Higher Education
Human Resources
DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
Revised August 9, 2006
The various functions of a higher education human resources office differ from university to university and are largely dependent on two factors:
1. the institution size – large (masters, doctoral, and research) or small (baccalaureate and below);
2. the institution type – public or private.
The following various operational functions are included within this diagnostic tool:
Most likely – functions that have a high degree of probability being Human Resources’ PAGE
Responsibility regardless of institution type or size
1. Records/Documentation and Information Services 2
2. Medical and Fringe Benefits: plan administration, plan design, and contracting 5
3. Employment: salaried administrators and non-exempt staff 9
4. Employee Relations (Labor Relations if unionized) 14
5. Compensation : salaried administrators and hourly, non-exempt staff 19
6. Training & Development: salaried administrators and hourly, non-exempt staff 21
7. Payroll, Appointment Processing 24
8. Organizational Development (OD)/Internal Consulting 26
9. Diversity/Affirmative Action/EEO 28
Less likely – functions that are less likely to be part of Human Resources’ responsibility
1. OD/Leadership Development 30
2. OD/Workforce Planning 30
3. Workplace Safety 32
4. Payroll, Production (INCOMPLETE) 35
Also included in the diagnostic tool:
Other Critical (Strategic) HR Management Matters
1. Personal/Professional Development of HR staff members 36
2. HR-related Equipment and Facilities 37
3. HR Leadership 39
4. Ohio’s Inter-University Council Measures 41
5. Now what? How do we use these data? 43
The purpose of this diagnostic tool is to encourage Human Resource leaders to conduct a self-assessment of their programs, practices, and services. The tool is rather simplistic in its contents and approach but powerful in its thought-provoking and penetrating questions.
© 2005
On a scale of 1 (almost never) through 5 (almost always) please rate your institution’s office of human resources on each of the following factors:
Most Likely Functions of the HR Office
I. Records/Documentation and Information Services / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
A. is responsible for records retention practices for HR-related
records.
Comments:
B. is responsible for privacy rights issues regarding records.
Comments:
C. is responsible for public records requests for the institution.
Comments:
D. is responsible for records related to performance management.
Comments:
E. assures medical records are kept separate from other records.
Comments:
F. assures access to the Human Resources information system is
controlled.
Comments:
CONTINUED
I. Records/Documentation and Information Services / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
G. has a computerized Human Resources Information System.
Comments:
H. Are any Human Resources data computed into statistics and
reported to management/executives?
Please explain:
I. How often is employee-related data updated in the system?
Comments:
J. Describe how the records system is audited for data integrity.
K. Other probing questions:
1. How current is your HR technology?
2. How do you monitor and improve business processes related to your HR technology/information?
3. Describe your disaster recovery system.
4. Do you have a process in place for data/file purging and archiving?
5. Do you have (reliable) data definition documentation?
6. Is there adequate financial support or funding for hardware and software replacement?
7. What growing edge technology are you exploring (employee portals, self-service, document imaging, etc.)?
8. What is your level of participation in user-forums, user-groups, or other support organizations?
9. How do you communicate system or process-related changes to employees?
Overall rating Records Management
/ Poor / Average / Excellent1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Please rate the performance of the HR department in this area (Records Management.)
How would employees in the HR department rate their service?
How would HR’s primary customers of this function rate the service?
II. Medical and Fringe Benefits: Plan administration, and Plan design and contracting / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
A. is responsible for medical benefits plan administration.
Comments:
B. is responsible for medical benefits plan design.
Comments:
C. is responsible for medical/fringe benefits plan administration.
Comments:
D. is responsible for medical/fringe benefits plan design.
Comments:
E. is responsible for medical benefits plan contracting.
Comments:
F. is responsible for medical/fringe benefits plan contracting.
Comments:
G. has a policy statement regarding the overall purpose of
employee benefits.
Comments:
CONTINUED
II. Medical and Fringe Benefits
/ Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
H. makes benefits changes only after consulting employees or
their organizations.
