1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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)

6. 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

7. 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

8. Case Study: Living Wage University of Strathclyde Students’ Association

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Case Study: Employability University of Exeter Students’ Guild

13. LAUNCH Support active students to articulate the skills they gain Gareth Oughton Director of Membership Services & People Development

14. Contents 1.What is LAUNCH? 2.Why LAUNCH 3. The competencies 4. Intention 5. Using LAUNCH 6. Next Steps 7. Your input

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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’

18. 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

19. 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

20. The Competencies 1.Commitment to the organisation 2.Communicating & influencing 3.Customer focus 4.Embracing change 5.Equality & diversity 6.Leadership 7.Team working 8.Working efficiently & effectively

21. The Competencies Within LAUNCH, each competency: 1)Is defined 2)Has four levels of attainment 3)Has a list of positive indicators

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

26. Any Questions?

27. Discussion Questions: Issues for Students’ Unions and NUS

28. 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?

29. 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 Claire.marsland@nus.org.uk