Development at Essex
Opportunities are available to support the continuous professional development of every employee throughout every stage of employment through programmes, workshops, networks and just in time resources. These are underpinned by our commitment to sector-recognised frameworks and charters, and aligned with our strategic ambitions.
When considering professional development for yourself or others, make sure that you:
Complete your annual How We Work at Essex Booster
Make sure that you complete your annual How We Work at Essex Booster, including any other role-based Essential Training. This is designed to ensure that everyone understands the fundamental basics when working at Essex.
Familiarise yourself with Performance and Development Review
You should expect to have regular Performance and Development Review conversations with your line manager, or someone with delegated responsibility, as well as an annual PDR conversation that is recorded at least once a year.
Explore development opportunities
Explore development opportunities related to different areas of practice:
- Professional Development
- Education
- Research
- Professional Services roles training
- People management development
- Leadership programmes
- Digital skills
Explore career planning pathways
Explore curated pathways to support your career planning in the following roles:
Be proactive and get involved
Be proactive and take responsibility for your professional development. Speak to your line manager if you have suggestions about your development plan and seek feedback from colleagues where possible.
You can get involved with citizenship opportunities and make a contribution in our community beyond your role. This could involve: Committee membership, leading or becoming a member of a staff network, contributing to University project work and starting an additional role. You can find out more about these opportunities below.
| Citizenship opportunity | Focus | Next steps |
| Observation of a Committee of Senate | Committee Membership | Email your interest to senate@essex.ac.uk |
| Become a chair or join our membership pool supporting our Student Conduct Committees | Committee Membership | Email your interest to studentconduct@essex.ac.uk |
| Seek nomination to serve on our Academic Offences Committees | Committee Membership | Contact your Faculty Dean (Academic Staff only) |
| Lead or become a member of an employee network | Employee forums and networks | Find out more on the Staff Directory |
| Contribute to an Inclusion Self Assessment Team | University project work | Email your interest to inclusion@essex.ac.uk |
| Get involved in supporting students to have their voices heard | University project work | Email your interest to studentvoice@essex.ac.uk |
| Harassment Support Worker | Additional role | Email your interest to inclusion@essex.ac.uk |
| Inclusivity lead | Additional role | Find out more on the Staff Directory or share your interest with your Head of Department |
| Sustainability Lead | Additional role | Email your interest to sustainability@essex.ac.uk |
| Academic Sponsor | Additional role | Find out more on the Staff Directory or email your interest to blackresearchershub@essex.ac.uk |
| Join our pool of Student Concerns and Complaints Investigators | Additional role | Email your interest to studentcomplaints@essex.ac.uk |
| Join our pool of volunteer exam invigilators | Additional role | Email your interest to exams-staff@essex.ac.uk |
| Get involved in Graduation and join in celebrating our students' achievements! | Additional role | Look out for volunteer calls in the run up to our Graduation Events |
| Get involved in welcoming our new students! | Additional role | Look out for volunteer calls in the run up to our Welcome and Registration Events |
Apply to the Career Development Fund for Carers
The Career Development Fund for Carers can offset additional caring costs incurred as a result of attending conferences, training or networking events.
