Values & Purposes exists to ensure the Values we hold (and display both virtually and physically) are truly lived within the work of the Library, rather than a redundant list.
To this end, the group has worked on the following:
All of the above are ongoing pieces of work. Our Padlet boards demonstrate how we gathered our evidence (Doc A).
The Deputy University Librarian (Wendy Luker) has the responsibility for strategic development of Customer Services, she ensures strong linkage between the Library Strategy Group and those monitoring and developing customer services. Working with her teams, she also ensures that customer focused support and service is a key theme running through strategic and operational planning as well as team and individual action planning.
The Library Strategy Group ensures a portion of library income is used to fund a variety of part-time student roles and bursary opportunities to meet a need for part-time work for students and increase student involvement with our work. This includes our Student Communications team who undertake work for us throughout the year, engaging with their peers both on campus and in the Library. We have also recruited students to mystery shop the Library this term to refresh this work with the student voice.
The results of the our annual mystery shopping are discussed by managers at senior level. For example comments on signage were taken to the Space Planning meeting chaired by the Head of Business & Management Services
Library and attended by the University Librarian (Doc B).
The Library fully supports the delivery of the Welcome Host and Welcoming All Customers training programmes to all staff. Resources have been made available in terms of the cost of the participant packs and paying additional hours so that all staff can attend regardless of their hours of work. Investment has also been made in the team of internal trainers so that the course is tailored and specific to our needs.
Library objectives are set annually by Library management and the process always incorporates an opportunity for staff at all levels to contribute. Objective 1.11 is just one example which reflects the importance of the customer throughout the planning processes of the service (Doc C).
Through feedback from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, as a subject liaison team we were conscious we were not effectively communicating Library messages and services. We therefore employed students from various programmes and entry levels from the School to conduct research about the awareness of certain Library services and preferred modes of communication. This resulted in three SAPL interns collating data and providing a report of recommendations (Doc D). We have since experimented with using the University app, using the School's coffee bar which students regularly use and online communication platforms such as the Library subject blogs and Libguides.
Our library feedback service, Tell Us What You Think, enables our staff to analyse customer feedback and use for service improvement, and we produce a summary of actions taken which we publicize on the Library website to show how we take on board customer feedback and make service improvements where possible.
The Library has seen extensive refurbishment across the Library buildings and consultation with customers has been key to this work. (Doc A)
Walton Refurbishment
The Walton Library, which supports the staff and students of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, underwent a refurbishment over the Summer of 2017 to address the changing needs and increase in numbers of students. This work entailed extensive remodelling of the service desk and collaborative and silent study spaces to provide a greater number of fit for purpose facilities. This work was largely informed by a variety of feedback methods such as UX (Doc B), dialogue at Student Staff Committees and user comments. A total of 94 extra study spaces and a wide range of enhanced facilities have now been provided as a result of this building work.
YourSpace
In order to respond to the demand for collaborative study space in the Philip Robinson Library, YourSpace (our largest collaborative study area in the Philip Robinson Library) was refurbished and additional seats were added. This was achieved by rehousing a large quantity of lower-use print material in our off-campus store, where the material remains accessible, but does not occupy prime on-campus study space.
The YourSpace refurbishment has provided more group study tables, more individual study desks, 7 additional bookable group study rooms, including a large boardroom and a Skype room, plus 3 very popular study booths including an accessible booth.
Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms
Work was completed extending the Library over all 4 floors of the Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms. During the work we created a ‘pop-up style’ silent floor and a collaborative study floor to ensure we maintained an equivalent provision of study space.
The Learning and Teaching Development Service is now based on the 1st floor which brings together both parts of the Academic Services Division for the first time. LTDS are pleased to have moved into space shared with students as they are keen to use the proximity to more easily connect with students in order to carry out focus groups and get more feedback on learning and teaching issues.Customers were kept informed online using social media, with more detailed information on a Libguide and by more traditional means such as a whiteboard in the Reception area.
Special Collections Exhibition area
In 2019 exhibition placement students were asked to attend space planning meetings in order to feed their opinions into exhibition strategy and provision. This has fed into the new arrangements for our Special Collection exhibition area (Doc C).
We have created an online Search Planner for students to help generate their search strategy, which, once filled in, they can then send to the Liaison team for feedback. These have been insightful in terms of informing us how effective our teaching has been or notifying us on the lack of teaching: Marketing students from a dissertation module were sending filled in Search Planners to our Business Liaison team, highlighting the need for teaching for this particular module. We have also been asking students to fill the Search Planner before 1-to-1 appointments to help inform the librarian they are meeting what stage they are at, and where they need help. This in turn saves the Liaison team time, energy and enables us to help the student more effectively.
