University of California, Berkeley

AVC Corner

Welcome to the AVC Corner!

Jeannine Raymond is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Human Resources. AVC Raymond has been leading Human Resources at UC Berkeley since August 2006.

This page includes messages from AVC Raymond on human resources topics at UC Berkeley as well as general thoughts on the future of human resources.

If you have thoughts or comments in response to these messages, please send them to hrwebmaster@berkeley.edu.

Staff Appreciation Week and Summerfest 2013
June 10, 2013

Summerfest has been one day set aside to recognize contributions that UC Berkeley staff have made throughout the year. But this year, Summerfest will be part of an entire week of celebration to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of our staff to help the university improve our operational performance, reduce operational costs, and most importantly, support a high performing culture.

Staff Appreciation Week begins on Monday, June 10, and ends on Friday, June 14, with events scheduled throughout the week. Summerfest, the traditional Berkeley staff celebration with entertainment and food, will take place on Thursday, June 13, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on the road on the east side of Doe Library, below the Campanile.

Each day of the week will have a theme: "The Value of Saying Thank You," "Faculty Sharing with Staff," "Developing and Celebrating our Staff," "Acknowledging Our Top Talent" and, of course, "Summerfest." There will also be free and discounted offers and activities throughout the week.

Full details on events, activities and offers can be found on our website in the Staff Appreciation Week section.

Saying thank you is a simple and powerful way to build trust and engagement throughout our campus community.  Beginning Monday, June 10, visit the links posted on the website to learn about ways to show gratitude. The tools offered are another means for you to say thank you to colleagues—and for the university to thank you.

As part of building a culture of gratitude and thanks, I want to acknowledge the following members of our campus community who are making special offers available to staff throughout next week, including: 

  • Free use of the RSF (Recreational Sports Facility) for the week.
  • Free coffee from Cal Dining.
  • Discounted dining at Crossroads.
  • Discounts of 20 percent at the CAL Student Bookstore.

Additionally, faculty will share lectures with staff, both live and streamed. On Monday, June 10, Professor Dacher Keltner will speak about "Survival of the Kindest: A Darwinian Tale of How We Are Born to Be Good.”  On Tuesday, June 11, another lecture features Professor Alex Filippenko on “The Accelerating Expansion of the Universe.”

Staff who want to develop their careers at Berkeley or learn how others have done so can check out the "Developing and Celebrating Ourselves" events on Wednesday, June 12, available live or through streaming. Just one example of the activities available on Wednesday is the entertaining and highly praised speech by Daniel Seddiqui, who shared his inspirational story of working "50 Jobs in 50 States" at the NOW Conference in March

And of course, Thursday, June 13 will be our annual favorite—Summerfest—with food, booths and entertainment. You can also be a part of Summerfest by volunteering.

On Friday June 14, learn about the various staff award recipients who have been recognized over the past year. Also on the calendar for Friday is a stroll through campus guided by student ambassadors who will share fun facts about UC Berkeley along the way.

I encourage you to participate in some of the terrific activities available next week. You can either do so live, or for many events, tune into the streaming at your convenience. 

Supervisors are encouraged to approve requests from staff for up to 3 hours to be used attending a combination of events of their choice that week.  

My thanks to staff for all you do each and every in support of Berkeley’s academic mission.

New Manifesto
March 22, 2013

Over the past few months, we took a break to re-envision HR at Berkeley. Part of that effort involved taking a new look at what contributes to the excitement of working at Berkeley. What makes this a special place from the operational perspective? The statement below captures the feelings of many and hopefully will resonate with those who are thinking about working at Berkeley.

Manifesto

As employees of Berkeley, we are part of an institution that uncovers new knowledge, conducts groundbreaking research and shifts the global conversation every single day.

We all do different things. (Very different things.)

But together, we are serving a university that's unlike any other. No matter our role, we help Berkeley redefine what's possible.

We do this by being inclusive  —  of ideas, of people, of points of view.

By being accountable — to each other, to our teams, to our commitments.

By simplifying whenever possible. (It's often how the best solutions arise.) By taking risks. (And learning from them.) And by serving Berkeley, and everyone who is a part of it, with respect.

Individually, we are experts at what we do. Collectively, our impact is even greater.

As employees of Berkeley, when we reimagine the possibilities of our own world, we shape the one around us.

