In April 2015 IBEC was awarded the “HR Excellence in Research” award from the European Commission.
The award reflects our commitment to continuously improve our HR policies in line with The European Charter of Researchers and The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.
These two documents, created in 2005 by the European Commission, describe the rights and responsibilities of both the researchers and their employers and contribute to the creation of a labour market that is transparent, attractive and open to the researchers at an international level, as well as turning research into an attractive professional career.
IBEC has been adhered to the Charter and Code since 2012, and many initiatives aligned to the overall strategy of IBEC reflecting this decision have been developed, encouraging continual improvement in Human Resources issues and setting the scenario towards the application for the “HR Excellence in Research” accreditation.
The «HR Excellence in Research» award in 2015 was the start of a cyclical process of continuous improvement, that it is embedded in the Institute’s strategy.
Implementation phase:
- Initial HRS4R and Action Plan: 2015-2017
- Interim Assessment and Revised Action Plan: 2017-2020
Renewal phases every 3 years:
- HRS4R and Action Plan 2021-2024
ACTION PLAN 2021-24
During the first half of the year 2021, IBEC has been working on the internal review and gathering of data for the renewal phase. As a result, an ambitious Action Plan has been defined for the period June 2021 to June 2024.
The Monitoring and Working Committee, together with the Steering Committee aim for this new HRS4R Action Plan to implement changes as a researcher-centred organization, helping IBEC to adopt new challenges and implement change generate initiatives as an agile organization that takes care of its community’s needs. and promotes a stimulating work environment.
The improved Action Plan consist of 43 actions, that consist of a mixture of previous actions plans as well as new inputs: Some of them are completed (9), others are actions in an ongoing process since their first implementation (13) and 21 of them are new actions.
The Action Plan 2021-24 will emphasise on the development of the following aspects:
- Ethics: Open Science.
- Recruitment and Selection: OTM principles.
- Working conditions: Promote Gender Equality and Diversity, improvement of Wellbeing and a developmental and performance appraisal system to provide regular, strucured feedback in accordance with IBEC´s values.
- Training: Diversification of the scientific career by promoting intersectoral and interdisciplinary approaches.
Executive Summary of the HR Excellence in Research Action Plan 2021 to 2024, including the List of Actions and the OTM·R Checklist.
The following 15 IBEC members volunteered to oversee and impulse the renewal process as members of the Monitoring and Working Committee.
Albert Manzano, Anke Kleff, Carolina Marí , David Badia, Denitza Denkova, Javier Ramón, Juanma Fernandez, Maria Guix, Maria José López, Neus Vilalta, Pau Gorostiza, Sara Vicente, Teresa Sanchis
For any comments or feedback, please contact: charterandcode@ibecbarcelona.eu or any of the members of the Monitoring and Working Committee.
About our Recruitment and Selection Policy based on OTM Principles:
Excellence in the recruitment of researchers is crucial to ensure outstanding research. It goes hand-in-hand with the development of a supportive (social) environment at work good working conditions and international appeal.
Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment (OTM-R) is one of the main pillars of the European Charter of Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, and a top priority in the HR Strategy.
Our Recruitment and Selection Policy is based on the OTM-R strategy and its final objective is to ensure that the best candidate for the job is selected, guaranteeing equal opportunities and access for all.and reinforce IBEC international appealingness as employer.
HRS4R in a nutshell
Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R): What do you know about it?
Watch this short video (2 minutes) to learn about the HR Strategy at IBEC and to see the main actions that have been implemented (status Q1 2019).
Action Plan 2015-17
Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) and Action Plan 2015-2017
In June 2014 IBEC started designing a new according to the Charter and Code. The HRS4R was designed with the purpose of implementing measures that our stakeholders have expressed are important to them and that have been broadly accepted through the internal analysis process.
The internal analysis undertaken consisted of the following approaches and methodologies:
· legislation analysis;
· a survey sent to IBEC staff;
· four focus groups to discuss the survey results and propose actions;
· feedback from Group Leaders and Heads of Unit and regular meetings with the Directorate.
The internal analysis aimed to compare IBEC’s practices against the Charter and Code principles. As a result, IBEC created an Action Plan which contains feasible measures with specific actions. This action plan to implement the HRS4R was submitted and published on our website in March 2015.
IBEC’s Action Plan applies to all staff categories and consists of 17 actions with different scopes: from short-term and hands-on actions to important and long-term ones significant to the progress of IBEC.
All the actions included in IBEC’s Action Plan reinforce the overall aims of our Human Resources Strategy which consist in running a distinctive specialist training programme to attract international talent and providing a high-quality environment for our researchers.
Gender and Diversity Committee
One of the first measures of the HRS4R Action Plan in 2015 was to set up a Gender and Diversity Committee comprising researchers at all career stages which is committed to analysing equal opportunities and diversity topics.
This committee produced the first IBEC Equal Opportunities and Diversity Management Plan to be implemented until 2016.
With the experience gained with the first Plan, the second Plan was implemented (2017-2020).
Action Plan 2017-20
Action Plan 2017-2020 (Self-assessment report)
In July 2017 IBEC published its self-assessment report and sent it to the European Commission for evaluation.
This report contains information about the evolution of the HRS4R Action Plan and the status of each action, as well as new actions planned for the following years.
To create the self-assessment report, a participative project took place with an internal survey, meetings with the Monitoring Committee of the Charter and Code and working groups, as the one for the OTM-R Checklist (Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment). The results of the internal survey can be found in the self-assessment report, as well as the OTM-R Checklist.
“In March 2018 we received our feedback from the EU evaluators, and it is very positive,” says Carol Mari, Head of Human Resources at IBEC. “We want to thank the Monitoring Committee, an interdisciplinary group composed of Eduard Torrents, Miguel Angel Mateos, Teresa Sanchis, David Badia, Raimon Sunyer, Roger Oria, Neus Vilalta and myself. We want also to thank the entire IBEC community for their valuable input in the survey they answered in July 2017, which was key to analyzing the level of implementation and satisfaction with the measures implemented, and which also helped us to develop the new action plan.”
In July 2020, IBEC´s 3rd Equal Opportunities and Diversity Management Plan has been approved, constituting of a total of 35 measures aiming on achieving structural change in our organization.
The development of the 3rd Plan was let by IBEC´s Gender & Diversity Commission, constituted of diverse members of the IBEC community:
Benedetta Bolognesi, Rafael Mestre, Ariadna Marín, Marija Matejcic, Amélie Godeau, Teresa Sanchis, Leone Rossetti, Carol Marí, Anke Kleff & David Badía
Please download the new Equal Opportunities and Diversity Plan 2020-2023 here
The next evaluation will take place in 2021, and until then IBEC will continue to implement all the new actions.