The Benefits of Career Development for Professional Services in Higher Education
Professional development gives individuals and teams the opportunity to learn new skills that they can apply to their role and help them to advance their career.
In higher education, career development opportunities are not only an important way to retain and upskill existing staff, but also to support those staff to deliver an excellent student experience. By investing in their staff, institutions can create a more supportive and student-centred environment.
In this article, we start by outlining the benefits of providing career development opportunities for professional service staff in higher education institutions. These include: improving the quality of services, creating a more supportive environment, improving collaboration with academic staff and promoting a culture of continuous learning. We then point to some examples of what career development opportunities for HE professionals might look like and shine a light on some of the programmes already being delivered by providers across the sector.
1. Improving the quality of services
Professional service staff play a vital role in supporting students throughout their higher education journey, from admissions and enrolment to graduation and beyond.
By providing professional development opportunities for these staff, institutions can help them to develop the skills and knowledge they need to provide students with the highest quality of services and support. For example, professional development opportunities could focus on areas such as student advising, customer service, conflict resolution, and diversity and inclusion.
2. Creating a more supportive environment
Professional service staff are often the first point of contact for students seeking help and support, and their interactions with students can have a significant impact on the overall student experience.
By offering these professionals opportunities to enhance and build on their skills, institutions can help them to create a more positive and supportive student environment – and, importantly, one that is person-centred. For example, professional development opportunities could focus on areas such as active listening, communication skills, and empathy.
3. Improving collaboration with academic staff
All too often, we hear about siloed working in higher education institutions. Yet academic and professional service staff play complementary roles in supporting students, and it is important for them to be able to collaborate effectively. This will allow for a holistic approach to delivering an excellent student experience, rather than segmenting academic and personal life.
When both academic and professional service staff have access to career development opportunities, institutions can help them to develop a better understanding of each other's roles and responsibilities, and to learn how to work together more effectively. For example, professional development opportunities could focus on areas such as teamwork, collaboration, and conflict resolution.
4. Promoting a culture of continuous learning
Fundamentally, higher education institutions are there to provide a learning environment. By making learning opportunities available to staff as well as students, an institution can stay true to its mission and purpose.
By providing career development for professional service staff, institutions also send a message that they value their staff's professional growth and development. This can help to create a more positive and engaged work environment, and ultimately lead to improved student services and support.
Professional development in practice
As this article has outlined, providing career development opportunities to professional service staff can support them to enhance the student experience in your institution. So, if you’re inspired to take action and start providing these opportunities to your staff, below are some examples to get you started.
Produce a career development toolkit. This can help guide staff through the different stages of their career. For an example, take a look at the one LSE have put together.
Think about how you can integrate career development into your wider university strategy. The University of Greenwich has developed a Career Framework for professional service staff that is aligned to their institution-wide strategy, while professional development opportunities at Queen Mary, University of London serve the institution’s strategy to create an inclusive environment.
Consider what kind of opportunities will be most beneficial to your staff. This could be mentoring, job shadowing, secondments, annual reviews or offering individual learning accounts for staff to undertake professional development courses and programmes. You can do this by offering them the opportunity to pursue and chart their development on an independent basis and providing a range of resources. For example, UCL offers all their staff access to LinkedIn Learning, which allows them to access a plethora of courses and keep track of their activity.
Focus on breaking down silos and cross-department collaboration. For example, mental health support training could be a valuable asset to all staff working in student facing roles, not just wellbeing; it could be beneficial to have those who are working on housing or financial support also trained to support student wellbeing, for instance. UCL has set up a series of Communities of Practice (CoPs) for staff who are working in similar practice areas or performing similar functions to connect, build networks and share knowledge. For inspiration, take a look at their case studies exploring insights from this initiative and their impact reports.
Prioritise the development of key skills and knowledge when designing opportunities. This could be communication and collaboration, conflict resolution, time management or technical abilities. You can use tools to identify the strengths and weaknesses of teams and make strategic decisions about what kind of development opportunities to provide. For example, the University of Bath uses a Strengthscope ® profiling tool to asses staff work-related strengths.
Recognise staff when they undertake professional development work and celebrate their achievements. This could be in the form of a diploma or official document attesting to their skills. This might include offering a formal qualification to recognise how staff have worked towards professional development, in a similar way to how academic staff might be offered fellowships as a result of completing courses.
Encourage staff to reflect on and understand why professional development is important. This means not only promoting the opportunities for personal and career development it offers, but also consideration of how such learning can contribute to institutional goals. The University of Essex, for example, encourages staff undertaking professional development to consider how they contribute to the university’s shared mission; how they are developing new ways of working and thinking; and what the institution values and how staff work together.
Support diversity and inclusion through professional development, which can help to create a greater sense of belonging and community. The University of Bath offers unique programmes based on staff characteristics, such as their Aurora programme, which supports women to develop leadership skills, and their Elevate programme, which offers women from minority ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to connect and learn alongside others.
In short, professional development for professional service staff is essential for improving student experience. By encouraging staff to develop the skills and knowledge that will help them to deliver excellent student services, you can create an environment in which students feel supported.
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