Meeting summaries and upcoming milestones

An introductory meeting where the Chair welcomed all Project Support and Working Group members. The meeting commenced with the Chair thanking everyone who put themselves forward to be a member of this Group in order to represent their area and contribute to the work which will be involved. 

During this introductory meeting, discussions pertained to the roles Group members would undertake as a representative in this Review, the scope of work involved in addition to the approach to this work. The webpages were presented to the Group for their review, feedback, and comments before they were published live.

The Chair welcomed all members to the second meeting for the PTO&L Framework Review Working Group. New members who had joined the Group membership since the preliminary meeting which took place in November 2024 were introduced. The Chair and Project Support team provided an overview of the project, the proposed timeline, and the objectives. The team also discussed the remit of the tasks that the Group members will be involved in through collaborative working (both within the Group and to the stakeholders that each Group member represents).

The main discussion at this meeting pertained to a paper which was circulated to all Group members in advance of the meeting which provided a high-level overview of Imperial’s current remuneration approach. The paper outlined  how base pay is determined in some other sectors. The research was shared to stimulate thought and discussion as the Review commences.

Group members provided their views and comments, with  a focus on how the university may approach performance related pay with regards to the future job family framework and reformed pay structure. Potential areas for further review pertained to how performance and delivery would be quantified, how to differentiate between senior employees who line manage teams/areas as opposed to those who are specialists in their subject matter/roles. There was also discussion on the potential issue where staff were line managed by a colleague from a different job family (e.g. a professional services staff member being line managed by a member of academic staff).,

Discussions took place on potential approaches for Group members to utilise when engaging with colleagues and stakeholders within their local areas throughout the project timeline to ensure all viewpoints and perspectives were taken into consideration in order to bring about achievable and positive outcomes to this Review.

Dates for the next meeting  are currently being considered for early April, with a further paper on Imperial’s current and other sectors’ approach to the grading structures, job families, and progression processes being circulated to the Group beforehand for their review and to also obtain feedback from their wider community. Depending on the progress on the production of the paper, it was agreed that the date for the next meeting would be tentative for the moment and may change to enable further work to be undertaken if required.

• The Project Support team are aiming to share additional research on Imperial’s current and other sectors’ approach to the grading structures, job families, and progression processes with the Group by late-February, for their review and to obtain feedback from colleagues.
• In order to collate Group members’ feedback accurately and to provide a means for members to share views ahead of meeting, an online Qualtrics survey has been created to obtain insights during the papers’ review period. Members are also very welcome to bring their feedback to the next meeting.
• The next Working Group meeting will be tentatively scheduled for early April. This date may change due to the time needed to write the extended paper, and all Group members will be informed with advance notice if this is required. The next meeting will be shaped around summarising contributions that have been shared, discussing different perspectives and ideas, and clarifying points as required.