HR Design strategic plan to be released Friday
A strategic plan for enhancing UW–Madison’s personnel system will be released Friday by the HR Design project.
The unveiling of the plan follows months of analysis, engagement and discussion about the current state of the university’s human resources system and how it could be tailored to better fit the needs of a world-class research and teaching institution.
The foundation for the plan is recommendations developed by more than 140 members of the campus community who served on 11 work teams earlier this year. After the teams issued their recommendations, there was a broad engagement period in which thousands of members of the campus community provided feedback through dozens of forums, web chats and online surveys and polls.
This summer, project leaders met with governance groups and other stakeholders to integrate the recommendations and feedback into a comprehensive plan.
“The contribution of the work team members who volunteered countless hours to the project has been invalulable,” says Bob Lavigna, director of human resources and project lead. “In addition, the input we received through our extensive engagement efforts definitely shaped the strategic plan we have presented.”
Information sessions are scheduled across campus to accommodate various work shifts to explain the proposals and their impact on employees. The sessions are:
— Thursday, Sept. 27, at Gordon Dining and Event Center, 10:30 a.m.-noon, with translation in Hmong and Tibetan.
— Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Union South, 1:30-3 p.m., with live-streaming to campus and video capture for future posting. Spanish translation will be available at this session.
— Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Memorial Union, 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m., with participants urged to park in lots 6, 8, 9 or the Lake Street Ramp. The session is scheduled to accommodate third-shift employees. Spanish translation will be available.
— Thursday, Oct. 4, at Health Sciences Learning Center, 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m., with participants urged to park in lots 82 or 95. The session is scheduled to accommodate third-shift employees and will include Hmong and Tibetan translation.
A pair of web chats have also been scheduled to provide more information. They will be held on Friday, Sept. 28 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Oct. 10 from 1:30-3 p.m.
Highlights of the plan include:
- The classified employee category will be renamed university staff, and employees in this category will be given full governance rights.
- Roughly 1,400 current classified positions will eventually be moved to the academic staff. However, the plan recommends that current classified employees whose positions are re-categorized be given the option to move to the academic staff or stay in the university staff.
- The plan recommends the development of a compensation system that allows flexibility for cost of living adjustments and balances market competitiveness with internal equity considerations. The new compensation system will also be designed to reward performance.
- The plan calls for the continuation of the campus-wide policy to provide a living wage to our staff.
- Changes will also include a new recruiting and hiring system more tailored to the needs of the university.
Project leaders will continue to review the proposed plan with governance, stakeholders and university leadership before briefing the Board of Regents in November. Regents’ approval is anticipated at the board meeting in December.
In spring 2013, UW–Madison will provide specific components of the plan to the legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER). At the board and JCOER meetings, the UW–Madison plan will be presented along with a plan from UW System.