2019 brought many changes and initiatives. A lot has been asked of the HR community.
Through all of it, you have stepped up and demonstrated your abilities to work in consultative partnership with HR’s customers and each other, to ensure positive outcomes for the people whom we serve. Here are just some of this community’s accomplishments:
SH/SV Reference Check Policy and Automated Process
Talent Recruitment and Engagement (TRE) and Workforce Relations (WR), along with division HR and support from several HR communities of practice, worked together to implement an automated process for meeting policy requirements.
Precollege Programming Compliance
WR, the Office of Precollege & Youth Program Compliance, and 14 divisional HR representatives met weekly for 10 consecutive weeks to analyze policies, procedures and resources related to ensuring the protection of minors on campus, in order to make recommendations for HR’s next steps.
Campus Investigative Services
WR implemented a centralized campus investigative services resource for both training HR Reps and conducting investigations. The WR Community of Practice and a small workgroup participated in vetting the Investigations Guidelines & Resources document.
HR Technologies
Terra Dotta, the online solution for immigration document processing, required close to 100 HR professionals to be trained on the system. They are now active users. OBIEE, the replacement for the Query Library Reporting Tool, was implemented in spring of 2019. Over 300 HR professionals were trained and are now using the system.
Payroll Audits
The Office of Human Resources (OHR) and divisional payroll partners worked successfully to complete the UW Internal Audit’s continuous payroll audit.
Annual Benefits Enrollment
OHR and divisional benefit partners assisted 24,975 benefit eligible employees through another successful Annual Benefits Enrollment.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Updates
In response to the announcement of changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by the U.S. Department of Labor in Fall of 2019, the HR Community was quick to identify HR FLSA champions across campus, attend training, and work with roughly 1,000 employees who were affected.
Pay Initiatives
OHR and division HR worked successfully to implement and execute the 2019 Central Funds for Compensation Adjustments. Adjustments awarded under the initiative totaled $17.1 Million in base adjustments and $4 Million in lump sum payments.
Pay Plan
OHR and division HR reviewed the eligibility of 18,775 employees for Pay Plan—with a scheduled implementation date of January 1, 2020.
Expanded Cultural Linguistic Services
Cultural Linguistic Services (CLS) added Nepali interpretation and translation services to expand access to information to more of our workforce. CLS’s English Team implemented five department-specific trainings under their new programming, Advanced Workplace English, to include educational opportunities for more-advanced English Language Learning (ELL) employees.
Expanded Employee Assistance Services
The Employee Assistance Office (EAO) expanded services in June 2019 by adding an EAO partner, LifeMatters. LifeMatters provides 24/7 access to masters’ level counselors, as well as face to face confidential counseling statewide for our employees who work outside of Madison. Services include a full range of work-life resources, including legal, financial and convenience services. After six months of service, EAO is close to doubling utilization of EAO services.
Expanded Administrative Services
The Administrative Services Unit (ASU) expanded its shared services model in order to administer HR and payroll policies and processes consistently and accurately. ASU provides service to 10 divisions and departments consisting of more than 2100 employees.
Transition of Extension and Public Media to UW-Madison
The Division of Extension and Wisconsin Public Media joined UW–Madison in July 2019. The transition was a huge effort taken on successfully by Administrative Services Unit (ASU), partnering closely with the Office of Human Resources. The move included assuming more than 1500 employees, many in areas located across the state of Wisconsin.
Title and Total Compensation (TTC) Project
The campus HR community has sustained active involvement in the TTC Project throughout the year. Support included assisting in writing Standard Job Descriptions and mapping employees to new titles across all UW–Madison schools, colleges and divisions. The HR community also piloted and attended TTC trainings and were crucial in sharing relevant project information within their units.
Administrative Transformation Program (ATP)
The Administrative Transformation Program (ATP), began its preplanning efforts this year. The program, which will redesign our Human Resources systems and services, has been working closely with HR colleagues to identify pain-points and obstacles in the current system; to identify unique campus, divisional or departmental needs; and to explore opportunities to design new processes and systems that better meet UW needs.
Professional Development
The HR community continues to engage in ongoing learning: 91 have completed the 7-month HR Competencies Cohort Program; 39 have completed the 7-month Payroll Cohort. We gathered as a community at our fourth annual HR@UW Conference in December 2019. Technical training is offered each month and is well attended. Last but not least, we continue to network with and learn from one another in our various HR Communities of Practice on campus.
Thank you for making 2019 a great year!