New Services Enhance Support for the Stanford Community
In keeping with his commitment that Human Resources would focus on work that is aligned with the needs of the Stanford community, David Jones, Vice President for University Human Resources (UHR), recently announced a variety of new initiatives designed to support the university’s position and reputation as the best led, best managed university in the world.
UHR’s three-year strategic plan includes initiatives to support employees and managers in three key areas – Leadership and Management Development; HR Operations and Development; and Employee Engagement.
The new services, which will be implemented in phases throughout fiscal years 2012 to 2014, fulfill President John Hennessy’s vision for HR to facilitate the recruitment and retention of top-notch talent to Stanford.
“For us to be the best led, best managed university, we need to hire and retain the very best people,” Hennessy said during an HR community meeting last month. “In the end, the university is all about the people – the students, faculty and staff. We want to create an environment that allows staff to flourish.”
As the university changes and evolves, including the possible addition of New York City campus, HR’s focus should remain constant in two areas: ensuring local client satisfaction and delivering high-quality services. These essential functions of HR will guarantee the continuation of a high-caliber workforce at Stanford. “We are blessed with the set of people who work here – they like the people they work with, they are engaged and satisfied, and challenged with the work they do,” Hennessy said.
What do UHR’s new initiatives mean for you?
Hiring managers, school and unit HR groups, and university leaders can start accessing the services associated with new UHR initiatives during fall quarter. New initiatives are:
A completely new approach to managing performance at Stanford
How would you like it if your boss recognized your work once a month rather than once a year? What if you received frequent coaching and feedback on your projects? The year-long Performance Management @ Stanford pilot aims to encourage an approach that does just that and more. About 800 employees in six different schools and units are participating in the pilot that is structured around a continuous process that stresses coaching, feedback and recognition. Participants have access to a set of tools and trainings to facilitate regular conversations throughout the year about performance and developmental goals. The intended results of the pilot are a more open, supportive environment where high-quality feedback and coaching are the norm, a fair performance evaluation process and more engaged, energized teams excited to be part of the Stanford mission.
Recruiting and staffing services to help hiring managers attract the best talent
What if you had access to an expert recruiter to help you find the right talent for your team, and at no cost? Now you do. From screening resumes and conducting preliminary telephone interviews to placing advertisements for a targeted talent search, Staff Employment (SE) has begun offering a suite of services to enhance the quality of staff hiring and reduce the time it takes hiring managers to screen applicants. Once a candidate is selected, SE will provide timely candidate notification and ensure accurate reporting of mandated data. The goal is to improve the quality and efficiency of the hiring process, assist hiring managers in making the best use of their time, and successfully hire great talent.
Service center for transactions to increase efficiencies and ease burden of local HR staff
To consolidate the processing of HR-related transactions and offer quicker turnarounds, a central service center is being established in the HR Operations and Systems group to handle such tasks as background checks, job and position changes, and hiring and terminations. With highly-trained staff dedicated to managing HR-related transactions for schools and units and a very fast turnaround, the consolidated center will result in increased efficiencies, improved data collection, and more effective university-wide workforce planning. Additionally, as a result of these transactions being centrally managed, local HR staff will have more time to focus on the needs of their workforce and school or business unit.
Redesign of Stanford’s job classification approach to facilitate internal movement
Are you interested in learning more about the skills, knowledge and abilities needed for a different type of job at Stanford? Or wondering about your own career mobility within Stanford? A multi-year project to replace Stanford’s current staff job classification system and tools seeks a simplified classification system, and the first phase of the project targets standardization of job descriptions to define the competencies needed for jobs with the same classification. Future project phases include changing the job classification process to facilitate consistent and fair job assignments, and to have a market-based salary grades/ranges system. This streamlined approach will provide clarity for both hiring managers and staff about the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed for staff positions, and provide a better understanding of career paths and opportunities at Stanford.
Online access to workforce information to help managers and leaders plan effectively
How many of your employees are eligible to retire? Are employee turnover rates in your unit acceptable? To help Stanford’s leaders more effectively analyze, plan, allocate resources and make decisions about the university’s workforce, UHR is introducing the HR Metrics Dashboard tool that will make this data and more instantly available. The new tool will allow leaders to readily access, interpret and compare essential data about Stanford’s 12,000-strong workforce through a visually-friendly online display that includes dynamic charts and graphs. Data such as the number of new hires, number of employees obtaining promotions, number of terminations, and other general workforce data will be used for resource planning and allocation and for workforce strategic planning.
A project to revitalize Stanford’s learning management system (STARS) to support informal learning efforts
Thousands of Stanford employees use STARS as a tool for accessing and managing formal training efforts. As business ownership for STARS transfers from Internal Audit & Institutional Compliance to University Human Resources with the new calendar year, an in-depth “discovery” project is taking place to identify how departments that offer training would like to use the system, how employees would like to use the system, and how to enhance the system to meet various needs. A key strategy is the ability to use the system to register for informal learning opportunities, such as participating on a project team, job shadowing, cross training, or other experiential or exposure activities.
More information to help employees and retirees manage personal health care costs
What if more exercise led to fewer doctor visits or treatments and thus, more money in your bank account? As millions of individuals and employers around the world grapple with the cost of health care, Stanford is embarking on a multi-year education campaign to provide important information to help employees as well as the university manage costs. The campaign will include detailed information and tools to assist employees in making decisions about their health care and the associated costs. An emphasis will be placed on overall health improvement to demonstrate the relationship between wellness and health care cost containment. Over time, there may be a reduction in health care costs for health care plan participants and for the university.
To learn more
Please check the HR website for periodic updates highlighting our progress and related issues regarding our efforts. You can also contact any of the UHR leaders with questions or suggestions. We will also reach out to you through surveys, focus groups and other ways to get your input, so stay tuned!