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UCL 2034

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Valuing our staff: review of progress

The quality and commitment of our staff is critical to the success of UCL.

Case study: new-look UCL Staff Welcome event

The Provost and Fiona Ryland answering questions at the inaugural Welcome Event
UCL is a huge and sometimes bafflingly complex organisation – so to make new staff feel like part of the UCL community from day one, the Organisational Development (OD) team have a vision for a new kind of staff orientation event.

Until very recently, staff were welcomed at the termly ‘Provost’s Welcome’ event. The format of the Provost’s Welcome hadn’t changed very much in the last decade; it was too infrequent, delivered to too many members of staff en masse and, with less than 13% of new staff attending a welcome event during their probation period, wasn’t reaching its intended audience. 

UCL welcomes, on average, 2,400 new staff each year. OD’s eventual aim is to give each and every one the perfect start and a warm welcome to their career at UCL, making them feel informed and supported from their very first day on the job with more regular, smaller and more informal induction events. To this end, the first new-look UCL Staff Welcome event took place on 16 October 2018, with the aim of facilitating both the practical and social aspects of starting at UCL.

At the event, existing staff members shared their experiences and answered questions, a “UCL 101” section covered the practicalities, and the Provost gave an overview of the 2034 strategy. The aim was to give new starters a much more effective and personalised experience, fostering a real sense of belonging and recognising that our strength as a university comes from the calibre and commitment of our staff.

Image: The Provost and Fiona Ryland answering questions at the inaugural Welcome Event. Credit: Kate Faxen

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