RAVENSBOURNE COLLEGE OF DESIGN AND COMMUNICATION

“REWARDING PERFORMANCE, RECOGNISING ACHIEVEMENT”

REWARD STRATEGY POLICY STATEMENT

1 Context and Approach to Total Rewards

1.1 Ravensbourne recognises the importance of attracting, retaining and

developing high calibre staff in order to remain competitive in the markets
within which it operates and reward is central to this. The Reward Strategy
Policy statement is designed to facilitate the achievement of the College’s
objectives.

1.2 Ravensbourne wishes to develop what is known as a total reward package.

This approach to reward goes beyond the provision of pay and benefits to
encompass; recognition of significant achievements, employee development,
work / life balance, organisational culture and environment (including job
design and physical workspace).

2 Reward Principles

2.1 The core principles that underpin Ravensbourne’s approach to rewarding its
staff are to:

• Provide competitive pay and benefits to help the College, attract, retain and
develop talented individuals

• Develop the right skills and competencies in its workforce for today and
tomorrow

• Reward corporate, department / faculty-based and individual contribution

• Develop reward and recognition policies that support key institutional policies
such as performance management, training and development, learning and
teaching

• Encouraging consultancy activities in enterprise and innovation

• Ensure that the requirements of equal pay for work of equal value are met
using transparent pay and evaluation systems.

3 Factors Influencing Ravensbourne’s Approach to Pay

3.1 The factors which affect Ravensbourne’s approach to pay are:

3.1.1 The Annual Pay Review

Core salaries for academic and support staff, attract an annual uplift,
determined by the Board of Governors, normally reflecting the
recommendations of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association
(UCEA).

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 3.1.2 Non-consolidated contribution awards
The introduction of contribution awards, aims to reward exceptional
performance amongst individuals, whose contribution is in excess of the
requirements of their roles. These awards will be in the form of one-off, non-
consolidated bonus payments.

3.1.3 Market Forces and Supplements

From time to time, the College may attribute market supplements to an
identified vacancy where it is experiencing difficulties in recruiting to fill the
position. Key posts, identified by the senior management team, may also
attract a golden handcuff payment on joining the College.

The pitching of senior management starting salaries is entirely market driven,

having regard to appropriate sectoral salary information.

3.1.4 Performance Related Pay

Senior Managers’ annual salary increases fall outside the scope of national
pay bargaining. Instead, the amount of any annual percentage increase is
subject to annual review, based on the extent to which the previous years
appraisal objectives have been met. The amount of the performance related
pay increases may therefore, vary from individual to individual.

In prescribed circumstances, where staff are requested to undertake

significant pieces of work outside the normal scope of their role (such as the
Relocation Project) they will receive additional payments, which will normally
be conditional upon the successful completion of agreed milestones

3.1.5 Affordability
The College will continue to ensure that its pay plans remains affordable and
sustainable for today and tomorrow.

3.1.6 Openness and transparency

The College mission includes the statement:

“We are a national institution with international perspectives but we attach

particular importance to contributing to London’s social and cultural vibrancy
and its economic prosperity. We encourage creativity and enterprise in our
students and staff and champion the creative exploitation of digital
technologies in design and communications.”

The Reward Strategy will comply with this mission and this reward
mechanism will be designed to be clear to staff and perceived to be fair.

4 Pay Structure

4.1 In 2006 all jobs were evaluated and assigned to a new pay range using the
HAY job evaluation system. The results of the job evaluation process were
communicated to all staff individually, and each employee informed where
their salary fell within the pay range for the role. Following on from this, now
all new jobs are evaluated and assigned to a pay scale before they are
recruited into.

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4.2 The HAY job evaluation system has been tested for fairness under equal pay
conditions. The College’s approach to job evaluation is communicated on
the website together with the policies and Appeals Procedure.

4.3 The College pays spot salaries, which as the name suggests, is an annual
salary which does not attract a London Weighting element (since the National
Framework Agreement for the Modernisation of Pay was implemented, the
majority of HEI’s have integrated London Weighting payments into their salary
scales). In paying core salaries, the College is paying for the capability
required to perform in individual roles to a high standard and that in itself
would not attract a contribution-related payment. Where an individual’s
performance significantly exceeds the requirements of the role s/he will be
eligible to be considered for a non-consolidated award as mentioned. The pay
ranges have been determined by market forces, public and private sector
surveys and with reference to the Framework Agreement pay points. Where
significant additional responsibilities are added to any roles, respective job
descriptions will be re-evaluated by a panel during a job evaluation meeting,
which will take place each year in the spring term. Salary adjustments will be
made accordingly if the changes are considered to have increased sufficiently
to attract an uplift. In exceptional cases re-evaluations maybe considered at
other times e.g. team/departmental restructuring and any increases will
commence from the date that these additional responsibilities were agreed.
Staff should not take on additional responsibilities that have not been agreed
beforehand by their line manager.

5 Components of Ravensbourne’s Total Reward and Recognition Package

5.1 There are six elements to the College’s total reward model:

5.1.1 Pay, Benefits and Terms and Conditions of Service

The College’s remuneration package includes: core salary, membership of

the respective teaching / local government pension schemes and extensive
annual leave.

With the exception of annual leave arrangements, harmonised terms and

conditions of service apply to teaching and support staff.

5.1.2 Recognition and Contribution Bonus Payments

Beyond the annual pay review, the College wishes to reward positive and
effective contribution in the form of one-off, non-consolidated bonus
payments.