The Liaison team attends regular Student Staff Committees to gather student and staff feedback regarding the Library from our different Schools. These meetings regularly generate actions to improve our service across the different Library services, such as purchasing more copies of texts, or getting feedback on changes to Library services.
'Your Library Your Choice' was a student consultation about study space preferences depending on the activity users were engaged in. The results have been used for the Marjorie Robinson refurbishment, for example we have added in PCs onto the silent floors.
We used a variety of methods to consult with customers about the loan policy changes, including informal chats in the Library, conversations at course committees and online via the University App (Doc D).
We also used the App to distribute the recent consultation with students registered with Student Wellbeing. Students were asked if they were willing to be contacted for more detailed feedback. A wheelchair user agreed to accompany staff around the Philip Robinson library and her insights are feeding into changes that have been implemented (Doc E). The survey feedback has been used to strengthen our submission for University funds to refurbish the Library Accessible rooms (Doc F).
We have a detailed accessibility policy page which is published on the Library website. A Library Accessibility group started work this year to bring together the different strands of accessibility work taking place across the Library.
The Library Customer Care statement is published on the website, as well as on display in the Philip Robinson Library staff room to serve as a reminder to staff members.
The Library's Values & Operating Principles explain that customers can expect a high quality of service from the Library.
All services offered by the Library for distance learners, overseas students, NHS users, and academic staff are all accessible via the Library website.
Our Working in Partnership documents (Doc A) set out how we will collaborate with academic staff to support education activities in their module/ School/ Faculty; what academic staff can do to help us offer timely and relevant skills teaching; and what students can do to take responsibility for their learning. We have made our service offer clear by including an outline of the information and digital skills and competencies students can be expected to achieve at each stage of their undergraduate degree. The documents are also linked to the University’s Education Strategy and new Institutional Graduate Framework. Sharing the documents has led to productive conversations with academics that have resulted in increased Library involvement in curriculum reviews, teaching away days and engagement with schools that have not always recognised the value of the support we can provide.
The Library rules and regulations have been revised, this was in part necessitated by the new loan policy which has made significant changes to Library charges for example. The revised version is going to the University Council for approval.
The V&P group have specifically been mapping how ‘excellence’ translates to our work across all teams in the library to make sure staff know what ‘excellence’ looks like rather than an abstract concept. Another example of how we gathered evidence and barriers to excellence is given below:
https://en-gb.padlet.com/paula_fitzpatrick/p0xvdkwy6eso
The Library’s Learning and Development group arrange a series of largely month cross sectional sessions for all staff on a variety of themes. One session this year traced the link between high level University strategy right through to personal objectives and goals in personal appraisals. This was to ensure staff made the direct link from their work to the overarching goals of the University, and for the Library.
Library wide initiatives such as Study Well@NCL and Noise Alerts ensure a fair working environment for all of our customers.
Study Well@NCL replaced our previous Clean and Quiet campaign after collaboration with the Student Union Welfare Equality Officer and NUIT. This came about after a proposal from the Student Union that we extend the time students could be away from their desks from 15 to 30 minutes. It was relaunched as Study Well@NCL and advocates a responsible approach to studying and encourages positive behaviours in study spaces aiming to ensure that access to study space is available fairly.
Feedback procedures such as Tell Us What You Think and the analysis of comments enable us to measure customer experience and ensure customers feel they are being treated fairly. A survey is sent out to everyone who submits feedback via Tell Us What You Think to measure their satisfaction at our response and actions (Doc A).
The Accessibility Group carried out an online consultation of students with disabilities to ensure their priorities were informed by student concerns (Doc B).
Following feedback from Library reception staff that external visitors to Special Collections were getting lost within the Library, reception staff and Special Collections staff worked together to develop a different reception process for these visitors, reflecting their different needs.
A toolkit of resources supporting Library staff to help students with mental health issues was launched in December 2017 on the Staff Development Toolkit reflecting this as the most reported health issue by our students. This model will be followed for other disabilities, again adding those that are seen most significantly in the student population. Dyslexia resources were added in November 2018.
The Welcome All disability awareness training for Library staff has been refreshed taking into account participant feedback and to reflect the new Participant Guide published by the Tourism Board. This full day course is delivered to all new staff. A Welcome All LibGuide is being developed for staff who are unable to attend a face-to-face course.
