UCC's new People & Culture Plan is a bold statement of UCC’s commitment to attracting, developing, and retaining world-class talent. Our people are the foundation of our success, and this plan reflects our dedication to creating an environment where every member of our community can thrive.
Our UCC People and Culture Plan exists to support our University achieve its strategic plan. It supports the delivery of Goal 4 of the UCC Strategic Plan – Our People and Our Culture (Securing our Future - UCC Strategic Plan 2023-2028) and places our people, our culture, and our values at the core of everything we do.
People
At UCC we are proud of our talented people and all our activities will support our people to be happy and successful in achieving their career aspirations.
Career Development
We will focus on support for career development and the creation of progression and promotion pathways that enable all our people to experience professional growth and high performance.
Our people are the foundation of our success, and this plan reflects our dedication to creating an environment where every member of our community can thrive.
A Message from Our Chief People and Culture Officer
Our UCC People and Culture Plan is about making UCC a place where people are proud to work. We want everyone to feel supported, respected, and inspired to grow – not just as employees, but as part of a thriving community.
This plan is a key part of UCC’s broader vision (Securing our Future - UCC Strategic Plan 2023-2028), which connects and empowers people to shape a sustainable and inclusive future through an environment and culture that enables transformative research and learning for the enrichment of society and stewardship of our planet. As a research-intensive university, this plan recognises the vital contributions of all our people — from those advancing research in labs, classrooms, and the field, to those enabling and supporting discovery, teaching, and innovation across the university. At its core is a simple belief: when our people thrive, so does our university.
The plan sets out our strategic priorities, actions, and values to build a workplace where we belong, where our voices are heard, and where we can do our best work. It’s shaped by the ideas and insights of our staff, grounded in best practices, and tailored to UCC’s unique strengths and goals.
To attract and retain world-class talent, we will implement a global talent strategy that positions us as a leading employer in higher education. Our goal is to ensure that UCC offers an inclusive, rewarding, and engaging experience for all employees, fostering a thriving workforce that supports academic excellence.
Attracting and retaining top talent is vital in a competitive Higher Education landscape. We will enhance our employer brand to appeal to diverse and high-calibre candidates. Retention strategies will focus on career development, promotion pathways, recognition, and creating an inclusive culture where all staff can thrive. Additionally, we will ensure that our talent is effectively utilised by aligning individual strengths with institutional needs and providing opportunities for professional growth.
The shift towards remote and flexible working models requires us to reimagine how we collaborate, operate, and belong as a UCC community. Our strategy will enhance digital engaged collaboration tools, provide clear guidelines on remote working best practices, and ensure that technology supports productivity and engagement. This includes optimising how we use our physical space for hybrid interactions and fostering inclusion for all staff.
Sustained engagement is essential for a motivated and high-performing workforce. We will enhance internal communication channels, create more opportunities for our people to provide feedback, and introduce initiatives that celebrate achievements and contributions. Strengthening employee voice through structured forums and continuous dialogue will ensure that all our people feel heard, valued, and invested in the university’s mission.
We will invest in leadership development programs that equip managers and senior leaders with the skills needed to inspire, guide, and support their teams.
We will reimagine our offering in terms of tailored and targeted development pathways and opportunities which not just centre on competency and skills but provide exposure and experience that will stand to our current and future leadership cohorts. A Leadership Framework will underpin UCC’s core values and define the expectations for leadership and management roles across all levels.
Effective resourcing is fundamental to achieving our university’s mission and strategic objectives. Aligning our workforce planning with the university’s goals is essential. We will implement robust resourcing strategies that anticipate future needs, identify critical roles, and develop talent pipelines. This includes comprehensive succession planning to prepare for key position vacancies and ensure leadership continuity.
We recognize the need to proactively address both opportunities and challenges in this area to ensure we have the right people in the right roles at the right time. Balancing workloads is crucial for maintaining staff well-being and productivity. We will assess current workload distributions and implement strategies to manage and optimise them. This may involve process improvements, resource allocation adjustments, and support mechanisms to prevent well-being impacts and promote a healthy work environment.
Organisational efficiency is not just about process improvement, it is about creating the conditions for our people to thrive and contribute meaningfully to the university’s mission. As the world of work transforms through digital innovation, artificial intelligence, and evolving models of collaboration, our approach must be strategic and adaptive. We will support the strengthening of our organisational agility by fostering a workforce culture that is digitally ready, future-focused, and empowered to deliver high performance with clarity and purpose.
Our People & Culture team will play a pivotal role in driving this shift—supporting leaders, managers, and teams in rethinking how they work, how they lead, and how they make decisions.
This includes building leadership capability, cultivating a mindset of evidence-based decision-making, and reinforcing our institutional values in every aspect of how we operate.
To ensure that the ambitions of the People & Culture Plan are realised, we will track a set of clear, outcome-oriented measures aligned to each of our five priorities.
These measures will reflect our ability to attract and retain talent, foster an inclusive and engaging culture, develop leadership, support growth and performance, and enable a more efficient and agile organisation.
Together, they represent our commitment to building a university where our people thrive and contribute to institutional excellence.
Among other measures, these include:
Participation and engagement scores through a dedicated employee engagement measure, highlighting staff experiences of fair access to opportunities and respectful ways of working across the University.
Our talent acquisition and employee engagement activities are inclusive and attract potential colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds.
Our recruitment practices deliver the diverse people we need; our processes feel inclusive and welcoming to all candidates.
Annual people planning exercises at a local level identify future improvement opportunities, succession planning and talent development.
A leadership framework that underpins our core values and sets out the expectations of those in leadership and management roles.
A Wellbeing Strategy that provides for flexible working arrangements for all our people and wellbeing support when it is needed.
Support for the development of workload models to ensure fairness in allocation.
Online technologies have increased efficiency for administrative processes across the university.
Most posts are filled first time with the right talented people.
Positive relationships with our recognised trade unions and other employee representatives nurtured and encouraged.
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