Common Ground Corner
HR Services restructured to lead and support inclusive diversity
The Department of Human Resource Services has been restructured to better lead and support inclusive diversity and play a more strategic role in supporting departmental needs.
Mercer Human Resources Consulting proposed the new structure after conducting a two-and-a-half-month evaluation and analysis of findings from surveys and workshops it conducted with a cross-section of employees. Several Richmond constituencies reviewed and fine-tuned the new structure.
"One objective of the Common Ground initiative is to enable and empower HRS to play a more strategic role within the University and help Richmond address the issue of inclusive diversity through more effective recruiting, hiring and staff support," said Herb Peterson, vice president for business and finance, in a recent letter to employees.
The new structure focuses on being customer centered, organizing work to effectively support mission-critical activities, grouping together logical work activities by implementing cross-functional HR teams aligned by customer groups, and clearly distinguishing roles and responsibilities to ensure good collaboration and communication around customer needs, said Peterson.
"HR staff will play a vital role in realizing the strategic vision of the University while serving as consultants and trusted advisors for organizational and individual needs," he added.
Mercer envisions the HR team as "facilitators, enablers and champions for the Common Ground initiatives." They will specialize in advising, designing and implementing critical HR practices, such as leadership and management development, performance management, compensation and recruiting.
"Importantly, the HRS team will be advocates for staff," said Peterson.
As a result of the new structure, several new positions have been added and personnel changes have occurred, said Peterson. Four new positions were created in addition to a director of HR consulting. The new positions include HR consultant, total rewards/compensation specialist, organizational learning and development director, and organizational learning and development specialist.
Laura Dietrick will serve as director of total rewards and HR administration. She will continue to oversee the benefits program with additional responsibilities for compensation strategies, HRIS and data management, and general data processing.
Cindy Lloyd will assume the position of HRIS and data specialist upon the retirement of Marty Englert.
Peterson also announced that Brill Neumann Associates Inc. of Boston is administering the search for a new associate vice president for human resource services/chief HR officer. A search committee headed by Jennifer Sauer includes representatives who were nominated by the Faculty Council, University Staff Advisory Council and managers whose departments employ a large percentage of University employees and/or who participated in the initial phase of the HR Strategies project. Both exempt and non-exempt categories are represented. All members of the University community are encouraged to voice their opinions on the qualifications and qualities the University should seek in a new associate vice president.
The HR transformation is "a work in progress," said Peterson. It will take two to three years to fully implement. "The success of this effort depends upon honest and open dialogue, commitment and University-wide collaboration."
The Mercer Project Core Committee will hold an open forum and some small group meetings this spring to discuss the HR transformation and answer questions about the new structure.
Common Ground events
The University community is invited to submit events to the Common Ground events page at http://commonground.richmond.edu/events. Events can be submitted online at http://commonground. richmond.edu/events/submit.htm or by e-mail to Martha Pittaway at mpittawa@richmond.edu.
|
