November 2007

 Upon implementation of the new classification system in April 2007, an appeals process was put in place for those employees who did not agree with their classification decision. Two appeals committees were created to review each appeal.  One committee reviewed appeals from employees in administrative support jobs; the other committee reviewed any appeal from any other job on campus. Each committee was comprised of a combination of employees from Auburn University and people outside the University who have expertise in classification and compensation work.  No one who served on either committee served on the original project team.

 Each of the two committees has been meeting on a regular basis since May.  Prior to each meeting, members of each committee carefully reviewed and confirmed all available information concerning each appeal and compared the duties and responsibilities listed in each appeal with the duties and responsibilities in related jobs. Then, during the meeting, members of the committee would hold an open discussion of the merits of the appeal.    Reviewing the appeals was a very time-consuming process and employees within the university found themselves spending many extra hours each week reviewing the appeal’s information in preparation for the discussion in the upcoming meeting. The decision to place position into a particular job in the new classification system was based upon the process of a job-based structure.  A job-based structure looks at the duties and accountabilities of the job, but does not look at the competencies or performance of the individual employee. Throughout the process, the appeals committees focused on the responsibilities of the job, not the performance of the individual holder of the position.

 There were a number of employees who appealed the level within a job family to which they were assigned.  The guidelines for the appeals process specifically stated that an appeal would not be considered if it was based on the assignment to a level within a job family; therefore, appeals pertaining to job family level assignments were not considered.  The brochure, “Understanding Your Compensation at Auburn University” explains that assignment to a job family level was based on one of two methods.

1. Employees in a job family who moved into a job family with the same number of levels were “mapped” over to the same level they were in.  For example, employees who were in a three level job family in the old system and were moved into a three level job family in the new system were moved laterally.

2. Employees who were moved into a job family for the first time or were moved into a job family with a different number of levels than their previous job family were placed into the new job family based on their salary. 

Assignment to a particular level within a job family was not based upon experience, job performance, or individual competencies.

The appeals committees have now concluded their meetings. Letters are now being prepared to all appellants explaining the findings of the committees.  Two copies of the letter are also being prepared; one for the employee’s supervisor and one each HR Liaison to share with appropriate management official(s) of the organizational unit. These letters should be distributed within a few weeks. 

Classification Appeals Committee

Upon implementation of the new classification and compensation system in April 2007 a classification appeals process was established for those employees who may have questioned the appropriateness of their new job assignment. The appeals process permits an employee to seek reconsideration of his/her job assignment before a Classification Appeals Committee. Employees had until April 30 to submit an appeal.

Two separate appeals committees were established; one to review all appeals associated with administrative support jobs and the other committee to review all other jobs. Having two committees serves two purposes. It allowed each committee to be staffed with people who have particular familiarity with the jobs they are reviewing and it results in expediting the review process. Each of the two committees is comprised of a combination of employees from Auburn University and people outside the university who have expertise in classification and compensation work. No one who was on the original classification project team is serving on either committee.

Reviewing each appeal is a time-consuming process and employees from within the university are spending many extra hours reviewing the appeals information in preparation for the appeals discussions that take place with each meeting. The committees have been meetings on a regular basis since May but it is still expected that they will meet throughout the summer before the process is completed.

Once the committees have reviewed all appeals, each employee who filed an appeal, along with his/her supervisor, will be notified of the committee’s decision.
 

New Classification System to be Rolled Out
March 2007

The new classification and compensation system is scheduled to be rolled out in the spring of 2007.  The rollout process will involve several steps:

Supervisory Training

            The first step in the process is to ensure that supervisors have received training and information about the new program.  Our process to do this will be to conduct a “live” training session, during the first week of February, with approximately 30 participants and have this “live” session videotaped and made available for supervisors to view via our website.  This method will result in making this important information available to all supervisors in a very short period of time.  We have over 800 supervisors on the Auburn campus so it is not possible to conduct one-on-one meetings with such a large number of supervisors in a short period of time. Supervisors are expected to view this training to prepare for the meetings they will hold with their employees. The web training will consist not only of the “live” training session but will also provide other important information such as new job family guidelines, salary administration guidelines and definitions to frequently used terms.

