HUMANE

Ghent Seminar

Human Resource Management

An Administrative View of Academic Functions and Competencies

Jon Baldwin, University of Wolverhampton

Jon discussed several aspects of the academic-administrative interface in the context of recent developments in the UK, and in particular the replacement of a collegial system by professional managers. He suggested that, in order to manage mass higher education, one has to employ creative approaches which draw on the full range of skills of all organisational members. In his own institution a growth in student numbers from 11,000 to 24,000 over 15 years had had a huge impact on administration. His presentation sought to establish connections between corporate culture and the message which this provides to staff and, ultimately, to students.

Jon contrasted a list of the things that students expect (eg, high-quality learning, access to academics, reliable information about classes, etc) with what they often receive (no easy access to staff, fixed office hours for administrators, awkward timetables). He illustrated ways in which the University of Wolverhampton had moved to take basic administrative functions away from academic staff, on the grounds that students simply wanted expert advice, not necessarily from academics, and that modularity had very much shifted the emphasis to the role of the student.

The presentation also discussed some of the more obvious tensions between academics and administrators (eg., snobbery, jealousy; biased perception), and possible ways of overcoming them. The traditional view of the administrator as a bureaucrat was also challenged. However, John stressed that the reduction of academic input had been an attempt at bridge-building and did not reduce academic involvement in the overall process.

Discussion

Several speakers recognised the need for a “separation of powers” in this area - the growth of student numbers had meant that the system whereby administrators looked after funds and professional conditions while academics dealt with all academic administration was no longer possible. Several also explored the ambiguity whereby academic staff claimed to dislike administrative duties but resisted the chance to give them up. In response to questions about the implications for this form of power-sharing Jon referred to it as a unified process based on centralised policy-making, locally delivered, and stressed what was to appear in several other sessions of the weekend, namely the importance of a proper form of appraisal. (In this context, it was noted that - at least in the UK - appraisal had not, in general, been introduced for the right reasons or used in a productive manner.)

Topic 2: HRM as a Bridge between Administration and Academia

Daan Schut, Free University of Amsterdam

Daan provided delegates with the full text of his contribution, and stressed in particular the importance of direction and vision on the part of management. The slightly paraphrased abstract of his talk is as follows:

Academic competences are of overriding importance for the level of performance of a university and for its continuity and vitality as an academic community. We therefore need to define the responsibility of university management in this complex and problematic field. The HRM agenda is a prime example of the task of bridging the gap between faculty and administration, throughout the institution. This presentation uses the experience of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam to look at the decentralisation of management (its goals, methods and problems); at the awareness of managerial responsibility for academic staff; at the development of a positive attitude towards change; and at the strengthening of leadership performance.

The quality of management at faculty level must be improved, and defining its responsibility is one way of achieving this. Decentralisation contributes towards the development of more flexible reactions to internal and external stimuli. The decentralisation of responsibilities also assumes that faculty managers are aware of their managerial responsibilities. However, this awareness does not arise automatically. It is the task of the university management to promote it, for example by providing formal descriptions of tasks and roles, by incorporating these into the planning and control cycles, by applying financial incentives, and by training managers.

It is also up to the university's senior management to promote a positive managerial attitude towards change at all organisational levels. This can be achieved by devoting attention to the training of line managers and by introducing clear procedures by which changes within the university can be brought about. Finally, the task of management can be seen in terms of the strengthening of leadership performance. This part of the presentation explains how the Vrije Universiteit uses a training course to determine its professors’ structured leadership tasks.

Discussion

A number of questions focused on the way in which Daan had stressed the communication of vision by means of training (if that training is not compulsory), especially in the context of growing decentralisation. The delivery of training (by external consultants) and the willingness of staff to receive such training were also discussed. There was particular interest in the “satellite” system whereby each Faculty had its own coordinating administrator and a team of adminstrators (eg, for Personnel), and in the potential problem of having several competing or overlapping administrative systems - a number of colleagues who had introduced such systems made the same comments. The emergence and growing influence of full-time academic managers (Deans) was also noted.

Topic 3: Organisation of Academic Staff and Employee Support

Maria Teresa Sangineti, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan

Maria Teresa described the ways in which, during her two years in charge of HRM policies at Bocconi, staff structures had been re-organised, with a new emphasis on support for employees. A complex training plan had been introduced with a two-year timescale, covering a range of topics (including the need to learn English) under the following headings:

· communications skills

· time management

· teamwork

· leadership

· management by objectives, and ...

· human resource management itself.

A new computerised system had been introduced to keep records, and various initiative taken to change working practices. The working levels of all staff had been analysed, by means of questionnaires and interviews. All this had been done in the context of Italian employment law, with the three types of academic staff noted in the hand-out. Several members asked what happened in the case of a “negative” appraisal of performance. MTS noted the possibilities of “mobility” whereby staff could be moved to other departments where their skills would be better used. Naturally staff had been concerned at the outset, and the process of explaining changes to the staff (both academic and administrative) was important.

