HR REWARD AND BENEFITS


Lincoln green I


n the year 1088, two decades after William the Conqueror invaded England, work began on building the breathtaking Lincoln Cathedral. Only eight years later, in 1096, the first evidence of university-level teaching taking place at Oxford was recorded. As Oxford then fell into the diocese of Lincoln, bishops of Lincoln presided over its growth,


but never set up a university in their own backyard. Since Victorian times, higher education institutions


have flourished in Lincoln, including Bishop Grosseteste university college. But the city had to wait nine centuries before it got a full university. And when the Queen opened Lincoln’s main campus in 2002, it was the first new city centre campus to be built in the UK for decades. It now buzzes with 11,000 students and 2,000 employees. Its HR director Jayne Billam explains the story to HR’s


photographer as she poses in Lincoln’s modern riverside campus, and beside the converted railway warehouse, which now houses the student library. The almost forbidding cathedral in the background is a permanent reminder of the university’s link with the city’s history. HR caught up with Billam and the university’s reward


and benefits manager, Ian Hodson, only weeks after the organisation scooped the HR Excellence Award for Most Effective Benefits Strategy. But the duo seems modest about its achievements. “Thinking you’re the best is not always healthy,” smiles Billam, who has headed HR for both the faculty and non-academic employees since 2006 (Hodson was appointed to his role in 2008). “We had a go and we know it is possible to make business changes through HR. Through a vision and a collective will, HR can make changes that are ambitious and significant.” During 2011, the organisation made strides in creating


a reward strategy for all members of staff, encompassing an understanding of the total reward package, support towards developing a healthy work/life interaction and innovative approaches to health and wellbeing. The aim of the reward package, according to Billam,


was to acknowledge the diversity of the workforce and be able to offer something for everybody. The activities were all delivered on a small budget with a minimal investment strategy to deliver results. There is a clear recognition that


8 HR Supplement September 2012


within the public sector the opportunities are limited to offer initiatives such as flexible benefits schemes. “We have had to work to influence change,” Billam


asserts. “The crux of our HR strategy is it has to provide a business benefit. This is a bottom-line issue and it is about giving people control over themselves, rather than having things ‘done to them’ by us as an employer.” To tackle this, the HR team launched a magazine called


HR Line for line managers, to ensure they became aware not only of HR guidance but also the benefits and activities the department is working on. Billam adds: “There is a perception of HR that we are a police force managers can hide behind. We have done a lot of work to show employees we are, in fact, an enabling force.” The strategic aim of the university’s reward strategy


was to combat what has been a difficult year in higher education, where the focus of the news has been on pay freezes and changes to public sector pension schemes. Billam and Hodson were conscious this perception


could impact negatively on morale and that employees could feel benefits were being taken from them. Hodson explains communicating the total reward package was imperative – covered by introducing total reward statements. He says: “These documents were key to our aims, but


generic enough to be used as an additional recruitment tool for attracting new staff both on our online site and also physically at the point of interview.” The reward statement,


along with many other initiatives, was


designed so employees felt valued throughout the year. “We haven’t labelled this as a reward agenda, though,”


says Billam. “We listened to the organisation and unions: we wanted to give choice to employees, because we knew everything wasn’t going to work for everyone. We don’t need to argue with unions about pay and pension rates, because they know that is decided at a national level. But when it comes to benefits, listening to staff means we can keep adding to and changing our provision.” Another strategic aim is to recognise exceptional


performance and behaviour and champion such behaviour to other members of staff. This involved all staff receiving an Amazon voucher at the end of a turbulent 2011. But the duo has been keen to investigate innovative ways of rewarding as part of the strategy, in addition to a


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