Comments:
I. communicates benefits changes fully throughout the
organization.
Comments:
J. reviews benefits plans on a regular basis to assure legal
compliance.
Comments:
K. reviews benefits plans on a regular basis to assure appropriate
design features.
Comments:
L. reviews benefits plans on a regular basis to manage costs.
Comments:
M. routinely compares your institutions benefits offerings to that
of peer institutions.
Comments:
N. periodically communicates the financial value of benefits.
Comments:
CONTINUED
II. Medical and Fringe Benefits
/ Almost Never /Sometimes
/ Almost Always1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
O. considers creative alternatives to the existing benefits package.
Comments:
P. assures employees understand
- their benefits package
- the cost of providing benefits
- how they impact costs
Comments:
Q. assures executive officers understand
- their benefits package
- the cost of providing benefits
- how they impact costs
Comments:
R. reminds employees of the cost of governmentally required
benefits, e.g., Worker’s Comp., Medicaid/care, Unemployment
Comp., Social Security
Comments:
S. reminds employees of the benefits programs unique to your
institution:
- health risk reduction programs
- disease management programs
- wellness programs
- Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
Comments:
CONTINUED
II. Medical and Fringe Benefits / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
T. monitors and tracks industry trends.
Comments:
U. monitors current contracts with insurance companies, and
compares to others (e.g. service, costs, quality.)
Comments:
V. establishes the annual benefits budget.
Comments:
Overall rating Medical and Fringe Benefits
/ Poor / Average / Excellent1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Please rate the performance of the HR department in this area (Benefits Management.)
How would employees in the HR department rate their service?
How would HR’s primary customers of this function rate the service?
III. Employment: salaried administrators (exempt) and
hourly (non-exempt) / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
A. assures the request and authorizations to fill a vacancy follows a formal procedure.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
B. assures the request to fill a vacancy includes a position description.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
C. assures internal candidates are considered first.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
D. announces all vacancies publicly and openly within the institution.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
III. Employment: salaried administrators (exempt) and
hourly (non-exempt) / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
E. utilizes a website for vacancy announcements.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
F. uses a computerized applicant tracking system.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
G. assures the institution has a formal policy on transfers.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
H. assures the institution has a formal policy on promotions.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
I. assures employment-related policies are open to the public.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
J. assures appropriate efforts are made to seek a diverse
(racial, gender, ethnicity, etc.) applicant pool.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
III. Employment: salaried administrators (exempt) and
hourly (non-exempt) / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
K. assures recruiting efforts are consistent across the various
units of the institution.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
L. assures search committees are adequately trained.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
M. assures reference checks are made of all candidates’
qualifications.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
N. assures an in-depth background search is conducted on all
candidates’ qualifications.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
O. assures all people involved in the screening and selection
process are adequately trained or informed of appropriate
(legal and illegal) methods.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
P. assures the position is adequately priced (pay grade and range)
prior to the search.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
III. Employment: salaried administrators (exempt) and
hourly (non-exempt) / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
Q. assures that all candidates are notified of the final hiring
decision.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
R. uses search firms for recruiting purposes.
- exempt (E)
- non-exempt (N)
Comments: / E
N
S. participates in searches for executive officers.
Comments:
T. What methods of screening and assessment are used for candidates (e.g., tests, physicals, etc)?
- exempt
- non-exempt
Comments:
U. Describe how the institution handles unsolicited applications.
- exempt
- non-exempt
Comments:
Overall rating Employment
/ Poor / Average / Excellent1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Please rate the performance of the HR department in this area (Recruitment & Selection.)
How would employees in the HR department rate their service?
How would HR’s primary customers of this function rate the service?
IV. Employee & Labor Relations / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
A. employee relations
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
1. assures formal institution-wide employee relations policies and
practices.
Comments:
2. assures employees receive a handbook describing terms and
conditions of employment.
Comments:
3. periodically and regularly reviews existing employee relations
policies and practices.
