## Intro *Title*: "Purpose-Driven and Post-Bureaucratic Students' Union Strategy: Five Insights from Salford Students' Union" *Abstract*: This session delves into a shift in perspective regarding the core purpose and raison d'être of Student Unions, creating a culture of heightened staff engagement and enhanced stakeholder comprehension of every Students' Union's role. The session will examine Salford Students' Union's efforts to eradicate bureaucratic hindrances through innovative organisational design, the cultivation of a collaborative ethos, and the empowerment of the staff, all underpinned by a reimagined theory of change. Ultimately, this session serves as an exploration of some effective strategies to navigate the [[VUCA context|volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA)]] environment that Students' Unions presently encounter. *Powerpoint*: [available here](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ztangukfha63qnjktc5yk/23.11.10-SUSE-Conference.pdf?rlkey=cg7molui3xnvqx3yr98h6wbbq&dl=0) ## Session - Introduction with background to our [[Staff Engagement Report 2023]] and the successes we've seen in core staff engagement, particularly in comparison to the sector. - Session is about what makes those scores so high, and ultimately it comes down to leadership, organisation design, culture etc. - Five ideas that could have some bearing: 1) We've changed our raison de etre to be more focussed on the transformational power of education, rather than a quality of life argument. See [[Why we think our raison d'être is better than other SUs]]. This change also allows us to be better with aligning the officers' priorities to the SU's strategy, a key consideration for any SU CEO. 2) We've given our purpose direction by choosing [[Why is Loneliness the focus of our BHAG?|loneliness as our organisational priority]]. This was on the back of the [[Alterline Student Research 2022]] and how they helped us to identify the [[Barriers to learning at the University of Salford]]. 3) We're now more connected into a wider network of organisations looking at this, one where the government has led since the [[Source - Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness by Wikipedia]]. 4) We've tried to actively empower staff. Firstly through writing a [[Theory of Change]] for the organisation that allows staff to freely operate in a set framework. All staff can do whatever they want within this framework, working with others and their line manager. We've also developed a [[Salford SU Kickstarter]] project to give staff the money they need to do things, and initiated a new approach to staff taking annual leave through our (award winning!) [[Flexible Time Off Policy]]. 5) We remain bureaucratic and there is more to do in this space. We need to be freer in our financial procedures, working from a position of 100% trust from the outset. This is especially true of officers. _ALL_ of this (including our staff engagement scores) was done on the shoulders of others, so thank you to the movement. And [[Success]] is incredibly contextual- we've been very lucky. ## See also - [[The student experience is a luxury most students can’t afford]]