Bob Lavigna: An update on HR Design

Colleagues,

For the past year, UW–Madison has been engaged in a campuswide initiative to develop the framework for a new human resources system. In September, the HR Design Strategic Plan was released for review and comment.

After an unprecedented campus dialogue and engagement, faculty and academic staff governance groups will act on the HR Design Strategic Plan this month. The Faculty Senate is expected to vote on the plan Monday, Nov. 5 and the Academic Staff Assembly will vote Monday, Nov. 12.

The project’s executive sponsors – Interim Chancellor David Ward, Provost Paul DeLuca and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Darrell Bazzell – then will present components of it to the Board of Regents on Dec. 7. This is a change from the previously announced schedule which called for UW–Madison and UW System (which is developing a separate HR system for the other campuses) to meet with the board in November and December.

Developing the HR Design Strategic Plan has been a collaborative and transparent process, beginning with the Badger Working Group that included governance and labor representatives. This group set forth principles which the project adopted.

Since releasing the plan, we have continued to gather feedback from stakeholders. We’ve held four campuswide forums (including two at midnight for our second- and third-shift colleagues, with translation into Spanish, Hmong and Tibetan), 13 smaller sessions with campus groups, and two Web chats. These events followed a series of similar events last spring to discuss the draft recommendations of our 11 work teams.

In total, this outreach has resulted in nearly 10,000 direct contacts with members of our campus community.

The plan that emerged from this collaborative process lays the foundation for a human resources system that will better meet the needs of a world-class research university. It will improve our recruiting and hiring processes, provide additional tools for compensating employees, create paths for employee advancement and strengthen our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

We continue to welcome dialogue about the framework of the new HR system and we respect diversity of opinion. This is the essence of the “sifting and winnowing” principle that has long characterized decision-making on our campus.

Because it is essential that the campus discussion is grounded in fact, I want to emphasize and clarify several important issues.

The HR Design Strategic Plan retains job protections for our employees, including the principles of just cause and due process. The law granting us the authority to develop a new HR system does not require that employees hired after July 1, 2013 be covered by these protections. However, our plan would continue these protections for all employee groups that have them now, including employees hired after July 1. These principles are fundamentally important to our university.

Also, the plan does not affect the ability of certified bargaining units to collectively bargain. The university will continue to bargain with certified units to the extent permitted under state law. The plan does not prevent bargaining units from certifying.

With regard to compensation, the plan recognizes the need to balance factors of equity, performance, market and cost of living. However, the plan also recommends that UW–Madison conduct a comprehensive analysis before making large-scale changes to pay and benefits programs. University governance groups will be critical to developing the approach to this study, reviewing its results and making decisions about compensation and benefits programs.

Regarding seniority, the plan calls for years of service to remain the primary consideration in layoff decisions although other factors, such as the need to maintain specific expertise, may also be considered.

The law authorizing UW–Madison to develop a new HR system also requires us to create our own recruiting and hiring process. This law mandates that our hiring system be grounded in civil-service principles of fairness and merit. This is not only the law but it is also the right thing to do.

Our campus is working with UW System to determine which components of the strategic plan will be presented to the Board of Regents. We anticipate producing a final version, incorporating input from the board, campus governance groups and the executive sponsors, following the regents’ meeting in December.

We encourage you to check the HR Design website for more information and further updates.

Bob Lavigna, UW–Madison Director of Human Resources