Employee Notification

The web-based training program will prepare supervisors for the next step in the rollout, employee notification.  During the month of March 2007, Human Resources will deliver personalized statements for each employee to the departments for distribution. After a supervisor has reviewed the training information, the supervisor will discuss this “personalized statement” with each employee. These statements will show the new job title, salary grade, salary range, and job description for the position held by the employee. 

Appeals Process

            Employees who believe that they have not been properly classified will have an opportunity to file an appeal. Each appeal will be reviewed by an appeals committee who will review the appeal, decide upon the merits of the appeal and notify the employee of their findings and conclusion. (see Appeals Process elsewhere on this website for further information).

Any time a new system is introduced, particularly one as large and complex as this, there will be questions and concerns. Please be assured that Human Resources will investigate and respond to any questions or concerns that may be raised by employees as they learn about the new system.

 Features of the New Classification Program

 New job descriptions

            The job descriptions now have a consistent and “easy to read” format.  Job descriptions now contain all pertinent information directly on the job description document rather than having to look at a number of different sources to determine the salary grade, the salary range, whether the job is in a job family, etc.  The top section of the new job descriptions shows the job title, job code, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) status, salary grade, salary range and whether or not the job is in a job family.

• The job title is the new job title for the position held by the employee. The job title for some positions (not all) is changing, therefore, the new title may be different or it may be the same title as the employee holds in his/her current job.   The new job titles were assigned based on “job title guidelines” established with the assistance of an outside consultant.  The purpose of these guidelines is to provide greater consistency in the assignment of job titles.
• The job code on the job description is simply a unique alpha-numeric identifier that is needed for the database system.  Each job has two letters, followed by two numbers, and, if the job is in a job family, has a final letter.  The letter at the end of the code identifies the level of the job in the job family.  For example,              KB05 is the code for Manager, Student Loans. It does not have a letter at the end of the title since the job is not in a job family. The job code for Accountant, Central, Level I is KA07a.  The last letter of the job code is “a”, which identifies it as the first level of the job family.  The letter “b” would identify it as the second level of the job family.
• The FLSA status identifies the job as either exempt or non-exempt.  Jobs are classified as either exempt or non-exempt based upon criteria set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act.  At Auburn University, we commonly refer to exempt jobs at Administrative/Professional and non-exempt jobs as University Staff.
• The salary grade is the assigned salary grade in the new system.  The new salary structure has 19 salary grades and is numbered grades 24 – 42.  Our old structure had salary grades 1-23 so the new structure starts at number 24 to avoid confusion with the old system.
• The salary range is the minimum and the maximum value for that particular job. 
• If the job is in a job family, the job description will show all levels of the job family and a salary grade and salary range for each level of the job family.

The style and presentation of the new job description follow guidelines of standard human resource practices. The purpose of a job description is to summarize, in broad terms, the responsibilities and minimum qualification of the position and is used to create a common understanding of the essential functions of the job. A job description is not intended to list each specific duty performed, or that could be performed, by each individual in the job. Job descriptions are purposely written in short, easily understood sentences; therefore, many job descriptions may appear short in length. But the length of a job description does not indicate its importance or the value of the job to the organization. 

Salary Structure

Another key feature of the new system is a new salary structure that is aligned with the market.  On behalf of Auburn University, our consultants for this project, Hewitt and Associates, conducted salary surveys to establish the market value of certain “benchmark” jobs within the appropriate external market.  The appropriate market is determined mainly by determining the recruitment area for a particular job; where we recruit for new employees and where current employees go to work when they leave. Then, using a combination of external market information and internal job evaluation factors, the appropriate salary grade and corresponding salary range for each job is determined.  The end result is that jobs are placed into salary ranges that are competitive with the appropriate market.

Comparable Work Placed Into Same Job

            One of the primary goals of the new system was to place individual positions doing comparable work into the same job.  We have not had a major review of our positions for over 12 years.  Over that period of time,  many new jobs have been created while many old jobs titles and job descriptions were retained.  At the beginning of  this project, there were over 1300 job titles with corresponding job descriptions that, in many cases, did not appropriately describe the work being performed.  The number of job titles has been greatly reduced and positions doing similar work have been placed into the same job.

