HR Services and Support

Helping you deliver all your HR priorities

Finding the Right HR Support for You

When you’re trying to meet the needs of senior stakeholders, teams, colleagues and individuals, as well as auditors and external assessors, it’s hardly surprising there aren’t enough hours in your day. But that can be the reality of working in HR in Further Education – competing priorities. And they’re coupled with tight timelines and budgets.

So, there are times when you could really use:

A temporary pair of hands to provide support and help free up your time.
An expert People professional to deliver a key project that matches your timescales and values.
An experienced colleague to act as a sounding board and help you work through an issue.

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grow

The challenge can be knowing who to approach. They need to understand the FE sector, the importance of your college values, and be able to hit the ground running.

Simply let us know the issue you’re facing, and we’ll work to deliver the skills and knowledge you need. Using our network of trusted consultants, advisors and associates, you can rely on us to find the right solution to help you.

talk to us about HR Support

A Network of Trusted Partners and Associates

We have a wide network of trusted connections who we know understand how Further Education works, or have relevant transferable experience and skills and can provide you with the right support and advice.

They work across different people-related services, and offer expertise and support across a broad range of HR services, including:

HR Project Services:

Implementing change projects, new HR systems, workforce and succession planning in line with your requirements.
Developing and rolling out new induction programmes, organisational values, and employee engagement surveys; making sure employees buy into and benefit from them.
Managing TUPE transfers, redundancy programmes, and negotiating settlement agreements, so you can continue to provide ongoing support to staff and senior leaders.

HR Administration and Case Management:

Reviewing and updating employment documents, policies and procedures, and drafting employee letters.
Assisting with employee issues including absence management, performance management, disciplinary and grievance issues.
Supporting the development and maintenance of training plans, job descriptions and employee records.

Ad-hoc HR Support:

Delivering training or coaching sessions for the HR team to address knowledge gaps and skills requirements.
Providing interim cover at HR Director level; giving direction and a point of escalation for the HR team.
Advising and guiding less experienced HR leaders through delivering the annual report and equality reports.

Tell us about your HR challenges

Recruitment Support

Recruiting excellent HR professionals in FE can be really challenging, especially when you’re trying to attract them from other sectors. It’s about finding new talent who are committed to developing HR in a sustainable way in FE. As well as being certain they’ll make the transition well.

As advocates of the sector, we’re committed to proactively promoting HR in the FE sector as a rewarding and fulfilling career path, at all levels.

The FE HR Hub has a wide reach across the sector through our network of trusted partners. We also know exceptional HR professionals who are open to opportunities in Further Education. So contact us to discuss the support you need to recruit a role in FE HR.

Whether it’s advertising your role directly through our marketing channels, or engaging us as a strategic partner for search and selection for senior level roles, you can be confident of reaching a wide network of candidates offering potential and talent.

Speak to us about your FE HR vacancy

Testimonials

Finding the right People professional to support you can feel daunting, especially when you’re facing tight timelines. See what other FE clients have to say about working with us and our network.

“Nicola is a Human Resources expert with a common sense and pragmatic approach to problem solving. We have worked with her on several occasions when it has been helpful to get an unbiased external perspective. She is friendly and approachable when working with staff but has an ability to cut to the chase enabling her to get to the heart of the matter without delay.”

Julie Havens, HR & Payroll Manager, Pembrokeshire College

“Nicola fully understands Further Education and the associated financial constraints, and in this respect her knowledge and experience of the sector was invaluable in ensuring value for money in the works she undertook for us. We would trust Nicola implicitly to work with us on the most challenging of HR projects”.

Caroline James, Director of Resources, Pembrokeshire College.

“We have been delighted with the high quality service Nicola has provided for us. She brings with her expertise and knowledge that has been invaluable during a time of significant change for our organisation”.

Kathryn Robson, Chief Executive Adult Learning Wales

“Nicola played a central role in negotiations with FE trade unions in Wales over agreeing a national contract covering all staff. These negotiations were long and complex. Throughout, Nicola displayed a calm and fair but also a tough approach which brought respect from both sides. Her considerable knowledge of employment legislation and her skill at dealing with people played a huge part in bringing about an agreement over a new contract – an outcome which some people thought was impossible to achieve!”

Dr John Graystone, former Chief Executive of ColegauCymru|Colleges Wales.

“Nicola is one of the most competent HR practitioners I have worked with during my career in academia. She is knowledgeable, thorough, and most importantly, reliable when meeting important deadlines”.

Jeff Gunningham, Former Chief Executive, Swansea College.

“Nicola was an absolute pleasure to work with. She was inspiring and provided great leadership in our HR community. Hardworking, professional and always willing to go the extra mile. Nicola would be an asset to any organisation, and I have no hesitation in recommending her”.

Julie Davies, Former Director of HR Coleg Cambria.

“Nicola’s approach has been First Class. She was quick to grasp our needs and agreed a planned approach through an engaging and consultative way which instilled confidence straight away. We highly recommend Nicola Perkins and the broad range of HR services she can provide”.

Kathryn Robson, Chief Executive Adult Learning Wales.

“Nicola has assisted us with some particularly complex staffing matters in recent years and her extensive experience in this field is evident. The work she has delivered for us is thorough and of the highest possible quality, and she has consistently provided us with sound advice and support. I would recommend Nicola to any organisation requiring HR consultancy without hesitation”.

Cath Hicks, Head of Learner Services and Resources, Adult Learning Wales.

“I worked closely with Nicola during my tenure as Chair of Colleges Wales. She played a key role in helping the Wales FE sector to reopen safely in the midst of a pandemic, leading the sector through the guidance and regulations, drafting a set of protocols and facilitating agreement with all the Welsh Principals and the Trade Unions, supported by Colleges Wales and the Welsh Government. No easy feat, but Nicola’s attention to detail, well honed drafting skills, tact and diplomacy were in exactly the right place at the right time. She is a highly respected and valuable member of the FE community”.

Dafydd Evans, Chief Executive Officer at Grwp Llandrillo-Menai.

Get the right HR support for you

Become a Trusted Partner for our Community

The FE HR community is always looking for new, knowledgeable, and innovative providers of people-related services. So we’d love to hear from you if you work in a relevant business supporting the Further Education sector.

There are lots of opportunities to get involved, from offering discounts to our members, right through to becoming a trusted consultant or associate.

Find out about becoming a partner

0333 3582499

info@fehrhub.org