Maria-Teresa made the point that Bocconi was not only a private university but also small, with 49 Principal Professors, 43 Assistant Professors, 68 Lecturers/Researchers and about 380 administrative staff. It was recognised that there were large differences with many other Italian institutitons.

Discussion

A sub-session of questions and comments from representatives of the other (public) Italian universities followed, with particular attention to the methods of managing staff who enjoyed considerable independence. Maria Teresa acknowledged difficulties, but explained that it was possible to remove staff with poor evaluations, or to reduce their hours of work (and therefore, their pay). Other Italian universities practised mobility in such cases, but without being able to apply the more serious consequences in respect of pay.

Sessions 4-6

Case Study: The University of Ghent

These three sessions provided three different perspectives as noted in these edited abstracts. (Willy Muschoot and Robert Hoogewijs both distributed full texts to accompany their presentations.)

Abstracts

Topic 4: Facts and Figures: recent evolution and implications for HRM

Andreas De Leenheer, Vice-Rector, University of Gent

A brief overview of the history of the university illustrates some key elements of the mission statement. The participative management structure is sketched out. The implications on staff management of the fact that the buildings are situated in various parts of Ghent and in some neighbouring towns are discussed.

The University of Gent provides teaching in (almost) the complete spectrum of disciplines. As in all Belgian and Flemish univesities there are almost no restrictions on the admission of students provided they have the necessary secondary school diploma. The registration fee is low. The number of students has increased rather steeply at the Universtiy of Gent during the last decade, but the evolution is very different from discipline to discipline.

The new (1991) legislation on the universities introduced important changes in the academic staff structure. Moreover, for financial reasons the number of staff did not grow proportionally to the number of students. Income from outside sources (the so-called second, third and fourth streams) is becoming more and more important in relation to the first stream (block grant from the Flemish government); among other things this implies that a growing proportion of research and technical staff are in fixed-term (temporary) employment.

Topic 5: The Art of Change Management in a Professional Organisation.

Willy Musschot, Ernst & Young International consultant.

In recent decades we have been overwhelmed with a steady flow of interesting, but often contradictory findings in the field of change management. This talk sets out to examine some of those which have proven validity in a number of settings, and which can also apply well to universities.

First, the importance of vision, which channels our deepest values at all levels of the university. It makes people tick because it provides ideas, hopes and aspirations. Vision affects change when the values which it represents start permeating people’s daily behaviour. It counteracts inertia and bureaucratic blockages. This is linked to commitment: in order to make things happen university managers need to be concerned about their personal commitment to change as well as the commitment of others in their organisation.

The concepts of power and influence need to be understood. Although some people don’t like the concept of power, we have to understand it in order to be able to introduce major change. Specifically we discuss the importance of the so-called ‘law of reciprocity’ and the ‘theory of alliances’ in terms of overcoming resistance to change. We also illustrate the use of Force Field Analysis, a simple but interesting technique which helps to analyse situations that have to be changed.

Topic 6: Personnel management at the University of Gent. New evaluation methods.

Robert Hoogewijs, Head of Administration

This contribution deals with a number of recent developments with regard to personnel management and also a number of objectives that have been set for the near future. Academic as well as administrative and technical personnel is taken into consideration, but particular attention is paid to the criteria for the evaluation and promotion of academic staff members. This is described in the institutional context (structure and culture, budgetary situation, mission statement, etc).

On all levels, the need is felt for the establishment and implementation of a modern and open human resource management. This does not alter the fact, however, that the process may well lead to tension and opposition at the level of individual staff members. It is an inevitable challenge to which appropriate answers will have to be formulated - one of them being precisely the decision to hire an external HRM consultant.

One advantage is that after years of efforts with regard to personnel cost control, the University's current financial position is fairly sound. There is now room for the necessary promotions and strategic new appointments on several levels. Internal control mechanisms and decentralised responsibility should ensure that the university will not lose control of the costs.

General Discussion:

Andreas de Leenheer stressed the issues of decentralisation in an institution with 15 physical sites, and outlined the management structures which dealt with the huge expansion of recent years. Once again, the issue of the coherence of a “loose-coupled” organisation was an issue. Willy Muschoot’s observations on vision, commitment, and the analysis of resistance to change led to a number of questions on the best tactics or strategy for dealing with opponents of change, and to reflections on the difference between Human Resource Management and (mere) Personnel administration.

After a lunch which (added to the previous night’s superb dinner) proved beyond doubt that HUMANE was an “expanding” organisation, Robert Hoogewijs had the unenviable task of giving the final session and illustrating the ways in which a head of administration had to deal with the implications of an active HRM policy. Numbers of support staff, for instance, had fallen from 1,800 in the 1970s to 1,100 in 1991 but now (after student increases) were back to 1,200. The policy implications, not only of decentralisation but also of an organisation that was at the same time both professional and entrepreneurial, were examined, including the ways in which reward structures had to be modified to allow for incentives and encouragement within a system which was essentially uniform.

Summaries prepared by Trevor Field