Job Families

               A job family is defined as a series of progressively higher, related jobs distinguished by levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities (competencies) and other factors and providing promotional opportunities over time. There are numerous changes to job families with the new system.  Many more jobs are in a job family. Also, there is more consistency in the number of levels within job families performing similar work and the salary ranges for job family levels are more reflective of the market, resulting in some job families having more levels than in the past, while others may have fewer levels. Although we have expanded the number of jobs in job families, there are still many jobs that are not in job families. Two of the most misunderstood features of a job family are that all jobs in the university should be in a job family and job families should provide unlimited promotional opportunities. The external market helps define whether a particular job should be placed into a job family and also the number of levels for the job family and the value of the job.   For example, it is quite common to find various levels for an Accountant in the market because an Accountant typically acquires more competencies and knowledge of the job over an extended period of time. On the other hand, some jobs are very routine while others require extensive experience and specific competencies prior to being placed in the job.  The value of such jobs is typically more narrowly defined; therefore, such jobs are not placed in job families.

            The new system also provides guidelines and criteria that must be satisfied for a person to qualify for a job family promotion. These guidelines are designed to ensure greater consistency in the criteria that must be satisfied before a person is eligible for promotion. The guidelines are also designed to enhance communications between an employee and supervisor about career plans and career development.

(See the section on the website titled “Job Family Guidelines” for more information)

Placement into a Job Family Level

In the new system, there are many employees moving into a job family for the first time; others are moving from one job family to a different job family. The new salary structure has very broad salary ranges which, in some cases, resulted in a job family having fewer or more levels than in the old system.  Of course, even a person staying in the same job family, at the same level, will see a change to the salary ranges associated with the job family. Each person placed into a job family was also placed into a level within that job family.   

Employees were placed into a level within a job family using one of two methods.

1.                          Employees currently in a job/job family with more than one level who are moving to a job family with the same number of levels will be mapped over to the same level they are in currently.  This method results in the employee retaining the job level previously earned.  For example, the job of Accountant currently has three levels – Accountant I, Accountant II, and Accountant III and will have three levels in the new system; therefore, employees will be mapped over into the job in the new system as the same level as they are in currently.

2.                          Employees moving into a job family for the first time or moving into a job family with a different number of levels than they are in currently, will be placed into the new job family level based on their salary, in relation to the midpoint of the salary ranges for corresponding salary grades of the job family.  For example, assume job A is in a job family that has 3 levels, at salary grades 29, 30, and 31.  Salary grade 29 has a midpoint of $32,700, salary grade 30 has a midpoint of $36,600, and salary grade 31 has a midpoint of $40,900.  A person with a salary of $31,000 would be placed in Level I, salary grade 29, because his/her salary is below the midpoint of salary grade 29 which is $32, 700.  A person with a salary of $34,000 would be placed in Level II, salary grade 30, because his/her salary of $34,000 is above the midpoint of grade 29 ($32,700) but below the midpoint of salary grade 30 ($36,600).

Emphasis on Career Development

            The new classification system is designed to enhance communications and planning about a person’s career goals.  This is accomplished through the new job descriptions and the new performance management process. The new job descriptions are designed to improve an understanding of the criteria needed to promote to higher levels in a job family.  Jobs within a job family have a section within the job description that describe the general criteria that must be satisfied to advance to each level within a job family.  This “one stop” description ensures that a person can easily see the general criteria that are necessary to promote through each level of the job family as well as the salary range for each level.  Additional criteria, performance standards, and development activities that are needed for promotion can be established by individual supervisors.

The new Performance Management Process is designed to enhance communications and planning of career development and professional growth including a greater emphasis for an employee taking personal responsibility for his/her performance, development activities and career. 

 Performance Management Process

             Although the new Performance Management Process was introduced last year, it is an integral part of the overall classification and compensation project.  The old performance planning and performance management system was “hard wired” into job descriptions written to describe the work of numerous positions. As a result, many employees did not feel they were being appraised on the actual work being performed.  The new system permits the supervisor and employee to establish performance expectations based on the specific duties of the individual position. 

            This new performance management process was designed to put into practice our compensation philosophy which includes a “pay for performance” philosophy.  In the future more emphasis will be placed upon ensuring employees understand the performance management process, and on supervisors in completing an appraisal each year.                     

