Developing an agile, resilient workforce to meet the evolving needs of the institution

What was the programme about?

The pandemic shone a spotlight on the need for agile working, re-skilling and time to reflect on the delivery of our services both virtual and those delivered in our physical buildings. This programme looked at the skills needed in the post-pandemic workplace, including soft skills. Focusing on quick wins, staffing in the future and how frontline staff are deployed, we sought to answer questions such as ‘will we need the same staffing levels? And ‘how to motivate and make people feel valued’. 

Programme activities

Evolution of the working environment: An international perspective
Tuesday 28 June 2022

The pandemic provided an opportunity to reimagine the working environment as we embraced flexible and remote working. How much has the work environment really evolved since the pandemic?  And how sustainable is this evolution?  What has been the impact on recruitment and retention in this evolving landscape?  This session heard from international partners about the realities of changing working environments and practices at their institutions and considered what lessons we can learn from their experiences. 

The recruitment lifecycle – Part 2
Wednesday 22 June 2022

Part two of two events framed around the post-pandemic recruitment lifecycle, including job specifications; advertising for posts; interviewing; making job offers and managing questions around flexible working. Both events included considerations around diverse recruitment and recruitment for diversity. This session looks at interviews (and alternatives); interview techniques; shortlisting (including blind shortlist). 

The recruitment lifecycle – Part 1
Thursday 9 June 2022

This is a series of two events framed around the post-pandemic recruitment lifecycle, including job specifications; advertising for posts; interviewing; making job offers and managing questions around flexible working. Both events will include considerations around diverse recruitment and recruitment for diversity.

Part 1 looked at the planning and conception of new roles, including developing job and person specifications. This includes tools for analysing training and recruitment needs. 

Embracing new ways of working post-pandemic
Thursday 31 March 2022

As well as creating new challenges, the pandemic has served to highlight long-standing pressures faced by those leading libraries in developing their workforce. Increasingly we will be demanding an agile and flexible workforce which brings the skills and attributes needed to meet the changes that are taking place within the institution.  

Developing a resilient and agile workforce
Friday 26 November 2021

Colleagues from across the UK and Ireland came together to explore emerging practice related to the new ways of working that developed rapidly during the pandemic. The session included case studies and contributions from a number of expert speakers. This event considered methods for embedding the positive changes that have already emerged, as well as ways to address the ongoing challenges. 

The library workforce post-pandemic: exchange of experience
Monday 12 July 2021

In response to the pandemic, libraries have had to be agile and adaptable in order to meet the needs of their institutions and their users. As we emerge from lockdown, how will the demands placed on the library evolve and what are the implications of this for the workforce and workforce development? Many institutions are developing hybrid and / or dynamic working but are also looking at significant shifts in their teaching and learning and research practices, all of which have implications for the library workforce. This event is an interactive discussion between SCONUL members.