Introduction
Our people are at the heart of our organisation, with shared values, a commitment to the work we do and a wide range of skills and life experiences. We work together as a strong and collaborative team to deliver the best service we can across all areas of our work.
We continued to grow our organisation, alongside a strong focus on efficiency, to enable us to manage effectively the ongoing increases in the number of complaints coming to us and other key aspects of our work. In our recruitment we continued to reach out to diverse candidates as part of our wider equality, diversity, and inclusion work.
During the year we also further embedded our hybrid working arrangements, taking a flexible approach to support colleagues to work as effectively as possible.
Our Staff Liaison Committee again met regularly through the year. It continues to be a valuable forum for listening to and sharing information with staff representatives on issues that affect staff.
“I recently joined the OIA as an HR Advisor with a focus on several different areas including equality, diversity, and inclusion. Diversity is one of the OIA’s core values and I have loved being involved in raising awareness, training, and activities that help us to have an inclusive working environment. It was really exciting to jump straight in with this year’s celebration of Black History Month in October and to highlight other events in areas of gender, race, religion, sexuality, and disability. I’m looking forward to continuing to build on this through further initiatives, and continuing conversations about diversity.”
Michelle, HR Advisor
“Having supported students through the OIA process in my previous role, it has been interesting to witness the work that goes on ‘behind the scenes’ to deliver outcomes. Students and providers continue to deal with the consequences of the pandemic - and more recently with the impact of industrial action, and the cost of living crisis. It’s important that students feel empowered to make a complaint when things haven’t gone as they should have, or feel unjust. It has been a challenging but satisfying role especially when we are able to settle a complaint to the satisfaction of both the student and the provider. I have really enjoyed my first six months here and have felt supported and trusted by my colleagues to make right and fair decisions.”
Lakhjeet, Case-handler
“As a member of the Outreach and Insight Team I’ve seen how the work that the team does has evolved over the years. As well as running an annual calendar of webinars, workshops and visits for our members we now run discussion groups for students and from 2022 discussions for student advisers too. All of these discussions are incredibly valuable.
The students in our discussions have not necessarily brought a complaint to the OIA or even plan to. What they do is they inform us about student life in higher education at the minute. They tell us what life is really like for students now. The student adviser discussions allow us to see what students are talking about to advisers, what do they need support with and are providers able to deliver it. Both really important insights into student life.”
Suzanne, Outreach Co-ordinator
“I’ve been with the OIA for eight years now and in that time have worked in different roles across our three case-handling teams. This has given me a real depth of knowledge in our process but also the bigger picture - what students and providers are experiencing and how we can help. Through this I've learnt that being open with students about their options from the outset and resolving their complaints at the earliest opportunity is the kindest, most effective way for us to run our service. And I've seen a positive and energetic shift to our approach in response which I feel very proud to be part of!”
Rachel, Adjudication Manager
“This year has presented significant challenges for students and providers, with the cost of living crisis arriving in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In my work reviewing cases, I have seen the impact of the financial climate in various forms. For instance, requests for additional consideration from students due to the academic impact of difficult financial circumstances, together with complaints concerning the provision of support. We are mindful of this broader context across the organisation. It is a reminder of the continued importance of empathy in the work that we do and of the fact that we make ‘real-world’ decisions that do not take place in a vacuum.”
Simon, Assistant Adjudicator
Learning and development
We continued to offer learning and development opportunities in 2022, to build knowledge and skills as part of our commitment to continually improving what we do. This included internal knowledge-sharing sessions on a range of case-handling topics, and externally led sessions on neurodiversity and autism, and on wellbeing and thriving through change.
The Rebecca Marsland Award
The Rebecca Marsland Award was created in 2019 in memory of our friend and colleague who sadly passed away. It is awarded each year as a celebration of an outstanding contribution to our work, an exceptional personal achievement or an act of kindness. We invite colleagues to make nominations and our Chief Executive and our Independent Adjudicator, together with the previous year’s winner of the award, decide on a worthy winner. This year, the award was given to Keshia, our Office and Facilities Co-ordinator, who received nominations from colleagues across several teams. Keshia’s dedication to excellence has been more noticeable than ever this year. Her kind, patient, and level-headed approach to helping colleagues, and visitors to our organisation, has helped to make everyone feel welcome and supported during our adjustment to hybrid working.
Keshia Perkins, Rebecca Marsland Award Winner
