The University of Wisconsin-Madison is bringing its personnel management system into the 21st century to remain competitive and efficient a tactic that HR consultants say is being replicated by other higher learning institutions across the nation.
Three years ago, officials at UW-Madison, the flagship campus at the University of Wisconsin, began lobbying with university and state decision-makers to leave the state-based HR system and implement a more cutting-edge people management system that moved away from traditional processes used in the states civil service. The strategy was meant to help the 166-year-old university remain nimble, says Robert Lavigna, assistant vice chancellor and director of HR at UW-Madison.
With an implementation date of July 1, 2015, UW-Madison officials have nearly a year to incorporate the revisions to its HR programs, changes that will include an improved employee performance management system, new management training and more comprehensive onboarding for new hires. All the tools and resources will be in one location on the Web that will also include a suite of all of the universitys HR policies and procedures. In the end, officials say there will be less confusion in UW-Madisons office of human resources.
UW-Madison currently uses Oracles PeopleSoft payroll and benefit modules. Lavigna says that training, performance management and applicant tracking systems are also being considered to help manage the universitys more than 30,000 employees.
Performance management systems are not new to academic institutions. Theyve been used at Stanford, Cornell and Yale, as well as Ohio State University and the University of Virginia, to name a few.
Theres been a desire to get out of the state HR system, says Lavigna. Even though were a public higher education institution, we have different workforce and HR needs than other state agencies. It doesnt mean were better or worse, were just different. We are operating in a different environment than other state agencies. Were one of the worlds leading research institutions, and we need to recruit, in some cases, globally. We need to be competitive with compensation, be nimble in terms of recruiting and hiring and we need our own job titles.
While UW-Madisons request to leave the state HR system was approved by the Wisconsin state legislature in the spring, it wasnt an easy road, says Lavigna. Constant communication among key staff and faculty governance groups were relayed in numerous campuswide forums that are still being held to this day. There were even midnight sessions for UW-Madisons second- and third-shift personnel who were unable to make the daytime meetings.
Its been a very deliberate approach to communicate often and candidly and really encourage our colleagues here on the campus to listen, read about the proposal and then react and respond, and we made adjustments based on those reactions and responses, Lavigna says. And it took time; it takes time to do something like that when you have a very complex and large campus community here.
Taking the time to do it right and include feedback from all interested parties is a best practice that Lavigna, a 17-year veteran of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, recommends to other university provost officials and HR managers planning a similar overhaul.
Kathy Hagedorn, a 25-year higher education HR veteran who previously served as the vice president of human resources at Saint Louis University, says these collaborative changes, with sights on efficiencies and talent monitoring, are becoming much more widespread.
I think some of it is economic reality, says Hagedorn, who now runs her own management and consulting firm, The Hagedorn Institute. They understand that, as a college and university, they have to have fine groups of peoples working there. They want to incent the best and recruit the best people and they are also seeing that having a clear vision [of their] mission and purpose is very inspiring for faculty, staff and administrators.
The purpose of UW-Madison, and the remainder of the UW system, which comprises 26 different locations, is founded on what the states 5.7 million residents call the Wisconsin idea. Lavigna explains that its a huge selling point for interested faculty and administrative staff members looking to join the university.
We have a principle that we call the Wisconsin idea that underlies a lot of what we do here at the University of Wisconsin, he explains. And that is that everything we do on this campus, with respect to our main mission of research, should not only benefit the people who are on this campus, but it should also benefit the state, the nation and the world. That is a very attractive mission to a lot of people.
Dr. Michael OMalley, a vice president and senior consultant at Sibson Consulting, agrees that now is an exciting time for the higher education industry. Where can you find a world-class art museum, a top rate genetics program and a competitive basketball team all at one place? OMalley notes. They are very complex organizations.
HR has become much more central to faculty recruitment in recent years, says OMalley, necessitating the changes such as those undertaken by UW-Madison.
It used to be 10 years ago, you wouldnt have human resources having much to do with the provost office and the faculty, but these days human resources is more and more integrated into the entire fabric [of the institution], he says.
According to Hagedorn, UW-Madison has taken the right steps toward future stability and the development of a happy, passionate and long-term workforce.
Staff really want to know they are making a difference in the work that they do, she explains. And the clearest way to do that is to be sure people understand the purpose of their work and how they are going to be measured and how every one person at the university can make a difference for that institution. And so a good performance and talent management system will clarify for people: How is it that I can personally make a difference here, and is there a connection between what I do, how I am paid and in the rewards that I receive?
Lavigna adds that an efficient performance management program can connect employees to their employers.
We need to have effective performance management processes so people understand what their role and responsibilities are and we can build on [that] high level of engagement, Lavigna explains. He notes the HR design programs intentions are essentially to create a workforce that is adaptable, that is highly engaged and is diverse.
