FAYETTEVILLE -- As the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville continues to develop its 150 Forward strategic plan, the university is encouraging employees to take advantage of resources from partner EAB to inform their feedback and suggestions.
EAB, a higher education research group, "has done a heavy lift," said Laura Jacobs, the university's chief of staff. "We should use those resources available to us" to learn about current best practices.
"We have ideas of tactics" and strategies used by other universities to accomplish their goals, said EAB's David Vuletich, senior director for research advising services. Getting down to the strategy level is "probably the most difficult" part of strategic planning, but "once you do, the tactics kind of take care of themselves."
The university has already set its trio of strategic plan pillars -- student success, research excellence and being an employer of choice -- and it's currently at the "objectives" level, Jacobs said. The university is establishing work groups around those pillars to workshop possible metrics and key performance indicators, as well as identify strategies and tactics to achieve goals, a process expected to last through roughly October.
A critical element of becoming an employer of choice is an employee value proposition, but that's often missing in higher education, and UA-Fayetteville is working with EAB to establish one, Vuletich said. An employee value proposition has to be "personal -- what does an institution provide that serves the needs of employees in a unique way?"
Employers must be responsive to employee needs and preferences, as well as make work meaningful by demonstrating how employees contribute to the overarching mission, he added. A good employee value proposition is also tied to better metrics and financial performance by organizations.
"We do new research every single year," and EAB provides "context" for what is happening in higher education, said EAB's Paul Gunther, senior strategic leader for research member success. By partnering with EAB, UA-Fayetteville employees can access services, resources, and expertise, including the voluminous content and research available at EAB.com.
It's free to all staff, and no one is required to use it, but it may make work easier for employees, Michelle Hargis Wolfe -- the university's chief people officer -- noted during a special Zoom meeting for all UA employees led by Vuletich and Gunther on Thursday. Making work easier for employees is a crucial element in becoming an employer of choice.
As part of an emphasis on making the university an employer of choice, the university announced a classification and compensation project for staff roles last year and has partnered with Huron Consulting Group for the work, according to the university. UA-Fayetteville has also sought feedback from stakeholders across campus to revamp the university's job classification architecture for staff roles and evaluate the university's compensation structure.
The project team has been working with a variety of subject-matter experts across campus to establish job families for staff roles that more consistently represent responsibilities and ultimately create clearer paths to development and career advancement, according to the university. The team is also refining the university's compensation philosophy to better attract, inspire and retain talent.
Earlier this year, the university conducted a trifecta of town hall meetings -- each focused on one of the strategic pillars -- for staff to learn more about each pillar, ask questions and provide feedback, Jacobs said. The university will continue to welcome comments and suggestions as it refines its broad goals and moves into defining strategies, tactics and action steps over the next several months.