By Neal Lorenzi
THE UNIVERSITY of Illinois recently finalized a
Human Capital Strategy (HCS) document, which is designed to address some of the
issues impacting University employees. Wayne
Stahl, Director of Organizational Effectiveness, University of Illinois,
facilitated a cross-campus team to create the document.
THE HCS team defines a Human Capital Strategy
as: the determination of the right mix of human capital for the short-term and
projected needs of the organization based on workforce planning data and talent
management systems and programs. “In our strategy, we defined human capital as what
people know, how people interact, how committed people are to the organization,
and the work people do that drives an organization toward achieving its
strategic objectives,” Stahl said.
In the
Beginning
ON JUNE 8,
2010, the University’s Administrative
Review and Restructuring Human Resources Management (ARR-HR) Subcommittee
issued a Final Report, which recommended that a supportive human capital
strategy be developed. Such a strategy should be grounded in job analysis so
that the content of the position, the title of the position, and the required
qualifications and competencies are well understood.
A SECOND recommendation called for a Human Capital Strategy for Academic Professionals (APs). Areas that need to be
reviewed include the total compensation for Academic Professionals,
professional development, and career advancement.
WITH RESPECT to Academic Professionals, the report
stated: “APs are critical to the everyday functions performed at the University
and to the future success of a transformed University. They are described as ‘a
workforce that breaks through traditional barriers that is flexible,
self-directed, multidisciplinary, and able to adapt to the changing needs of
the University.’”
Details
of the Strategy
THE HCS
team followed those recommendations to create the recently released Human Capital Strategy document.
According to Stahl:
FOR THE purposes of our report, human capital
is: what people know, how people interact, how committed people are to the
organization, and the work people do that drives an organization toward
achieving its strategic objectives. The guiding principles for the creation of
our human capital model are:
- Human Capital Management is a
fundamental component of strategic business management. It is guided by
and directed toward fulfillment of the university’s and each campus’s
strategic mission, vision and values. Human capital considerations are
reflected when designing and implementing operational policies and
practices.
- People are viewed at the
University of Illinois as assets whose value to the university can be
enhanced through investment. As with any investment, the University’s goal
is to maximize the value of its people to increase operational effectiveness
and efficiency, and add greater value to students, parents and other
stakeholders.
- A University-wide competency
model provides a common base to implement a human capital strategy.
Competencies are a guide for employees to support the University in
achieving its goals. As an operational tool, the competency model is used
to build and sustain the university’s pool of leaders through recruiting,
hiring, development, retention, and succession policies and practices
targeted for leaders with identified characteristics and work experiences.
- Performance management systems,
including pay and other incentives, link performance to results.
- Individuals interact, support and
learn from each other as a means of contributing to the high performance
of their peers, colleges, units and the University as a whole.
- The organizational structure
should support high performance in the workplace.
- Talent management only “works” if
all leaders, managers and employees are responsible for hiring, engaging,
developing and retaining top talent. HR enables these efforts by
developing and providing tools, templates, processes, systems, analyses
and training to help leaders, managers and employees be more effective in
their talent management responsibilities. However, ownership rests with
line management.
Potential Impact of the Document
THE IMPACT to University employees by campus and
across the three campuses is potentially significant. The size and complexity
of the recommendations range from developing a policy on bullying and
developing processes for more opportunities for internal promotions to the
modernization of the State Universities Civil Service System and changing our
culture to drive continuous improvement in everything we do.
WE NOW have a strategy for human resources
to integrate into the campus strategies, and UIC HR has been a leader in this
area. The Chicago campus HR office has developed a robust strategy that
integrates some of the elements found in the University’s human capital
strategy.
THE OTHER campuses and the hospital are looking
at opportunities where they can make changes and improvements to their
respective organizations and collectively where the University as a whole can
benefit. The challenge is to keep the momentum going while we all face financial
and resource shortfalls.
Status
of the Initiative
THE PROPOSED strategy was presented to the Human
Resource Leadership Team on March 27, 2013, for review and approval. Members of
the team are collecting input from their respective campus and University
administration leadership groups, at which point they will discuss the next
steps for the human capital strategy and make recommendations.
For More Information
The strategy
is posted on the APAC website. “As new teams are formed to carry out these
recommendations, Academic Professionals will be asked to participate directly,”
Stahl concluded. “As a stakeholder group, they will be asked for input through
organizations such as APAC. Our project team has had a great relationship with
APAC during the development of the Human Capital Strategy document. I expect
that relationship to continue to be nurtured and grow.”