An Inclusive Process

            The classification project was designed to ensure and reflect an inclusive process, whereby all employees had input.  The first phase of this project included meeting with focus groups where employees had an opportunity to tell us what they liked and disliked about the previous system.  The new system reflects improvements that originated from many of the comments and concerns that we heard from employees during these meetings.

Typically, classification projects completed by other organizations gather job data from only a sampling of employees.  This project gathered job information from each employee affected by this project. Once the information was gathered from each individual, via the job questionnaire, the information was reviewed by each person’s supervisor who, in turn, had an opportunity to add comments.  The information was then reviewed by a second level of management who also had an opportunity to add comments.

 Draft job descriptions were written and distributed to employees who were asked to provide any additional comments they felt were appropriate.  This information was again reviewed by the supervisor prior to being submitted to the Classification Project Team.  This reviewed product was used to write the final job descriptions and to place positions performing similar work into a common job and job title.

These additional steps ensured an inclusive process but resulted in the project taking longer than expected.  Although it has been a long process, the time taken to be inclusive does ensure that each employee and his/her supervisor had an opportunity to provide information about the work being performed.

Undoubtedly, even with all of these efforts at inclusion, some employees will not be satisfied with the results.  An appeals process has been established to handle such concerns. 

Position Management

            Going forward, the new system will follow a process of position management to   ensure there is proper documentation for each position describing the work being performed in each individual position. Any request to reclassify a position or to create a new position must be accompanied by a position questionnaire describing the responsibilities of the position. This process will better ensure that each position is properly classified in the new system.

Other Policy Changes

            Two policy changes that will take place with the implementation of the new system involve shift differential and salary increases for promotions.  

1.      The University will implement a shift differential policy. Employees will be eligible for a shift differential of 10% if “four hours or more of the regularly scheduled assigned shift are scheduled after 3:00 p.m. and before 7:00 a.m.” See the section on the website titled “Shift Differential” for more information.

2.      Under the new system there will be a difference between a promotional increase for a job family promotion versus a promotional increase when a person assumes an entirely different job.   Effective October 1, 2008 a promotional increase for job family promotions will be up to 5% per salary grade.  A promotion that occurs when an employee moves from a job in one grade to an entirely different job in a higher grade will receive a pay adjustment of up to 8% of salary per salary grade. In either case, all employees will be paid a rate equal to at least the minimum of the range for the new job.

Minimum Qualifications

Minimum qualifications are descriptions of the education, training, work experience, certifications or special qualifications that a person must possess to qualify for entry to a job.  The minimum qualifications in the new job description are written to screen out only those applicants that are obviously not fit for the job.   They are not intended to differentiate between the best qualified candidate and a less qualified candidate.  Minimum qualifications for jobs are now more consistent for those jobs performing work of a similar level..  Minimum qualifications should not be confused with qualification of a “best qualified” candidate. Many people may meet the minimum qualifications for a job yet those individuals may not be the best qualified for the job.

Administrative Support Jobs

There have been numerous changes to job titles and paths of career progression within   the administrative support jobs. One of the most significant changes is the fact that there will be fewer job titles than in the past.  Through the job documentation/job classification phase of this project we found many employees performing similar work of an administrative support nature with the only difference being that it was performed in different departments. Work of a similar nature, although performed in a different department, is now classified in the same job.

The majority of employees performing administrative support work have been placed into one of three classifications: Administrative Support Assistant, Administrative Support Associate, or Administrative Support Specialist.  These job titles are further defined by a designation of College/School or ACES/AAES or working in an administrative unit of the University.  Assignment into these jobs is based upon the type and level of work performed in the individual position.  In the past, academic departments were restricted to having only one Office Administrator per department. With the new system, although there are new titles, no department is restricted in such a manner.  Other jobs, more specialized in nature than the three job titles described above, also exist in the new system and provide additional opportunities for career progression. Listed below are job titles, along with a brief summary of some of the jobs now found in the administrative support job group:

Administrative Support Assistant

Performs a variety of office support duties within an office or department.

Administrative Support Associate

Provides administrative, financial, and general clerical support within a department or program with responsibility for a broad variety of office support duties and tasks.