Acting on student feedback we have introduced a book return facility at The Helix, the University's landmark location. We have also taken this opportunity to meet the customer demand for books to be returned at any Library site.
Allocating resources for reading list items is done following an agreed ratio criterion (Doc C). These criteria are applied across the different Faculties and covers both print and electronic items. These allows staff to pick from Leganto what need to be ordered without having to refer, making the process more efficient and streamlined. Budget codes are allocated to Faculties using module codes, making it easier for staff to assign the correct fund. Furthermore, there are clear procedures in place for when technical staff do need to refer on items that are more expensive than the agreed limits. We constantly monitor items in high demand and order accordingly for all Schools. Students from every School also can order new or additional resources using the Books on Time service. Academic staff can also recommend new books at any time.
The Library can only be accessed by customer Smartcard, and 24/7 staffing of barriers prevents any unauthorised access. Staff areas require pin code entry, or where there are signs illustrating the area is staff only, these are in constant view of staff.
The University Data Protection policy can be accessed via the staff website and the Writing Development Centre displays their Confidentiality Policy on their website.
Employees sign a security agreement as part of their regular Payment Card Industry card training (Doc A).
All Library staff completed an online training course and assessment on the implications of the GDPR regulations.
All staff and student data is transferred via automated feed to our library management system, from institutional data which is held in one central point. The library management system itself is protected via secure logins and wherever possible this data is kept and handled only in a digital form and only for as long as is necessary. All user records are purged from the library management system 3 years after leaving the University.
Our Values & Purposes group asked all library staff to respond to the new University values, mapped them to our work, and included them in our annual appraisal procedures. We are continually reviewing and refining our V&Ps (we are currently undergoing a review) and share and invite comment from the whole Library. Any new values will be shared throughout the Library for comment.
Senior Library staff constantly encourage staff involvement in a variety of Library initiatives and projects such as annual objective setting, Open Days, and Customer Service Excellence.
A number of different service staff participate in promotional calendar planning, helping to decide which customer focused events to run within the Library.
There is Library wide participation in the Study Well@NCL campaign. All staff take part in Welcome Host training, a dedicated customer services training day.
All Library staff are involved in the annual review of our Library Welcome for students (Doc A). The student communications team leads on taking the welcome out onto campus, with Library staff from across the teams taking place in our foyer based Library activities and help at point of need. All staff are asked to reflect and feedback on how this year's approach to Welcome has worked and contribute ideas to next year's direction.
Cross-sectional sessions, usually once a month, invite all staff to an hour long sessions which ranges from internal to wider University and wholly external speakers. Sessions link to strategy or projects for the year ahead. Recent sessions include ‘Supporting Dyslexic Students’, ‘Business Process Improvement’ and ‘ Engage and Aspire' (feeding back on our current PDR process). Our booklet outlining our programme is provided to all staff (Doc A).
The Learning and Development group in the Library were instrumental is setting up a North East training/learning exchange day for interested academic libraries. We spent the day drawing together common themes and issues. Our agenda for the day can be seen from the link below and we have many outputs and presentations to share with staff. We are meeting again and hope to make this a regular forum for support and good practice.
We continue to use assessment centres to assist with the targeted recruitment of new customer service staff - this involves a timetabled email test and Library chat test.
Job descriptions mention the importance of customer services and interview questions involve typical service scenarios which enable the recruitment team to assess the candidates' experience and ability to give great customer service.
All staff attend Welcome Host training which is a dedicated customer services training day. This is supplemented by a Welcome Host LibGuide for staff members who are unable to attend the training.
All Library teaching staff take part in 'peer dialogue' which involves their teaching sessions being observed by fellow colleagues for feedback, and this is then taken on board for future session improvement. This initiative now also includes staff from LTDS and Careers (Doc B).
Internal development days for Library staff, such as our summer programmes 'Local Matters' run by the Learning & Development Group, and cross sectionals delivered by people from throughout the Library and University, ensure all staff have the opportunity to learn about other services and better develop their knowledge and skills. Cross sectionals are also recorded and available via the staff intranet so that 24/7 staff or weekend staff can access and view them.
