Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
How our values show up in our welcome to new colleagues
What is the role of our values when we welcome new colleagues to the university? We caught up with Fiona Wilson, Course Administrator in the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing who joined Leeds Beckett in January 2023.
What were your impressions of LBU before you joined?
I saw Leeds Beckett as a modern, forward-thinking university partially because I was a previous student here. The contact throughout my appointment was fantastic, I had one point of contact in the (HR Services) Recruitment team before I joined. I had some complications during the process, and my contact was very helpful and understanding so that this was resolved quickly. This gave me the impression that I was joining a welcoming and friendly organisation.
When did you discover our values?
It was the Welcome to Leeds Beckett (our colleague induction programme) and online induction where I first found out what our actual values and their descriptions are. Discussing them in my induction with other new starters made everything fall into place, I reflected that every single value had shown up throughout my joining experience. They make sense to me; they seem very conducive with how our colleagues work. The Inclusive value particularly stood out in a very broad sense of the word. For example, I’m a new Mum and have some caring responsibilities and I felt accepted and treated as an individual. This isn’t something I’ve experienced everywhere; I think it’s important not to take that for granted.
“I feel like our values fit my genuine experience of working here, they aren’t just plastered on the wall."
How would you describe your recruitment experience as a candidate?
The application form was relatively easy to complete, it made sense why I was asked to describe my experiences and it felt relevant to the role. My interview fitted with the rest of my experience, the panel were very welcoming and made me feel comfortable. It sounds simple but they all smiled at me a lot! I came away feeling like the interview was a two-way process; that the panel were genuinely interested in me and helped me to decide that Leeds Beckett was right for me, as well as me being right for Leeds Beckett.
How would you describe your new starter journey overall?
Everyone in my team has a positive attitude to coming to work. We have a very diverse team, there is a great dynamic and although we are all working towards the same goals, everyone respects each other’s different points of view. I feel trusted to do my work.
My experience in the team so far seems to reflect my experience of meeting colleagues in the wider university. Everyone has been so helpful and approachable, especially when I’ve been finding my way around campus!
What more could we do to give future candidates a better understanding of what it’s like here?
I drew on my previous student experience here, but without this knowledge others might feel much less familiar with what it’s like here. More videos, photos or stories describing the values would be helpful to bring them to life. My experience of job searching is that people aren’t just looking at roles, they look at the whole organisation. Our working culture is something to be proud of and shout about.
“Leeds Beckett have been brilliant at recognising everyone has different situations and approach hybrid working so that the workplace works for me too."
