Just before the U of A's spring break, the campus community held its third 150 Forward town hall to discuss the strategic priority to enhance the university's status as an employer of choice.

Chancellor Charles Robinson said the university's strategic focus on employer of choice should produce several outcomes to support employees -— including compensation plans that attract and retain top talent, ensuring each individual feels valued, facilitating flexibility that serve both personal and university needs, and connecting faculty and staff members to the U of A's mission.

"Mission is not always clear when you work for an organization, but our mission has a lot of clarity," Robinson said. "We are here to serve our campus community, to serve the students who are part of our campus community, to create the opportunity for them to maximize their development and achieve things beyond their wildest imaginations. Each of you plays a role in that.

"You may not see it fully blossom, but you know that while you are here, you are playing a role in creating that outcome," Robinson added. "Ultimately, our university, our state and our world are better for the efforts you give every single day."

Ann Bordelon, the executive vice chancellor for finance and administration, defined an employer of choice as a place where people belong, work toward a meaningful purpose, grow in their current roles and in achieving long-term advancement, and thrive in both their personal and professional lives.

"Being an employer of choice is much more than what we do for employees," Bordelon said. "It's how we do it, how we make employees feel. Our leaders at all levels of the organization set the tone for being an employer of choice. It's not just an HR thing. We're only going to become an employer of choice with everyone's help and advocacy of the initiatives we are undertaking."

Employee Value Proposition

Defining what makes the university a great place to work

Michelle Hargis Wolfe, chief people officer, defined employee value proposition, or EVP, as "why an employee comes to work" and "the reward" for working at the university.

"The words that describe a work environment where employees want to stay and that also attracts new talent - that will come from you," Hargis Wolfe said during the town hall. "Then you'll help us create that culture and hold us accountable to maintaining that environment you've identified."

Hargis Wolfe said the employee value proposition will influence career paths, job descriptions, job postings and more once it's established.

Classification and Compensation

Creating a competitive pay structure and paths to growth

Through the EVP work and gathering information from employees, Hargis Wolfe said pay and career paths often arise as determinants of whether someone chooses to come to and stay at the U of A.

"Getting our compensation and classification right is critical to becoming an employer of choice," Hargis Wolfe said. "We're using data to create a consistent structure that ensures we are market competitive across the board."

Subject matter experts across every unit have been working together to define work performed by staff roles and group them in families that will create clearer paths for career progression and advancement across campus. The classification and compensation project team intends to provide monthly training and updates about what terms like job architecture, job profiles and compensation philosophy mean, and the U of A's approach to establishing them, starting in late April or early May 2023.

Even though the classification and compensation project is specific to staff roles, Provost Terry Martin shared that evaluating salaries for faculty roles at the departmental level is coming "on the heels" of the staff project.

While panelists stated the importance of compensation being consistent across campus and competitive by sector and region, Robinson mentioned the U of A also has an obligation to keep education as affordable and accessible for students as possible. Bordelon, Hargis Wolfe and Vice Provost Anna Zajicek also said that pay should be considered alongside factors the U of A is uniquely positioned to offer - such as the clear mission Robinson referenced, accomplishing impactful work in a family-like environment, stability and other benefits.

Flexible Work

Making permanent recommendations for hybrid and compressed schedules

The U of A will adopt permanent flexible work options on July 1, announced Margaret Sova McCabe, the moderator for the event who also serves as the interim vice chancellor for research and innovation and as a senior adviser for strategic projects.

The permanent options will match what the U of A has piloted over the past year.

• Hybrid schedules: Generally, up to two days working remotely and three on campus
• Compressed schedules: Four-day work week with 10 hours per day
• Flexible hours: For example, the ability to come in early and leave early

McCabe also shared that the Talent Development team has created two modules to help employees and managers be more effective in remote and hybrid work environments - Working Effectively in Remote and Hybrid Environments and Managing Hybrid Teams, available on Workday Learning.

Making Your Day Work

Improving the user experience for business systems, processes

In addition to policies and programs to support employees, Bordelon said making it easier for someone to do their job and focus on the most important priorities is imperative to becoming an employer of choice.

"We really want to help people connect to the actual purpose of the university instead of low-value activities," Bordelon said. "As we transitioned from an implementation state with Workday, we took the opportunity to think about the support we offer for not just Workday, but business processes in general."

The User Solutions team is leading that work and hosting roadshows across campus to receive user experience feedback, share wins and generally help people accomplish tasks more quickly.

Laying a foundation

Looking toward the long-term good of the university

With his closing remarks, Robinson discussed the importance of doing hard and important work now that will benefit the university for generations to come.

"Fundamentally, we will be a better organization," Robinson said. "That is the foundation that we must strive to create. We have the responsibility and the opportunity to do that now. And it will require each and every one of you to believe that we can do it.

"I know hope is not a strategy, but it's extraordinarily important to the foundations of moving an organization forward," Robinson added. "And I want each of you to have the hope and belief that we are serious about this work, and we are going to do everything we can to change this landscape for the better."