Comments:
4. assures there is a central repository of information regarding
decisions made involving employee relations’ matters for which
no formal policy exists.
Comments:
5. conducts exit interviews for all employees.
Comments:
6. assures employees opinions and feedback are gathered periodically.
Comments:
CONTINUED
IV. Employee & Labor Relations
A. employee relations / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
7. offers the services of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Comments:
8. encourages, manages, and maintains the institution’s dispute
resolution (e.g., grievance, mediation) programs.
Comments:
9. assures ‘work rules’ (expected workplace behaviors) are developed
and communicated.
Comments:
10. assures the institution has an acceptable conflict intervention or
disciplinary process in place.
Comments:
11. is responsible for managing the institution’s plan and process to
thwart a union organizing drive.
Comments: / YES / NO
12. Describe innovative employee relations programs (flex hours, flex place, etc.) the university has in place.
13. What information is given to new employees at the time of hire?
Is this information consistent with the ‘recruiting’ information?
Comments:
YES / NO
14. Describe the ‘employee relations climate’ of the institution.
Overall rating Employee Relations
/ Poor / Average / Excellent1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Please rate the performance of the HR department in this area (Employee Relations.)
How would employees in the HR department rate their service?
How would HR’s primary customers of this function rate the service?
IV. Employee & Labor Relations / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
B. labor relations
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
1. is responsible for negotiating the union contract(s).
Comments:
2. is responsible for managing the union contract(s).
Comments:
3. is responsible for the labor grievance process (design of the process
and a decision-maker at some step, e.g., step 3 of a 4-step process.)
Comments:
4. has access to internal legal counsel.
Comments:
5. has access to external legal counsel.
Comments:
6. is responsible for regularly reviewing, and applying, labor laws and
case-law precedence
Comments:
7. is responsible for labor/management programs, meetings, etc.
Comments:
CONTINUED
IV. Employee & Labor Relations
B. labor relations / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
8. is able to initiate new labor relations programs, e.g., interest-based
bargaining in place of traditional position-based (adversarial)
bargaining.
Comments:
9. is responsible for contract costing during negotiation processes.
Comments:
10. is responsible for periodic management meetings to keep
management informed of decisions, trends, etc.
Comments:
11. conducts regular training that involves labor and management
representatives and builds a sense of ‘university’ or ‘team’.
Comments:
12. assures the institution’s ‘solicitation’ policy is current and up-to
-date.
Comments:
13. makes concerted attempts at maintaining good interpersonal
relationships with union leadership.
Comments:
Overall rating Labor Relations
/ Poor / Average / Excellent1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Please rate the performance of the HR department in this area (Labor Relations.)
How would employees in the HR department rate their service?
How would HR’s primary customers of this function rate the service?
V. Compensation / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
A. is responsible for establishing the institution’s compensation
‘philosophy’.
Comments:
B. assures compensation/pay plans are part of the institution’s
policies.
Comments:
C. regularly and frequently provides the university community with
compensation-related information.
Comments:
D. assures the human resources employee database contains current
and accurate pay-related information.
Comments:
E. regularly participates in wage and salary surveys comparing
university wage data to peer institutions.
Comments:
F. has formal policies or programs in place to address:
1. internal equity pay studies
2. external equity pay studies
3. job evaluation methodologies
4. incumbent appeal of job evaluation
5. counter-offers
6. mid-year pay adjustments
Comments:
1
2
3
4
5
6
CONTINUED
V. Compensation / Almost Never / Sometimes / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 1 / 2
Your office of Human Resources (OHR):
G. has access to external consultants on an as needed basis.
Comments:
H. has a formalized policy or program for employee recognition that
is exclusive of base pay management.
Comments:
I. has a system in place to regularly or routinely evaluate all positions
at the university (e.g., every three years; or, during a vacancy; or,
once per year at the incumbent’s request.)
Comments:
J. has adopted a formalized approach to performance management/
development.
Comments:
K. periodically and routinely audits pay plans to assure legal
compliance.
Comments:
Overall rating Compensation