The Service Managers Group undertook a project to review, revise and implement a standard induction process for all new members of Library staff. The project delivered a new streamlined induction process in July 2018 that can be applied to all staff, and processes are automatically triggered when new staff are appointed. The next stage will be to develop online resources to support staff who don’t work standard office hours. Customer Services are building on this through the work of the Training Group (Doc C). A new induction booklet (Doc D) is being trialled which brings together information and links to support and inform new staff through their first weeks. We are also planning a buddy scheme to provide the human element to that support. A major piece of work is also underway which started with the mapping of all the training needed by Customer Services staff, with the next stage, to write training plans for each component.
We now record all customer services training, including small one off sessions, on an Access database which allows us to pull reports of training completed. Staff can request a record of their training at any time. (Doc E)
Numerous feedback methods enable us to see that customers think our staff are polite, friendly and helpful. Feedback from our annual mystery shopping visit from staff at Northumbria University details positive experiences with staff (Doc A).
We often receive feedback on our staff provided via our Tell Us What You Think service (Doc B) and social media.
During welcome weeks, the 'How Warm Is Our Welcome?' ball poll box illustrates the initial positive impression that customers have of our front facing staff.
The University's Performance & Development Review (PDR) takes place annually. Six monthly review meetings are scheduled to ensure staff are working to their set targets and objectives.
In October 2018, the University unveiled the ‘Our Vision’ document, which foregrounded the values of Creativity, Impact and Excellence to drive the organisation forward, and to tackle challenges civically, nationally and globally. In the Library, we felt it was important to explore these values and then once fully understood, embed in our annual staff appraisal process (PDR). Understanding and embedding were key to the values being fully integrated, and to this end, the Values and Purposes group (V&P) led the following:
The group will be looking to gather feedback in good time for the next PDR cycle from Summer 2020, to ensure that this change was well received and understood. Clear guidance was given to both reviewees and reviewers to help in understanding the new values (Docs A & B).
The University's Pay Review Policy exists to enable managers to evaluate staff performance where staff have exceeded their targets or gone 'above and beyond' in their job roles, they can be recommended for accelerated salary increments or one-off bonuses.
Spotlight Awards ensure extraordinary individual and team effort is acknowledged and rewarded. Since 2016, 48 Library staff have received a spotlight award and been invited to a 'celebrating success event' which is then displayed on the University staff website.
Staff can use the internal staff Library Help FAQ page to ask and answer questions relating to services, share knowledge and good practice which helps to create a more consistent working environment across all Libraries.
Staff in customer services were invited to take part in a Values workshop which looked at the University values in further detail and used them to inform the customer service objectives for the coming year (Doc A).
Feedback from staff indicated that Customer Services Team meetings were too top down and some staff felt inhibited in sharing ideas and meetings were too short for detailed discussion. The idea for our new CS Forums came out of the CS Communications Group with staff from all levels and across all 4 sites. The Forums are longer and have a four part structure; tales from the teams (peer sharing), what's happened (gathering feedback on recent events), what's happening (gathering insights on current projects), tales from the Lab (peer sharing on our Learning Lab developments).
A member of staff suggested at a Customer Services group meeting that we should send an email reminder to all users with a Group Study Room booking that day. The aim would be to free up rooms if the booking was no longer required. This suggestion has been actioned, the email reminds users that they have a booking and asks them to cancel their booking if they no longer require it.
Feedback from the Liaison team was acted on to facilitate a closer working environment within the team through a successful desk and people shuffle in our communal offices on Levels 3 and 4.
Customer service staff within Special Collections led on a re-designed request form, having noticed previous customer confusion.
The Library ensures that we gain recognition for services that represent best practice by taking the opportunity to achieve national awards. Our website promotes our successes and acknowledges the hard work of staff. Managers encourage staff to put forward their great work for individual and team national and University awards (Doc A).
Library staff are nominated by their managers to receive Pay Reviews and Spotlight Awards for exceptional contribution and great customer service. When staff are awarded a Spotlight award, they are invited by the Vice-Chancellor to attend a 'Celebrating Success' event with the Executive Board and other staff members celebrating a professional achievement.
Managers have been reminded of the University’s Spotlight Award scheme and encouraged to consider nominations that meet any or more of the following criteria:
Long service is also recognised and awarded by the university to show their gratitude to staff's commitment to their work.
The Learning Lab has been developed as an online space where customer services staff can experiment with their learning and development. Staff are encouraged and supported to develop tools for their own and their colleagues learning. The First Friday Challenge is part of this. It takes many different forms but basically is a fact-finding, learning exercise disguised as a bit of fun. All these materials are building up into a repository of great value for existing and new staff.
Senior University and Library managers congratulated all Library staff and the individuals on the CSE team for our success in last year's CSE Review.