Terms of Reference

Committee membership:

• Omar Matar, Head of Department
• Geoff Maitland, Chair of the Awards Committee
• Anusha Sri-Pathmanathan, Department Operations Manager
• Perminder Amrit, Department Services & Safety Manager
• Bhavna Patel, Executive Assistant
• Tony Meredith, Mechanical Workshop Manager
• Chris Tighe, Lecturer
• Sneha Saunders, Administration Manager & Staffing Coordinator
• TBD, Post-doc representative (possibly from the Post-Doc Committee)

1. Aim:

Following the results of the 2017 Staff Survey, an action has been identified to set-up a working group which will explore new ways of internally rewarding and recognising staff in the Department.  This group will aim to introduce a system which will embody the ethos that we are a Department that says thank you!

 2. Scope

The particular focus of the group is to establish ways in which to recognise achievements made by the following categories of staff:

• Professional – Administrative
• Professional – Technical
• Post-Doctoral Researchers

The scope is limited to rewards and recognition which can be made within the Department itself.  Concurrent efforts are being made by the HoD and the Chair of the Awards Committee with the Dean of Faculty to introduce awards of achievement at the Faculty Level; however the work of this group will not be limited by the success or otherwise

3. Options:

Following discussion, it was agreed that rewarding and recognising achievements of staff should be done in two ways:

1. Individually: identifying achievements of a particular staff member or team
2. Collectively: regularly rewarding all-staff in social/informal ways

Rewards and recognition could take many forms, including:  physical awards, monetary awards, extra leave, vouchers, social activities, enhanced budget allocations etc.

3.i.

The rewards in this option should be scaled to recognise varying levels of achievement, with the lowest levels having lower monetary value and occurring more frequently and vice versa.

The following categories have been proposed:

Level	Possible rewards	Frequency	per year
Level A	Monetary award, up to £1K	Once a year	3 prizes
Level B	Extra days off, or individual equipment: laptop, phone etc.	Once a year	10 prizes
Level C	Vouchers for catering, wine or WOW points	Monthly	3 per month
Level D	Simple thank you!  In person, by email etc.	Always

 3. ii.

The following activities should take place throughout the year in order to recognise the hard work and contribution of all colleagues.  This is fundamental to maintaining a positive and inclusive culture within the Department:

1. Monthly Staff- Mixers
2. Summer BBQ
3. Autumn Kick-off reception
4. Christmas Party

4. Criteria:

A set of criteria will be introduced to determine rewards to be made under 3.i. as set out above.  The criteria will be based on the criteria used to inform the pay review process as set out in the email from the HoD in 2017, and scaled according to the level of the award:

• What have you contributed over and above what’s expected of you in your role (if so how)? Please make it clear what is exceptional and different compared to your role as per your JD.
• Have you been a good team player (if so how)?
• Have you contributed to the life of the department (if so how)?

All applications/nominations will also be assessed against the expectations on Values/Beliefs, Capabilities and Behaviours set-out within the Department’s values and strategy, such as being:

Trustworthy Creative Respectful Supportive Collaborative Engaging

Excellent Resourceful Daring Challenging Responsible Sharing

Professional Efficient Approachable Open-minded Innovative Embracing team-work

 It is important that strict criteria is determined to ensure transparency and fairness in award allocation.

5. Process:

To remove barriers to receiving recognition, any staff member within the Department will be able to nominate any other member of staff and individuals/teams will also be able to self-nominate.

Nominations will be sent to a dedicated Department email account.