The People and Culture Strategy is designed to support NCAS with putting people at the heart of our organisation.
We want everyone in our workforce to feel that they belong to, and are valued by, NCAS. While NCAS is not an employer, we want to support and influence our host institutions and add value to their staff policies.
This strategy is aligned with the NCAS Strategy 2025 – 2030 and will enable the delivery of our people priority. It is based on the ‘7 dimensions of good work’ in the 2025 ‘Good Work Index’ from the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD). This strategy will be reviewed every 12 months and updated every 5 years in line with the NCAS Strategy.
Principles
Our People and Culture Strategy has 6 principles:
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
- Workforce Planning
- Workforce Development
- Reward and Recognition
- Staff Wellbeing
- Staff Engagement
These principles sit within a framework of Organisational Design and Development.
Framework of Organisational Design and Development
The framework will:
- Ensure systems and structures are consistent with NCAS vision, mission, purpose, shared values and culture of respect.
- Facilitate appropriate consultation and co-creation of change.
- Develop a learning organisation that shares skills and knowledge to support innovation.
- Balance financial risk with opportunities that support growth.
- Facilitate good quality job design and role clarity to support autonomy, good communication, collaboration, sustainability, innovation and excellence.
- Celebrate success through effective leadership to deliver impact.
This framework informs each of our principles and their outcomes.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Principle outcome: Staff feel comfortable and confident in the workplace
- Develop a sustainable culture of inclusivity, respect, and collaboration across the whole organisation – informed by our Values in Action guide.
- Align the People Strategy with the existing suite of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) guidance.
- Promote staff voice, trust, and engagement through acting on the results of surveys, fora, and through transparent communications and decisions.
- Be mindful of the workforce composition, in terms of minority groups, for supporting inclusion, leading consultations, building engagement, and offering support.
- Support self selection by nurturing interest in learning and leadership opportunities to reduce bias in access.
- Support flexible and sustainable ways of working, career breaks and be proactive in offering reasonable adjustments.
Workforce Planning
Principle outcome: A sustainable and resilient workforce
- Ensure the sustainability and diversity of the workforce to meet organisational priorities as described in the NCAS Strategy. For example, through increased use of secondments, job sharing, and apprenticeships.
- Create transparency and consistency in decision-making through good governance, such as inclusive recruitment.
- Ensure strategic and sustainable succession planning, via internal growth and targeted recruitment.
Workforce Development
Principle outcome: A skilled, agile and future-facing workforce
- Develop excellent induction and onboarding – through initial training, mentoring/buddy scheme, NCAS Fundamentals.
- Support host institutions to offer learning and development that meets staff needs at each career stage.
- Work with institutional line managers to support a proactive approach to annual reviews, consistent with the NCAS Manager Expectations guidance.
- Deliver targeted support for early career, women, and minority groups – such as assertiveness in communication, job shadowing, leadership development, and the NCAS Early Career Symposium.
- Support career development and progression – skills gaps, career progression frameworks, peer support, promotion support, mentoring/role models.
- Support access to mid-career support, leadership and management development, mini-sabbaticals, secondment or internal fellowships for innovation, UKRI-funded internships, NCAS leadership roles.
- Offer targeted leadership development for those with aspirations for senior roles.
- Develop late career initiatives: knowledge transfer, flexible working arrangements, NCAS Associate programme.
Recognition and Reward
Principle outcome: Staff feel valued and recognised
- Create an expectation of proactive manager engagement with staff awards internal and external e.g long service awards, Atmospheric Stars, teacher/trainer awards.
- Deliver regular communications and events to promote access and to celebrate success.
- NCAS line managers to recognise, praise and celebrate achievements and acknowledge contributions on a regular basis, not just through annual reviews.
- Adopt proactive engagement in host institution schemes for promotion and one-off rewards.
- Colleagues and managers to thank staff for a job well done.
Staff Wellbeing
Principle outcome: A healthy and productive workforce
- Demonstrate leadership through encouraging and communicating healthy behaviours such as ‘switching off.’
- Enable positive and supportive relationships for all through employee voice, and a mentoring/buddy scheme.
- Ensure maximum engagement with stress awareness and management activities through learning, policies and good practice.
- Support good physical and mental health for everyone, for example by supporting access to appointments, phased returns, referrals to Occupational Health.
- Support access to health-focused learning e.g. mental health first aid.
- Promote work-life balance through making use of host institution flexible work arrangements.
Staff Engagement
Principle outcome: Staff have trust in the organisation and feel that they belong at NCAS
- Deliver diversity of learning opportunities through listening to and acting on requests and concerns e.g via the staff survey.
- Promote diversity and representation in engagement with NCAS learning through improving accessibility.
- Support constructive relationships and good people management, so that staff feel able to challenge, feel safe.
- Aim to offer accessible events that support socialisation and enjoyment of work.
- Provide opportunities for internal engagement and community outreach e.g EDI committee, staff survey, student support.
- Encourage participation in events and activities that promote public understanding, connectedness and trust in science.
Review and recommendations
The strategy has been developed by Lisa Banton, NCAS Head of People, EDI & Workforce Development, in consultation with the NCAS EDI Committee. The strategy will be reviewed every 12 months and we encourage staff to provide feedback or suggestions at any time via people@ncas.ac.uk.