LUU had much to celebrate at the recent Leeds Sports Awards including a highly commended award for our Head of Swimming Jacob Greenhalgh in the Performance Coach of the Year category. The University sponsored the Inspirational Community Champion award, lending its support to celebrating sport in the wider community.

The North Hill Well Wood Project – a joint initiative from Residential Services, Unite and others – has been awarded a Wildlife Gardening Award by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in recognition of the work undertaken for encouraging wildlife on site. Congratulations to Mike Leonard and team. You can read more about Mike’s work in this article.

Working with students

We recently collaborated with LUU on a new green plaques initiative to support and celebrate student achievement. As you know – and as I said in my introduction to our business plan – we are here to support the University Strategy and to help students flourish and succeed. I’m really pleased that we could be a part of this and my thanks to Leigh Marklew and Matt Shevlin in the comms team for all their work.

Technicians Network

I wanted to draw your intention to this group, which has a really useful focus on skills exchange and professional development. The term ‘technician’ is very broad and in the FD might include colleagues in Print & Mail, Energy, Grounds & Gardens, Energy and Sustainability. Meeting colleagues with similar roles is always helpful, so please do get involved if it sounds relevant to you. Romain Cames from Sustainability is closely involved and I’m sure would be happy to answer any questions. You can find out more about upcoming sessions on the Technician Network intranet pages.

Finally, I hope you’ll be able to attend the Staff Festival on Friday 28 June. Bookings are open for workshops ranging from cocktail making to upcycling! Let’s hope the sun is shining!

Regards,

Ann Allen
Director of Campus Innovation and Development

Email sent to all FD staff from Ann Allen, Director of Campus Innovation and Development, on Thursday 29 February.

The busy start to the year continues! 

People & Culture Strategy 

I’m delighted to share that the FD’s People & Culture group have released their strategy for the Directorate. You can read the FD’s Our People, Our Culture strategy.

A focus on supporting colleagues to learn and progress is Aim One of the FD’s business plan and I’m pleased to see how much progress is being made. Along with the Staff Voice group, there are lots of ways to get involved in this work, and I’d urge you to do so and have your say.  

For an insight into Staff Voice, I really enjoyed reading this interview with Matthew Whiteley from Residences. Look out for more of these spotlights over the coming weeks. It’s wonderful to see this group flourishing!  

New University intranet

I hope you’ve seen posters about the new University intranet, and the emails from our communications team and the Vice-Chancellor. The intranet is an online network that only staff can access, and we are developing our own FD hub page which will only be visible to us in the FD. This is where we will share FD-specific information and news, and celebrate our achievements.  

We know that many of our colleagues can’t easily get online and to address this will we are trialling intranet display screens in Cleaning Services with the potential to roll this out more widely across the FD. 

There will also be workshops run by the central comms team and further training around digital accessibility run by Organisational Development & Professional Learning (OD&PL) following the huge success of Learning to Log On.  

You can find out more at the FD Staff Social on Thursday 14 March in the Refectory – 8am to 10am.  

On the topic of training, it’s so important that we all keep our skills updated and grasp opportunities to learn new ones. I was grateful to OD&PL for the computers donated to Cleaning Services from the Logik Centre to help colleagues develop digital accessibility, and I’m pleased they will be working with other FD teams.   

Celebrating success 

We all know what a wonderful job our Grounds & Gardens team do and now you can see them in action in a new photography exhibition by Rosa Quintana from Cleaning Services called ‘Behind the Greens.’ It opens on Monday 4 March next to the Refectory, running until Thursday 14 March. 

A team from Estates managed by Alicia Graham has created a new research and study space for postgraduate students above the Refectory.

Our interior design team have done a wonderful job and it looks very smart. Thanks to all concerned.  

I‘m pleased that the University is now part of the Leeds City Bikes Scheme, with electric bikes arriving on campus this month. You can read more about that in this story. This is supported by the Sustainable Travel Principle element of the University’s Climate Plan.

The Planon project continues to make progress as the team work towards a go-live date.   

Wellbeing  

A reminder that a new health, wellbeing and learning centre is opening on campus next month, with the relaunch of LOGIK. I also want to draw your attention to the new University partnership with the charity Money Buddies, which offers advice around finance. You can read more about it on the For Staff website.

Each year Sport and Physical Activity (SPA) conduct a survey to learn more about the activity and wellbeing levels of staff and students at the University.

SPA would be grateful if you could take part: the results help to inform SPA’s strategy and planning to help the University become an increasingly active campus. Take part in the Balancing Life Survey 2024. 

Finally, I want to mention International Women’s Day (IWD) on the Friday 8 March. I am very proud of all the work that we are doing towards inclusivity within the Directorate. IWD is something that  I have always celebrated, and I want to extend a big thank you to every woman in the Directorate and hope that you can take a few minutes on the day to reflect on everything you achieve.  

Ann Allen,
Director of Campus Innovation and Development

Email sent to all FD staff from Ann Allen, Director of Campus Innovation and Development, on Friday 1 December.

This will be my last bulletin of the year and I’d like to take a moment to look back at what we have achieved and forward to the year ahead. As ever, my main message is to say thank you for all that you do. Like any team, we have our share of challenges, but your hard work and expertise ensures that we keep on delivering against our business plan and making sure our students and colleagues across the University have the foundations to succeed.

Our Way Ahead

The establishment of the business plan at the start of the year gave us all a roadmap. As part of that, our review of the culture of the FD – how we live our values and help everyone to succeed and feel they belong – has got off to a flying start with the establishment of Staff Voice and the development of a People & Culture Strategy. This looks at how we can provide a positive employee experience from the moment you join the FD and throughout your career.  Sharing this with you and involving you in the plan to make it happen is a priority for next year. 

Our new management team is now in place, with Jenny Wilson and Gareth Hughes joining us this autumn to work alongside Rob Wadsworth. With teams grouped together to enable joint working and avoid silos, we’ll be better able to deliver the big projects such as the Net Zero Delivery Plan. On that topic, you can read about the plan in the Climate Hub and join myself and a panel at a hybrid event sharing the latest progress in our work towards net zero on 4 December.  

Next year I am launching a strong focus on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in response to some of the learning from the Staff Survey results. Everyone will be invited to training around professional behaviours and we’ll share more information about this work in the new year. 

Our 2023 successes

There has been so much to celebrate this year that it would be impossible to include everything! Successes include our build of the amazing HELIX facility, hosting the BUCS Conference, the ongoing professionalisation and development of Cleaning Services (20 colleagues have recently completed a pilot course in Functional English too), progress with the Facilities Management Service Desk (previously called Planon), the opening of Cloth Hall Court and the launch of the ResLife website. Special mention too to the fantastic colleagues who helped in the Eldon Court evacuation. The approval of the net zero business case is a huge step forward, illustrating the University’s commitment to net zero ambitions.

We won a host of awards for our people, buildings and services – congratulations to everyone involved!  

Happy Holidays

With three weeks until the end of term it feels a little early to thank those working over the holiday and to wish you all a restful festive season, but I send you my warmest wishes for a peaceful and enjoyable winter break.

Ann Allen,
Director of Campus Innovation and Development