Human Resources group

The U21 Human Resources group is made up of HR professionals from across the Universitas 21 network who meet together, usually virtually, to share best practice, HR policies and information on effective ways to improve HR resources and services to member universities.

Reinvigorated in late 2011, the group looks to collaborate in the following ways:

• Focus on two information-sharing exercises each year, around a specific issue or topic, as the core of the group’s activity; to ensure tangible outputs which would be beneficial for members.
•  Share information about each member’s current activity, best practise, and collating short reports on network activity for dissemination to all, for subsequent discussion (via teleconference) and further exploration as appropriate.
• Meet on an annual or biannual basis, perhaps around an existing international conference which HR professionals attend, to discuss specific themes and issues.

 Through this collaboration, the group is able to:

• Benchmark activities against international counterparts with similar outlooks and expectations
• Advise senior leaders about HR issues within the context of internationalising universities, providing a good evidence base of other U21 members’ experiences
• Produce practical reports on specific issues to help with HR policy and programme development
• Communication on an informal level with international colleagues on matters of local importance

Following consultation among its members, the group has drawn up some key issues for discussion in the coming years: 

• Performance Management
• Leadership development for senior managers and academics
• Organisational development and change management
• Measuring HR effectiveness – metrics and indicators
• Early career researcher training