Campus Creates Project for Human Resources

The University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is working on a project that will help them to create a human resources system that will work best for the students, employees, and for the people who live in the area of Wisconsin near this particular University.

The dean at the College of Letters and Science, Gary Sandefur, has said, “The Legislature has offered us the rare opportunity to craft a human resources framework that is better suited to a public research institution in the 21st century.” They are taking this opportunity that they have received and plan to make the most of it by making adjustments and changes.

Sandefur believes that this human resources project will help the the campus and its employees work more efficiently and continue to grow successfully as a whole. It is believed that the project will take about a year and a half to be completed. Sandefur says, “This is a complex project, but one we feel will shape how we recruit, reward, develop and manage our workforce.” He also adds, “We are a human-capital intensive operation with needs specific to higher education and our human resources policies need to reflect that.”

During the project, it is expected that the campus and its students and employees will get involved in the process and provide feedback. The main plan of this project is to figure out a detailed plan for salary and benefits for employees and create a system that meets that needs of the campus, its students, and all of its employees.

Darrell Bazzell, the Vice Chancellor for Administration, wants employees to know that the human resources project is not designed to make a reduction in the amount of money employees will earn on a monthly or yearly basis or what types of benefits they will receive. In fact, Bazzell has said, “This project is not being done to reduce anyone’s pay or benefits.” To further explain the purpose of this human resources project that is taking place, he says, “Our aim is to be a competitive employer, attract and retain talented people and ensure that HR and personnel policies make sense in a university setting and provide value.”

The director of human resources for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bob Lavigna, genuinely hopes this project and the changes that are being made over the next year and a half will help the university in a major way. He says, “These changes will be designed to ensure we can attract, develop and retain a workforce that is world-class, diverse and highly engaged. We want to create a system that is flexible so that we can make continual improvements to our HR processes.”