From Bangor… …to Birmingham Eluned Jones Director of Student Employability University of Birmingham

Bangor…  ‘Old’, small, bilingual  Not a targeted university by graduate recruiters  Dominated by regional SME sector  Benefitted from GOWales Programme Combined to create a service / staff focus on doing more with less, collaboration, employer engagement and entrepreneurial behaviours "Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have.. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it“ Steve Jobs

Birmingham 2007…  Big (28,000 students)  Russell Group  Targeted by graduate recruiters  Little regional or SME focus  Nothing broken… doing OK  Comfortable “The best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing” Theodore Roosevelt

Drivers… “Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly” Francis Bacon  Bottom quartile in Russell Group for GP  Imminent shift to College structure  Peripheral position of CAS  Off institution’s strategic radar  Under resourced

First Steps…  Imminent shift to College structure  Got on the ship before it left the dock – created College Consultant role  Addressed skills gap between careers adviser role and new Consultant requirements (strategic planning, negotiation, influencing…)  Created Partnership Agreements  Developed Annual Action Planning process  Became a visible part of College ‘life’ (institutional position, off strategic radar) "It's easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date." Roger von Oech

Next Steps…  Demonstrate value for money and strategic relevance  Full Service Review  External Assessor  Created clear plan of where we wanted (needed) to be and tested all services against that ambition  Checked and re-checked with key stakeholders  Created 5 Year Strategy aligned to key drivers  Included specifics targets (Bottom quartile RG) “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do” Michael Porter

Embedding…  Associated investment provided opportunity to appoint the required staff to achieve the vision  Accepted that investment required formal annual review  Adjusted operational plan as regularly as required  Set targets with DLHE as main KPT “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results” Winston Churchill

Moving forward…  5 year targets achieved after 2 years  New issues / priorities emerging  Competitors are progressing  Need to remain agile, flexible and responsive  Next phase of Employability Strategy from 2014/15  DLHE will continue to be our main KPT “You shouldn't have a long-term strategy anymore, because you won't be able to move fast enough” Orit Gadish

DLHE  An absolutely inappropriate measure of employability success  But - it matters to our managers and the government Why?  A key factor in League Tables which equals recruitment ? How many of you know your institution’s position in key League Tables? ? Your Graduate Prospects position in the same League tables? ? What weighting is given to the GP score?  GP weighting for a HEI = 11-15%, at Subject level = 15-25%  A good reason why our managers and academic colleagues are so exercised about DLHE  Good GP scores can lift an institution or stop it falling Just what makes that little old ant Think he'll move that rubber tree plant Anyone knows an ant, Can't move a rubber tree plant… But he's got high hopes… Sammy Cahn

Why Innovate…  Student recruitment  Student satisfaction  Postgraduate markets post 2015  Alternative Modes of Delivery  Employer Engagement (HEIF 6)  Internationalism “When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters - one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity” John F Kennedy Threats… or Opportunities

Preparation is key…  Prepare; get as much business intelligence as possible  Review and reflect on past experience  Be prepared to make difficult decisions and changes  Be clear on exactly what you want to achieve  Ensure it’s aligned with your institution’s aims and drivers  Talk to all your key stakeholders – what matters to them?  Innovate as a team and in partnership “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” Abraham Lincoln

Innovation isn’t about quick fixes… “Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph: a beginning, a struggle and a victory” Mahatma Gandhi  Innovation, transformation and re-invention isn’t easy  It needs time, critical thinking and brave decisions  It means changing what you do, possibly fundamentally  Easier to do in partnership with others  Make sure everyone fully understands the aim and purpose  Take baby steps first, take a phased approach  Be prepared for continuous development

Innovation Curve Start Grow MatureDecline /15 Timeline Measure of Success “After you've done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over” Alfred Perlman

Is Innovation worth it? “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it” Michelangelo Yes  It is often the solution to limited resource  Done well it increases institutional profile and influence which is the key route to additional resource  It’s needed to meet what’s coming our way  It’s a critical element of any Employability Strategy  It enriches the professional status of the CAS and its staff

And finally… “God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me” Author Unknown “Our passion for career development, our expertise in employability and our belief in the student experience makes Agcas services extraordinary - mix in strategic innovation and we’re peerless” Eluned Jones "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference“ Robert Frost