If you work within University Professional Services, there may be times when you wonder whether you’re invisible to the academic staff within your institution. Well, statistically that’s exactly what you are. In her book, ‘Surviving and Thriving in Higher Education Professional Services’, author Rachel Reeds explains that HESA, (The Higher Education Statistics Agency) requires Universities  to report each year the headcount of staff employed within their institution. However, Universities are not required to include Professional Services staff within their data return and so many don’t. Over a quarter of a million staff are therefore not included in the return. The hierarchy within universities perpetuates the divide between ‘us’ (academic staff) and ‘them’ (Professional Services staff), with each group employed on different contracts, with academic staff enjoying more favourable terms.

I’ve often described Professional Services staff as ‘plankton’; invisible to the naked eye but essential to the flourishing of a university’s eco system. If you were to remove staff working in Professional Services, what would happen? Consider a university with no exam timetabling or room booking functions. Where there is no financial regulation, no student wellbeing support, student recruitment function, student accommodation, library staff or IT support….and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

In this post I explore how you can increase your visibility, despite having the odds of being noticed stacked against you.

If you work in Professional Services, regardless of your role, your job is fundamentally to contribute to solving your university’s problems, making sure things run smoothly and play your part in contributing to key metrics. Academic staff are quick to take credit for success for which you may have played a key role. ‘Knowing your place’ in the hierarchy may make you reluctant to claim your contribution to university impact measures. When things don’t go the way academic staff want they’ll be only too quick to point the finger. Make sure therefore that the work you do- either as a team or individually, is noticed and recorded.

7 ways to raise your profile
  1. Most Universities have an internal newsletter, which is one easy way to raise the profile of your work and what you’ve achieved for the institution.
  2. Sometimes Professional Staff have opportunities to meet with University leaders. While it can be tempting not to attend these events, consider these opportunities as part of the job, however inconvenient. If you don’t show up you perpetuate your invisibility.
  3. You may have opportunities to showcase your work. Where you have links to a specific department or faculty, these meetings or away days are a great opportunity to provide a brief input so that academic colleagues begin to get to know who you are and what you do. What problems do you help them solve? What metrics do you contribute to?
  4. Applying to support a University committee is a great way to understand how decisions are made and to observe who holds the power. Raise your profile by making sure others know who you are and what you do. Get to know other committee members and the challenges they face. Over time, the contacts you develop will become invaluable.
  5. Task forces and working groups are another way to get to know some of your academic and Professional Services colleagues and ensure more staff are aware of the value you and your department add.
  6. Project funding can provide an opportunity to collaborate with your academic colleagues so they begin to appreciate the skills and experiences you bring.
  7. Develop credibility. Being known as an expert is important. Academics respect expertise. Make sure they know you are the expert in your field.
A personal example

Some years ago while working at the University of Warwick, I was involved in a HEFCE funded project. The project, in collaboration with King’s College London, was undertaking research into Graduate Attributes. By chance, I had recently come across a new approach EY were using to hire graduates. They had shifted from skills to strengths-based recruitment approach. EY had discovered that focusing on attributes rather than skills was a more authentic way to make hiring decisions.

I approached Cappfinity, a firm of Occupational Psychologists, who had designed the strengths profile EY was using. Coincidentally Cappfinity just happened to be based less than a mile from campus. They were looking for an opportunity to work with a University and were keen to collaborate on the project. I allocated some of the project funding to train as a strengths practitioner. I then set out to discover whether understanding their strengths could help students to make more informed career decisions and improve their chances of securing internships.

The project demonstrated the positive impact of Strengths on students completing the profile and receiving feedback. I therefore allocated the remaining project funds to train the entire careers team. At that time Warwick was the first university to have invested in a strengths-based approach in careers work.

The impact

That meant all careers staff were able to provide students with strengths workshops, profiles and feedback. I was then approached by a staff team who asked me to deliver a team strengths workshop. The session went well and I subsequently received requests from several other Professional Services staff teams.

I later ran a second HEFCE funded project on Employability Learning Gain, once more on Strengths. A PVC acted as the project sponsor as she knew of my previous work on strengths. This time, I led a project across six Russell Group universities. I later shared the project findings at national and regional events.

As Head of Careers I applied and became a member of Warwick’s International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA). Through this group, I was asked to deliver strengths workshops to new members. In turn, that led to delivery of an international leadership workshop at Cambridge last summer.

Following the success of those workshops, I was approached this year by King’s London to deliver a session to their academic leaders.

Lessons leaned

I shared this example because I was not in a managerial role or formal position of influence when I started this work. However:

  • I made sure key staff were aware of each project’s impact, taking or creating opportunities to share project outcomes.
  • I connected with a wider range of academic staff as a result of being a WIHEA member and networking with group members.
  • Having an academic sponsor helped raise my profile within and beyond Warwick.
  • I became ‘known’ for my knowledge and experience in strengths.
  • The projects enjoyed attention externally and developed good working relationships with colleagues in other universities. Since then, more universities have embraced strengths and trained staff as practitioners.

Regardless of your job level, you can work to raise your profile, develop your contacts, increase your leverage and your impact. Most importantly, you’ll raise your visibility which can only enhance your career prospects.