Administrative Support Specialist

Provides varied and high level administrative and technical support to a department with significant emphasis on more complex administrative responsibilities.

Executive Support Assistant

Serves as executive support assistant in the office of a Dean, Assoc VP, Asst VP, or similar level job to oversee and coordinate complex administrative operations while exercising a high degree of discretionary authority ( similar level jobs include Asst Provost, Sr. Assoc Athletic Director, Asst/Assoc Dir ACES, Head Football Coach, Head Basketball Coach).

Lead Administrative Assistant

Performs a variety of high level and complex administrative support duties and acts as Lead administrative position in a department with multiple administrative support roles.

Executive Support Specialist

Serves as Executive Support Specialist for a Vice President or Associate Provost or similar job and performs administrative work relating to management of complex event/meetings or projects or other areas involving significant decision-making authority (similar jobs within the university are Athletic Director, Director of AAES, and Director of ACES).

Supervisor, Office

Performs a variety of administrative support duties and is responsible for full supervision of administrative support employees.

Coordinator, Business/Admin Services

Provides administrative support within a school/college or administrative unit to consolidate financial and business operations forwarded from various internal subordinate departments.

Executive Coordinator

Reports directly to an Academic Dean and performs administrative work relating to management of human resources, complex meetings, projects, or others areas involving significant decision-making authority.

Executive Assistant to Executive Vice President

Reports directly to the Executive Vice President and provides assistance in the administration of the office which includes significant authority and decision making responsibility.

Executive Assistant, Provost

Reports directly to the Provost and performs administrative work relating to events, meetings, or other areas involving significant decision–making authority.

Executive Assistant, General Counsel

Provides direct assistance to the General Counsel, Special Counsel to the President, and
University Counsel and performs administrative work relating to preparation of legal materials for the Board of Trustees, President, and other administrators within the University.

Executive Budget Coordinator

Reports directly to an Academic Dean and performs administrative work relating to management and analysis of budgets and financial administration, purchasing, complex event/meetings or projects or other areas involving decision-making authority.

Business Manager, School

Reports to a Dean and provides professional budgeting and managerial expertise

for academic school operations including a combination of management of human resources, purchasing, complex events/meetings or projects, and management of budgetary and financial functions.

Business Manager, College

Reports to a Dean and provides professional budgeting and managerial expertise for academic college operations including a combination of management of human resources, purchasing, complex events/meetings or projects, and management of budgetary and financial functions.

Executive Assistant to Board Secretary

Provides varied and high level administrative and technical support to the Board Secretary, with significant emphasis on more complex administrative responsibilities or functions.

Presidential Assistant

Provides varied and high level administrative support to the President.

JOB DESCRIPTION REVISIONS
JULY 2006

In March 2006, draft job descriptions were distributed to university staff and administrative/professional employees who had completed a position questionnaire.  Each employee was asked to review the job description to determine if the description described, in general terms, the work performed by the person.  If the job description did not describe, in general terms, what a person does, the person was asked to provide written comments describing how the job is different from the work described in the job description.  The vast majority of employees did feel the job description properly described their work; however, we did receive comments from hundreds of employees suggesting revisions.  We have been reviewing these comments to decide if changes are needed to the job description. 

We have found that comments submitted by the majority of people pertained to the person’s individual position rather than the job.   Job descriptions are written in broad terms to describe the general nature and level of work performed; it does not necessarily describe the specific work performed by one individual.  The purpose of a job description is to describe, in general terms, the work performed by employees doing work that is similar in nature. A job description that does not contain language specific to an individual employee position does not diminish the value of the job.  

Indeed, we have found instances where comments submitted by employees did lead to revisions of a job description and, in some cases, resulted in a person being moved to a different job. However, most comments we received pertained to an individual position and, therefore, would not mean that a change to the job description is needed.  For example, we received comments from varioul">Upon review by the employee, the job description should be forwarded to the immediate supervisor for additional review and comment.  If there are no comments or suggested edits to the job descriptions, no further action will be required by the supervisor.   If either the employee or supervisor suggests changes to the job description, the supervisor should forward the edited job description to University Human Resources for consideration as job descriptions are finalized.   Supervisors will be notified prior to distribution of job descriptions to employees so that they can be prepared to receive and review job descriptions for their respective employees.