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Induction

 

Please see below some of the services available to you as a member of staff at the University. 

 

Professional Development

One of our core values at the University of Cambridge is to recognise and reward our staff as our greatest asset. We realise that it's our people who have built our outstanding reputation, and that we will only maintain our leading position in the academic world by continuing to attract and retain talented and motivated people.

During your induction programme and your probation period, you will be able to identify any training and development needs that have to be met to enable you to undertake your role effectively.

The personal and professional development activities you undertake whilst working at Cambridge will be based around the needs identified by you and your line manager during your induction, probation and ongoing staff review process.

The University offers you many opportunities across a broad spectrum to support your personal and professional development in order to enhance your working life here. Some development opportunities may be met through the courses and support provided to all University staff by our Personal and Professional Development (PPD) team. You should document your training and development needs in a Personal Development Plan (PDP) and the training and development activity you undertake in a Learning Log.

 

Mentoring

At its very basic core, mentoring is a relationship in which an individual supports a colleague, by sharing their professional knowledge and experiences, and utilising key skills and personal attributes, to enable that colleague to achieve their goals.

As well as benefiting from the experiences and knowledge of another colleague, and the time and space to reflect on your current and future challenges and opportunities as a mentee you also benefit from the chance to: 

 

  • Get help with setting and achieving personal and professional goals and addressing challenges.
  • Share ideas and consider new ways of doing things in a space away from your normal working environment.
  • Discuss and receive encouragement to progress your career and develop new skills and knowledge. 
  • Gain independent feedback on your performance. 
  • Increase confidence and sense of value.
  • Build a support network outside your own team or work area to draw on in the future.
  • Understand and gain an insight into other parts of the University.

More information can be found on the PPD Mentoring Webpages.

 

Digital Skills Self-assessment

As part of the Digital Workplace Programme the University is supporting its Professional Services Staff in understanding their individual digital capability through the rollout of the Jisc Discovery Tool. With digital skills such an important part of our everyday working lives, the Jisc Discovery Tool is a diagnostic self-reflective tool which helps identify an individual’s digital capability and highlight any gaps. Completing the questions will provide you with a valuable opportunity to reflect on your confidence and skills across a range of digital capabilities that help you live, learn and work effectively in a digital world. You can find more information, including the Self-Assessment on the ourcambridge Jisc Digital Skills sharepoint page.

 

Wellbeing

The University is committed to providing a healthy working environment and improving the quality of working lives for all staff. The wellbeing strategy aims to support the University’s mission and core values of freedom of thought and expression, freedom from discrimination and the recognition that the University’s staff are its greatest asset. The wellbeing strategy’s ultimate goal is to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of University staff and to prevent work associated ill health, for the overall benefit of staff and the organisation. This encompasses the physical, mental and social health of employees and recognises that employees’ values, personal development and work within the University contribute to their overall wellbeing at work. The University has a large workforce and is geographically, culturally and linguistically diverse.  The wellbeing strategy aims to reflect this diversity and to provide direction on related issues and challenges in order to support the development of effective solutions and outcomes. For further information please see our Wellbeing pages.

 

Family Support

The University also offers a number of benefits and services to staff with families including maternity and paternity benefits and leave, career breaks and flexible working. The University has four workplace nurseries (limited places available), and also runs a holiday playscheme for school-age children, during most state school holidays. The University Childcare Office can provide further information about the University nurseries and holiday playscheme. Please visit the Childcare webpages for more information.

 

Travel Advisor Service

After working from home for the past year or more, you might be unsure about what your travel options are as the University starts to think about opening up its doors again to staff. The Travel Advisors can help you find out what's changed since you last travelled to work, including how to keep active by walking and cycling as part of your commute.

The new Travel Advisor Service has been introduced by the University to help staff explore the alternative travel options that might be available to them, perhaps looking for a commute that is healthier, greener, faster or cheaper than previous arrangements. The service would be particularly useful if you're a relatively recent or new starter who has yet to venture into the workplace, but is available to all staff.

To arrange a conversation with a Travel Advisor, using MS Teams:

  • Complete a brief survey at Travel Advisor Session Booking Form to provide a bit of information about yourself and your travel to work, and your preference regarding the days/times you're available for a session
  • You'll be matched with a Travel Advisor and they will send you an invite for a Teams call
  • You'll have a conversation with your Travel Advisor via Teams. They'll use the call to understand more about you and your travel to work, and together you'll explore your travel options
  • Following the call your Travel Advisor will pull together some personalised information to help support you in trying out the options identified
  • They will follow up with you on a couple of occasions to see how you are getting on or if you need any further support, and to find out what you thought of the service.

 

Other support

There are many services available to support you throughout your career at the University including, should you need them, a confidential staff support helpline, counselling service, occupational health service and chaplaincy.

 

Library

Cambridge University Libraries are open to members of the University of Cambridge, and you are warmly welcomed to visit us. Information about access to all our libraries, including the main University Library can be found here. You may also find it useful to access the Cambridge University Libraries Directory, which can be found at the following web address: https://www.libraries.cam.ac.uk/libraries-directory/libraries-a-z.
 

 

Catering

In addition to the catering facilities listed in the Well being section of Employee Benefits, you should also investigate whether there are any additional catering facilities within your work location.

 

Staying Informed

There are a number of ways to find out what is happening at the University. We recommend that you are aware of the following key communication routes: