5 essential strategies the top human resource professionals use every day Smart talent decisions that make a big difference in recruiting, retention, and compliance on campus An ebook for chief human resource officers and human resource professionals
CONTENTS Introduction 1 Define what talent management means to your institution 2 Identify talent management priorities 3 Align talent management with strategic institutional goals and measure success 4 Improve succession planning efforts 5 Use technology to track and administer talent management initiatives Conclusion About Ellucian
Introduction Since 1991, the number of students in higher education nearly doubled to 20 million. As many faculty members and staff approach retirement age, institutions must recruit and develop new professors, administrators, and staff in order to maintain an acceptable student-to-faculty ratio. To help, we ve culled some information based on results from the 2014 Workforce Talent Management in Higher Education survey. This independent study, conducted by the Human Capital Media Advisory Group, which is the research arm of Workforce magazine, in partnership with Cornerstone and Ellucian, explored the function and scope of academic human resources. The results help us understand how human resource leaders view their roles within the larger context of their academic organizations and examine what processes colleges and universities have in place to attract, train, and retain employees and ensure academic compliance. Here, we share five smart ways you can get ahead of growing student populations while maintaining teaching and operational performance. 3
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1Define what talent management means to your institution Outline the elements and scope of your talent management program As you create your program, consider the full employee lifecycle. This helps you develop unified talent management strategies that encompass each stage and understand how they affect your institution. For example, think of all the ways the workforce is changing: who, how, what, where, and when. We now have four or five generations in the workforce. Roles within organizations are shifting. And in this global, mobile world, where employees physically work from is no longer relevant. With options like flexible hours and shared jobs, the traditional 9 5 workday is a thing of the past. So who owns talent management? More than half (53.38 percent) of survey respondents said that talent management fell under the human resource department. But in 28.4 percent of institutions, that responsibility fell to deans and department heads. The reality is that everyone at your institution plays a role in making make sure that talent management efforts align with your institution s overall goals. Recruiting/talent acquisition 75.43% More than half of survey respondents said that Learning and development Employee management 48.44% 75.09% talent management fell under the human resource department. But in 28.4 percent of institutions, that responsibility fell to deans and department heads. Performance management 66.09% Succession planning 33.22% Leadership development 57.79% Compensation management Compliance 33.91% 35.64% Other 4.84% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 5
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2 Identify talent management priorities Determine your challenges and build a strategy that helps address them The top three priorities for human resource professionals are: Recruiting and talent acquisition Learning and development Performance management According to survey respondents, recruiting new employees (75.43 percent) and providing learning and development for existing employees (75.09 percent) were the most important aspects of a talent management strategy. And many institutions have applicant tracking and leadership development programs in place. But there has been a fundamental shift in what talent management means and what it encompasses. We now realize it s more than just recruiting, it s about retaining employees and not just any employees, the right employees. To identify and keep high-performers in your organization, that means expanding the scope to focus on performance measurement and recognition, succession planning, and appropriate compensation. Hiring the right employees, retaining talented employees, and aligning talent management with institutional effectiveness are critical components of a holistic strategy. What are the high/critical priorities in the talent management area at your institution for the next three years? Retaining talented employees Developing employee skills and competencies Managing employee compliance and risk issues Hiring the right employees 43.3% 44.3% 52.9% 58.6% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% Figures from the U.S. Department of Education show that faculty members have a median retention rate of 11 years, meaning that every decade or so a university needs to replace half its faculty. 7
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3 Align talent management with strategic institutional goals and measure success We re not currently measuring success in talent management. Universities with 3,000 10,000 employees 44.70% If you re developing goals but not measuring their effectiveness, you re just guessing. Developing a talent management strategy is still a work in progress for many 29 percent of the institutions surveyed have a talent management plan in place, 75 percent are in the process of developing a plan, and 68 percent have no plan at all. Clear talent management goals that are aligned with organizational goals can help ensure that employees are working the right job, at the right time, and moving the institution forward in a targeted, meaningful way. So how do you know The talent management function is currently well-aligned with the goals of my institution. if you re hitting the bull s eye? Track and measure. Being accountable and tracking metrics are key to maintaining compliance with board, local, state, and federal expectations and laws. And as you know, compliance is key to accreditation. Unfortunately, even if an institution does have a talent management program in place, almost half of the institutions surveyed weren t tracking their successes at all. A comprehensive talent management solution provides university leadership with the metrics and transparency they need to make strategic decisions and track and report on mandatory training for compliance. Detailed information is essential to help institutions develop the compliance strategies they need to meet requirements. We re not currently measuring success in talent management. Universities with 3,000 10,000 employees Universities with 10,000+ employees 44.70% 42.90% The talent management fu currently well-aligned with of my institution. Universities with 10,000+ employees 42.90% Public universities 40.60% 49% 51% Public universities 40.60% 49% 51% Agree Disagree 4-year universities 38.60% 4-year universities 38.60% All organizations 34.70% All organizations 34.70% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 9
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4 Improve succession planning efforts What percentage of your current employees do you estimate will retire in the next five years? 80.0% HIGH The workforce is aging, what are you doing to bridge the gap? Succession planning identifying, selecting, and grooming talent for leadership is critical to achieving your institution s long-term goals. Finding and developing leaders ensures you re always prepared for expected and unexpected talent vacancies with a diverse talent pool of ready successors. If you don t have a succession plan in place, how do you know who you need to hire and when? Smart succession planning gives you a competitive advantage, as it takes you beyond simple replacement planning a gamble of talent and resources to creating individuals qualified and ready to lead your institution into the future. Maybe the right employee is right under your nose. You may not have to hire outside of your organization if you have accurate information on your top performers. Develop the talent you have. The millennial generation moves around and moves forward, so give them a place to go. Training your existing employees as part of your succession planning makes sense down the road, too. In 2012, Matthew Bidwell, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania s Wharton School, conducted a study and found that those hired externally were 61 percent more likely to be laid off or fired and 21 percent more likely than internal hires to leave a job on their own accord. To ensure your institution does not face an instructional knowledge gap when senior faculty do retire: Identify high performers Offer mentor programs Map current skills Map needed skills 17.4% AVERAGE 0.0% LOW Although 60 percent of senior faculty members wanted to retire, there were compelling reasons to keep working past age 65, such as fulfillment in their duties and a lack of retirement funds. 2011 TIAA-CREF study 11
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5 Use technology to track and administer talent management initiatives Make better decisions based on data Hiring well, training employees, and ensuring their growth and development in their respective fields are the top-level goals for any talent management program. While some organizations have modernized their talent management processes, there is still room to make significant progress. Siloed, manual systems lead to missed opportunities and inaccurate information. Having the right data on faculty and staff provides human resource professionals with the insight they need to align talent management strategies with institutional goals. A single, integrated system that automates daily processes and boosts efficiency provides valuable insight that helps you make decisions based on facts, not guesswork. Here, a breakdown of what institutions are using: Not tracking talent management functions at all: 29.7% Multiple, unintegrated tools: 27.82% A single unified solution: 6.77% Multiple but integrated systems: 17.29% Manual solutions: 18.42% What type of technologies do you have in place to track and administer talent management initiatives? The market for top talent in higher education is more competitive than ever. We can t simply let HR hire new employees and then leave it at that. We need a proactive strategy to develop and retain our best employees. Linda Boyer-Owens Associate Vice Chancellor, HR and Organizational Development, Alamo Colleges We do not track or administer talent management functions today We mostly use spreadsheets and paper-based processes for talent management We have several different tools that are not integrated We use several different, but integrated, tools to manage different talent management functions We have a single unified solution that supports all talent management functions 6.77% 17.29% 18.42% 27.82% 29.70% 266 total respondents 7 skipped 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 13
Conclusion A unified talent management strategy encompasses multiple areas and spans the entire employee lifecycle. Your plan should integrate talent management processes and technology into a single, cohesive solution that helps you focus on business needs, alignment, and desired results. The Ellucian Talent Management Suite, leveraging the industry-leading functionality developed by Cornerstone, is customized to meet the unique needs of higher education professionals. Ellucian Talent Management Suite delivers a powerful, secure set of cloud-based tools that can save you money and is comprised of three modules that can be used together or individually depending on need: the Recruiting module, the Learning module, and the Performance module. Banner Human Resources, part of the larger Banner by Ellucian suite, is a comprehensive human resources, payroll, and position control solution that helps institutions support every aspect of the employee lifecycle. Colleague HR automates burdensome paper-based and administrative tasks, allowing HR staff to focus on higher-value activities. Colleague HR empowers employees with self-service options for accessing their own HR information. And it provides leaders with tools for predicting and planning for future staff needs, including metrics on industry trends. 14
About Ellucian Ellucian helps higher education institutions thrive in an open and dynamic world. We deliver a broad portfolio of technology solutions, developed in collaboration with a global education community, and provide strategic guidance to help education institutions of all kinds navigate change, achieve greater transparency, and drive efficiencies. More than 2,400 institutions in 40 countries around the world look to Ellucian for the ideas and insights that will move education forward, helping people everywhere discover their futures through learning. To learn more, please visit www.ellucian.com. Headquarters: 4375 Fair Lakes Court, Fairfax, Virginia 22033, USA Phone: +1 800.223.7036 www.ellucian.com 2016 Ellucian, Inc. All rights reserved. EEB-522