Job family structure to provide a new foundation for Purdue careers
In a few months, for the first time ever, Purdue staff members will gain several features in their jobs that faculty members have long taken for granted: consistent titles, clarity on how their positions fit within the broad University structure, and transparency into how their careers can progress.
Bill Sullivan, Purdue’s treasurer and chief financial officer, said the upcoming job family structure is designed to provide those improvements, and more, to all University staff positions when it goes live in January.
“Staff are 75 percent of our career employees,” said Sullivan. “For a number of years, we were just not making progress on this. But our team has invested a lot of time during the past 12 to 18 months creating a new foundation for Purdue careers.”
The job family structure team includes senior leadership, Human Resources, and Mercer, a renowned human resources consulting firm.
When phase one goes live on January 1, 2019, the new structure will lay the foundation for clarity in job titles and roles, compensation potential, and career paths, said Sullivan. E-learning career tools and a catalog of jobs will be available at go-live, he added. Phase two, to roll out throughout 2019, will provide a structural base for consistency in compensation and performance management, robust employee development opportunities, enhanced career pathing tools, and additional resources for employees and managers.
Sullivan and others plan to “hit the road” to present the job family structure in town hall meetings and to answer questions from staff members. APSAC and CSSAC will organize several meetings during the fall semester to provide opportunities for staff members to see the presentation and speak with Sullivan and/or other members of the job family structure team.
The team is targeting early November for when supervisors will begin to communicate to employees where their individual positions fit within the new job family structure, including their career streams, career levels, and compensation bands.
