ET-MAR22-PG20-25.qxp_Page 6 10/03/2022 10:40 Page 24


VIEWS & OPINION


What does recruitment in the Higher Education sector look like in 2022 and beyond? Comment by SARAH JOHN, Joint Head, UK Higher Education and Joint Managing Partner, UK at Perrett Laver


Whilst the Higher Education sector has continually evolved for many hundreds of years, the shift over the last few years has been very significant indeed. In a world that is faced with very real global risks – the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, population and demographic change, unequal healthcare around the world, the rapidity and inequality of wealth and prosperity, geopolitical tensions – societies have increasingly looked to universities to be forces for the public good. This is no different to how universities have always operated, but it has become more important than ever for institutions to articulate their mission, values and purpose to their diverse audiences, and this has had a material impact on the development of institutional strategies and senior leadership recruitment. As we emerge from the global pandemic, and the seismic


changes it has brought to the sector over the last couple of years, it is interesting to consider how senior leadership recruitment in the sector has been impacted, but also how it has changed and adapted to be fit for the future.


Adapting to changes brought on by the pandemic Higher Education was one of the sectors hardest hit by the impact of the pandemic. Within the space of days, teaching and learning moved online, significant swathes of research were being conducted in isolation and through online meetings, and students and staff alike had to adapt to a ‘new normal’. Recruitment in the sector also experienced an immediate change. Many universities adopted hiring freezes to varying degrees in response to uncertainty and individuals themselves were less willing to consider new opportunities at such a time. Others were maintaining a focus on their institutional efforts to respond to the pandemic. The picture has changed over the last nine months as we have


begun to emerge from crisis response to a longer-term handling of COVID-19. Universities have started again to recruit in earnest and potential candidates have begun to consider ‘what next’. More widely in the world, last year saw a mass exodus from the workforce, across all sectors. In August 2021, almost 3% of the workforce in the U.S. left their roles, marking the highest number on record, while research in the UK shows that job moves hit a record high of close to a million in the final three months of 2021. There is little exception in the higher education sector. As we return to levels of recruitment not seen since before the


pandemic, universities are reporting challenges in securing candidates right across their organisations. In part, this is due to a combination of the pandemic and Brexit, but also points to pent up demand in universities, all returning to market within a similar


24 www.education-today.co.uk


timeframe. However, we are also seeing very positive advancements with: the creation of new roles focused on, for example, a university’s social purpose, increasing numbers of cross-institutional leadership roles focused on equality, diversity and inclusion, and the creation of academic roles focused on, for example, net zero; a greater focus on partnership and collaboration, locally, nationally and globally; an emphasis on digital vision and expertise in several leadership roles; and the establishment of longer-term hybrid working arrangements, enabling greater numbers of candidates to consider opportunities across the UK. Talent retention will increasingly be a key issue in the sector as the world opens up more fully, and senior leaders will need to be creative and focused, looking at not only recruitment and retention, but also learning and development and succession planning.


Responding to the race for talent in the climate crisis With the climate crisis impacting all sectors and all geographies, there is an urgent need for impactful leadership across environment, conservation and biodiversity. From developing green approaches to almost all that we do as a human population, to creating responsible and sustainable organisations, there is a huge opportunity for universities to be at the forefront of this response, delivering advancement and sustainability, net zero and the required behavioural and cultural change across the world. There is a rapidly increasing demand for research and expertise in these areas and we are already seeing universities place big bets through the recruitment of established leaders and ambitious, high-potential future leaders, sometimes creating new teams in one round of recruitment, who will contribute to transforming the scale of an institution’s work in this area whilst amplifying their valued voices. It is also the case that no one organisation can solve this


challenge, or any other significant global challenge for that matter. In this context, there is very significant opportunity and imperative to pursue collective action through system working where the focus is on the biggest societal goals. This will require a willingness to partner across the sector, with communities, with industry and the social impact sector, here in the UK and internationally, to be a part of a bigger outcome, rather than the controller of a smaller response. This requires a generosity of spirit and a culture of participatory team-based leadership, approaches that we are increasingly seeing sought in the leadership of universities and its constituent parts. As universities have turned their attention more to this over the


last few years, they have turned increasingly to search firms as they look to build expertise and capacity. All sectors are seeking authoritative voices on these issues as well as the leadership to accelerate the necessary change, and it has become a very competitive context. When thinking about such recruitments, it is therefore important for universities to consider the ambition and prize, to think about the story it can tell, bringing together all relevant strands of work across all disciplines from the sciences to the social sciences and to the arts and humanities, and to be proactive in understanding the market and courageous and tenacious in pursuing the very best candidates.


Continues on page 25 March 2022


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52