Holly Chetan-Welsh
Let's kick off with an easy one! Would you mind telling me a bit about yourself and your role?
Samantha McLaughlin
I've always had a passion for working with our technical staff, and my role with the Technician Commitment came about whilst I was working as an HR Reward and Recognition Advisor. In the early stages, I helped with a lot of the governance and setting up the initial structures to make sure that the right resources were in place to make the Technician Commitment work.
Holly
Can you tell us a bit more about Southampton’s journey to becoming a signatory?
Sam
Our journey started in late 2018. We went out to our technical community to let them know that we had become a signatory and ask if they wanted to get involved. We had a really good response from that, which formed the initial Technician Commitment group at Southampton.
In 2020, we introduced four Technical Leads; one in each of the faculties with the most technical staff and who sit on our overarching Technician Commitment Implementation Group (TCIG). Each of those Technical Leads looks after one of the particular themes of the Technician Commitment: visibility, recognition, sustainability, and career development. We also asked each of the Deans if they would nominate an academic lead to sit on the TCIG to provide additional support for their technical representatives
Each Technical Lead also heads up a working group for the implementation of the actions. All the working groups have technical representatives and an academic lead from each of the faculties, and the relevant professional services support they need, for example HR, Comms and Marketing. That model has worked really well for us.
Holly
Can you give us a flavour of the activities you’ve been doing?
Sam
One of our actions under Sustainability was to conduct a pilot apprenticeship scheme in our largest faculty, Engineering and Physical Sciences. The then Dean committed to running a couple of apprenticeships across the faculty as a pilot scheme, and this is gradually rolling out across the other faculties with technical staff. In our recent action plan each of the Deans have committed to developing an annual target for new apprenticeships. It’s small numbers to start with but with the financial commitment now, it's a huge step from where we were three years ago. It has not been an easy journey for the Sustainability group, we've still got a way to go, but it’s still a success story.
Another of our actions, to raise the visibility and recognise our technical staff, was to deliver a technical conference. Our inaugural conference in 2020 was virtual, due to circumstances but in March 2022 we held our first face-to-face technical conference. We had a number of speakers, workshop sessions and lots of networking opportunities. We were oversubscribed with over 120 people attending the conference and the feedback was really positive. So I think all the hard work and effort the Visibility working group and others have been putting into the comms and engagement over the last year is starting to build a little bit of momentum and a growing conversation amongst our technical community. It was at this event, we also launched our first Southampton Technician of the Year Award, which was warmly received by staff and demonstrates our commitment to raising the profile of technicians at Southampton.
The TCIG have also appointed a 0.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) Event Coordinator, who specifically supports the training and development of technical staff and communications and engagement activities as they are needed. Southampton has a good relationship with HEaTED, who provide a lot of our training and we are also a Partner Affiliate of the National Technician Development Centre (NTDC). The TCIG made the decision to do the technical skills survey through the in 2021 and we are in the process of analysing those results now. So the technical event coordinator role has been pivotal and really helped us with ongoing training activities and our communications with our technical network.
Something else that we've been doing, which is equally important, is supporting technicians in regard to professional registration. The Recognition working group have been integral in setting up support workshops, offering mentoring, and getting technicians in touch with other technicians who have already been through professional registration; this is really encouraging for them and in turn encourages others to invest in their own careers and their own career development.
Holly
Anything you’re particularly proud of seeing happen for your technical community?
Sam
Prior to becoming signatories of the Technician Commitment, HR was already working with the library on a policy to embed the principles of responsible research metrics. The next phase of this work was to deliver a fair attribution policy. We were able to involve Technical Staff in the development of this policy. I think this is a really important aspect of the work that we've been doing in supporting our research technicians because we're recognising how involved they are in our research activities, and giving them the recognition that they deserve for their contributions.
I also think we're one of the first universities to have a technical representative on our Senate committee. We made a commitment to ensure there was more technical representation on more faculty and university boards so that the technical voice could be heard. We put forward a business case to Senate and which was approved , and our technical rep is now serving a three-year term at our Senate meeting, which is really good.
Holly
Can you tell me, from your perspective, what makes the Technician Commitment so important?
Sam
Where do I start?! I think it's really important for this group of staff to be recognised. It's a bit of a cliche, but they are the unsung heroes of universities. They quietly go about their business, just doing what needs to be done. They support academics, they have a really big impact on the student experience, they're great colleagues to work with. So they're worth investing in.
Holly
Beautifully put! Looking ahead, what are you most excited about in relation to the Technician Commitment at Southampton?
Sam
I think for me, one of the things that's really exciting about the future, is the career development opportunities for technical staff. There’s a perception of a glass ceiling, and that is probably a reality for a lot of technicians. And we need to work with them to understand how we remove that ceiling. And I don't think it's just about the money - it's about being recognised; it's about being valued; It's about knowing that there are opportunities for more learning and development to explore and grow their knowledge of their discipline; what I do know is that technical staff tend to be really passionate about the area that they're working in.
We need to invest in our staff because the more we invest in them the more chance they have of reaching their potential and this will ultimately be of benefit to the organisation. As I mentioned we are currently analysing the data from our technical skill survey to help us understand the depth and breadth of our technical workforce and any skills gaps. WThe aim will be to work with the Deans to improve opportunities for the training and development of our technical staff.
Holly
Wow, really rich stuff. Is there anything else you’d like your technicians to know about your plans at Southampton?
Sam
We need more people to get involved, really. Because the more people we get involved, the lighter the burden is on the technical staff already involved. Since our submission in December in 2021, we are now in the implementation phase, and we need more technical staff to put their hand up and say, “Where can I help?” We have a comprehensive action plan, so if there is a particular area of interest to someone, we would love for them to get involved.
Holly
It's clear that there's loads going on. Thank you so much for telling us all about all your passion and enthusiasm for technicians!
Sam
It's been a privilege, thank you.
To learn more about Southampton’s work with the Technician Commitment visit: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/technicians.