Typically, individuals or teams may be rewarded for outstanding contribution

and commitment which is linked to:

• Teaching and Learning – specifically to recognise and celebrate

individuals who make an outstanding impact on the student learning
experience and raise the profile of learning and teaching at the
College
• The Annual Governors’ Award – specifically demonstrating impact and
engagement beyond the immediate academic or professional role and

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 may relate to curriculum development and/or innovation that has been
successfully proposed and achieved.
• The Annual Governors’ Award for overall contribution – to recognise
individual excellence in delivering a major project or raising the profile
of the College
• Director’s Award – to reward staff who make specific contributions
leading up to our move to the Greenwich Peninsular in relation to the
relocation, including finding creative ways of working and fostering
excellent ideas in change management or raising the profile of the
College nationally or internationally

5.1.3 Learning and Development

The College has an active Staff Development Policy and strongly encourages
staff to be pro-active about their own development through the identification of
appropriate activities via the annual staff appraisal process, and other
strategically identified priorities. The College recognises the advantages to
be gained by all stakeholders to its approach to training and development; the
quality of learning and teaching continues to be enhanced and internal
support service providers continues to offer professional, customer focused
services. Since 2003, there has been visible open access to training and
development for staff; the full spectrum of available seminars and workshops
is communicated via the Staff Training and Development calendar which is
produced each year and on the intranet, allowing individuals to see and
request training appropriate to their jobs.

There are three funding streams:

• Training budget – this funding responds to self-initiated activities

linked to areas of training identified and agreed at the staff appraisal
meeting

• Staff Development budget – this budget supports the funding of

activities such as studies for professional qualifications and projects
which are more aligned to strategic organisational activities.

• ICT budget – this budget is used to ensure that staff are able to
update their skills in line with technological developments

5.1.4 Consultancy Work

The College encourages its staff to do consultancy where the work

strengthens the College’s purposes and brings credit to it. The College’s
consultancy activities are promoted through and managed by its trading
subsidiary, Ravensbourne Ltd. Where consultancy is done under contract
between Ravensbourne Ltd and the client, then the work will be carried out in
the course of employment of the member of staff in accordance with the
College’s procedures for consultancy (see separate policy “A Guide for
Consultancy Activities”)

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 5.1.5 Work environment, including Job design and physical workspace

The College seeks as far as possible to provide a working environment for all
staff, appropriate to the demands of their job and to provide access to
space/resources that enable an individual to perform within their job. The
College works within limited space therefore working environments are being
developed to be flexible and open, in keeping with the College’s long term
plans, whilst striving to achieve a desirable working environment in context
with the physical space.

The College is developing strategies with regards to space management that

will enable the maximisation of available space for teaching, seminars and
meetings (private and public), as entirely bookable and not dedicated to
courses. In addition spaces and facilities for support staff will also be subject
to space management but will have a different formulation

5.1.6 Work / life balance

The College wishes to encourage staff to strike a reasonable balance

between work and home life. Staff are strongly encouraged to discuss with
their line managers any concerns they may have about workloads. At
present; 27% of staff work part-time; there is 1 job share; the College
considers all requests for flexible working on an individual basis. Moving
forward, the College will develop a flexible working policy to form part of the
Reward Strategy.

In order to maintain their current industry knowledge, staff are also

encouraged to participate in presentations, exhibitions, partnership activities,
research and committee membership which helps to ensure they are known
as experts in their fields. Whilst these may not attract any remuneration it
may increase peer and industry recognition.

6 Non-Cash based Recognition, Initiatives and Flexible Benefits

6.1 The College offers a number of recognition and benefits initiatives:

6.1.1 Non-cash based Recognition initiatives

The College recognises that pay is not necessarily the most important
motivator and that motivation derives from a wide range of sources,
particularly those which are intrinsic to the job. The College currently has two
(non-contractual) non-cash based staff recognition rewards which are
explained in the staffing policies, these are:

• Annual Christmas lunch and gift for all full-time and fractional staff

• Long Service Awards

6.1.2 Non-cash based Initiatives

The College has introduced a number of non-contractual initiatives for staff,

the details of which are contained in a leaflet for all staff:

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 • Employee Support Helpline – ICAS is an independent counselling and
advisory service, the provision of which is paid for by the College. The
service is available to all staff 24 hours a day, 365 days per year and
also for use by an employee’s partner, and /or any family members
residing at home with them.

• Eye Sight Tests - Preliminary eyesight tests are carried out within the
College periodically and are free of charge to staff. Any resulting
referrals for eyesight testing are also paid for, as is a contribution
towards the cost of spectacles for eligible staff (middle vision only).

• Staff Discounts – Staff discounts have been negotiated with a number

of local businesses. Additionally, the College receives and notifies staff
of discounted theatre tickets that it receives on a regular basis and
free tickets to activities within the 02
.
• Childcare Vouchers Scheme – eligible staff (via a salary sacrifice
scheme) can elect to take up to currently £55 per week [£243 per
month] instead of their salary, to use as part-payment for childcare
arrangements.

• Professional Studies – support may be given to staff seeking

assistance with professional exams which relate to the job role.

6.1.3 Flexible benefits

The College would like to consider the scope for introducing over time, a flexible
benefits menu which may include for example, widespread flexible working,
sabbaticals and career breaks etc.

The College will seek staff views on various elements of a flexible benefits menu
prior to implementation, in order to ensure the benefits offered are appropriate to
the need.

7 Notification and introduction of total reward concepts

7.1 To ensure openness and transparency when the scheme is formally

launched, benefits will be published on the intranet and through a published
leaflet, initially announced via email. Line managers will be expected to
discuss them at appraisals to ensure staff are aware of the full range of
opportunities.

7.2 New staff will be introduced to the benefits range during their induction period.

Draft prepared: October 2005

Revised Draft: March 2006
Revised 28 April 2006
Revised September 2007