As announced at the end of August, the analysis phase of the business operations optimisation process is currently underway. The aim of this process is to facilitate teaching and research in the most efficient way possible via the professional services within the faculties and Radboud Services. In the analysis phase, the potential for improvements and savings within the university's operations are being broadly mapped out and, based on this, the first two pillars* are being investigated in more detail. To this end, Radboud University is being supported by EY.
Preliminary findings
In the first two months of the analysis phase, interviews took place and documents on business operations were studied. The costs of business operations and how they are divided between Radboud Services and the faculties (including RDA and DCCN) were also mapped out, as well as specific cost types, such as external hiring.
To give an impression, here are some of the general findings:
- Total operations (excluding the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Administration Office) amount to around €140 million in staff costs and comprise around 1,600 FTE in staffing capacity.
- There are differences in processes between the faculties themselves and between the faculties and Radboud Services. This results in inefficient business operations. Unifying and standardising processes and practices will play a major role across the entire university in making operations more efficient and effective.
- There is room for improvement within many categories by using unambiguous definitions and process descriptions. This would contribute to insight and steering on, for example, the full extent of external services and hiring, but it also applies to other categories regarding which management and steering information is desired.
- The importance of digitisation is recognised, but this is not yet being achieved sufficiently for many processes.
- The availability of and access to data and reports could be improved to enable more data-driven decision-making.
- An integral overview of projects could be created to get a grip on all the developments within business operations.
Besides these general findings, there are further findings specific to each pillar. All findings will be further assessed and elaborated in the next step of this process.
Follow-up
In the second step of the analysis phase, we will first focus on the human resources pillar and the ICT & library services pillar. These will be followed by the other pillars (marketing & communications, property & facility services, finance & control, teaching and research support).
With various staff members from these pillars and with users of the services provided within the pillars, the extent to which the findings are complete and actually lead to improvements and savings will be assessed, as will the actions that are needed to achieve this and the impact it will create.
In 2025, the other pillars will also be investigated in more detail. In parallel, an implementation plan to put the improvements and savings into action will follow. This implementation plan will include the approach, schedule and order of activities.
More information
For more information, please visit the project page on the business operations optimisation process, which includes the contact details of the project team.
* Each pillar comprises all the business operations and professional services provided by all organisational units collectively in a given field. For example, all the HR services across all faculties, institutes and Radboud Services as a whole. There are six pillars: teaching and research support, finance & control, property & facility services, human resources, ICT & library services and marketing & communications.