Department members help UW craft a framework for staff job titles
Think back (or imagine, depending on your age) to 1987: President Ronald Reagan stood in Berlin and quipped “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The top pop song of the year was “Faith” by George Michel. A gallon of gasoline cost 90 cents. The Minnesota Twins won the world series.
1987 was also the last time that the University of Wisconsin System did a comprehensive review of staff job titles, pay scales, and total compensation.
A lot can change in 30 years. Having an outdated framework for job titles can be a disadvantage both for employees trying to navigate their career progression with the university, and for prospective employees contemplating how their talents and background would fit within the institution.
That’s why UW-Madison, in cooperation with the UW System, began a two-year project in February, 2017 to review job titles and total compensation for academic staff and university staff. Department of Medicine members have been involved from the beginning, and the project is now expanding to involve all staff members in the department, who will be working with their supervisors to review job descriptions this summer and fall. (This project affects academic staff and university staff whose appointment is with the UW-Madison; it does not affect those who are employed solely by UW Health. It also does not affect job titles or roles of faculty members.)
“This is a critical initiative for our campus,” said Sharon Gehl, MBA (pictured), associate administrator, Department of Medicine. Gehl is a member of the Title and Total Compensation Study (TTCS) Job Description Team, which is one of four leadership teams dedicated to the project. Others include the Collaboration and Outreach Team, the Office of Human Resources (OHR) Alignment Team, and the Working Team; all are under the direction of project leadership from the UW-Madison OHR.
“We have many titles that are not appropriate for the associated responsibilities, lack consistency of standard duties, and/or do not have similar minimum qualification requirements. There is too much variation,” said Gehl.
To prepare employees for this next step, Job Description Orientation sessions are scheduled for the week of April 23. All Department of Medicine staff members — both academic staff and university staff — are encouraged to attend these sessions to learn more about the job description process. For those unable to attend a live session, the Job Description Orientation will be available online beginning April 23.
Overall, TTCS aims to facilitate career progression. “The goal of the study is to build a title and total compensation system that is competitive with our external peers and helps employees advance effectively in their careers,” says Mary Luther, Director of Compensation and Titling, UW-Madison Office of Human Resources.
The study is currently in phase two of five. This phase involved development of a new job framework, otherwise known as a job title structure. Later phases will develop salary structures and compare UW with other peer institutions for aspects such as benefits, work-life, and leave structures.
Project leaders view the effort as beneficial to UW employees. “Employees will see how their job and title compares to positions across campus and at other organizations and will have clear guidelines to make informed choices about advancing in their careers at UW–Madison. Managers will have tools to make informed decisions about pay or promotional opportunities for their employees,” says Luther.
Getting involved is important for staff members. “Pay attention! Be involved to make sure you are aware of the progress being made by attending forums and providing feedback,” said Gehl. “Understand what the job families and subfamilies mean to your position and where you will fit into the new structure.”
Although the formal listening sessions that were offered last fall have concluded, any staff member wishing to provide comment may give feedback using the contact form on the study website. "We do respond to all comments provided and we do track these comments," said Luther.
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