Reimagine your world at Berkeley.

AVC Corner Takes a Break
February 22, 2013

Thank you for visiting the AVC-Corner blog. The blog is currently on hiatus, but you can still visit our news and events sections to learn more about what is happening in HR.

To review past blog entries, please scroll down.

Welcome to 2012!
January 27, 2012

The new year is bringing with it many changes to the HR world at Berkeley and in the UC as a result of the creation of HR shared services centers at the campus and systemwide levels, and the implementation of new payroll and HR information systems.  Whereas a year ago campus central HR staff were deep in the work of assisting campus leaders expand spans of control and reduce layers, effectively redefining the role of a manager, this year portends to be one of redesign of business processes and restructuring.

In anticipation of the transformational change ahead, we took senior leadership through an eight-month leadership development program last year in partnership with the Haas School of Business.  Notable Haas faculty led discussions, simulations, and role playing activities in everything from strategic planning to delivery and presentation skills.  This year we are rolling out a comprehensive 360 feedback program to senior leaders and their managers to further enhance the development of key leadership skills.  Once they have experience with the program, it will be cascaded out further to other managers.

To prepare our staff for future opportunities, we are making business related courses available to non-represented staff through University Extension.  Staff may sign up for courses specifically selected to enhance skills that we anticipate will be needed for campus jobs in the future. 

HR leads the CalTime project, the implementation of Kronos campuswide.  Automating our timekeeping processes will move us off of paper and onto a web-based solution for a very basic business need.  Work over the last few months has revealed the complexities of our manual, decentralized world.  Teams are already out in departments developing a mutual understanding of the magnitude of change for each unit.  Our goal continues to be increased standardization and efficiency.

The central HR offices will experience change first hand when we move from the Power Bar building back to University Hall later this year.  In preparation, we are imaging as much paper as possible and experimenting with electronic document storage.  Also part of the change is a transition from individual offices to cubes and pods, paying attention to the need for confidential space and individual needs for quiet work areas.

2012…in the lead…exploring new options…building a new future!

Importance of feedback in a high performance culture
August 29, 2011

High performing operating cultures are continually striving for improvement.  Continuous improvement requires continuous feedback - candid, timely, honest, constructive.  For the individual this means regular conversations with the supervisor about:

  • Progress toward goals (aligned with the unit’s goals)
  • Success demonstrating core competencies (e.g., teamwork, leadership, communication)
  • Development of skills and knowledge relevant to the specific job responsibilities

How does this happen on a regular basis?  

The traditional tool is the annual performance evaluation.  Berkeley’s forms are available in the Performance Management section of the HR website.

Also important is feedback throughout the year:

  • Comments from the supervisor when something goes right
  • Helpful guidance when there are stumbles
  • Occasional aggregated, anonymous feedback from peers, subordinates, and clients - often for developmental rather than evaluation purposes (i.e., “360” feedback)

In a culture where we are willing to take risks in order to excel, we have to expect that there will be failures along the way.  Failures are not always a bad thing. We need to fail fast, learn from mistakes, and move on.  Receiving feedback about what worked and what didn’t is a learning opportunity that should not be squandered.

How does it happen at the unit or business process level?  

Feedback is in the form of metrics -  measurements of things like:

  • Customer satisfaction
  • Elapsed time to complete a task (e.g., How long does it take to recruit and fill a position?)
  • Number of steps in a process (e.g., How many layers of approvals are needed? Are they necessary? If so, why?)

Some examples of what Berkeley is doing that are consistent with a high performance culture:

  • Administration and Finance is implementing a performance management plan that requires all individual evaluations to be completed in the month of October. The plan will assess completion rates and better prepare managers to conduct evaluations.
  • Several units in addition to Administration and Finance require that any proposed annual rating at the highest level must be reviewed by the executive leadership team so there is concurrence on what is meant by exceptional contributions.
  • Some units on campus are requiring 360 evaluations for all management level positions.
  • We are developing metrics for continual process improvement.

One Cal – keeping it simple - always learning – continually improving – outcome driven!

Standardizing timekeeping – reducing workload and improving efficiency
June 29, 2011

Why should several hundred departments have to figure out independently how to apply the same set of pay rules to 16,000 people each month? Or hire their own staff to apply the pay rule changes that inevitably occur in our policies and collective bargaining agreements? Why should our student employees, who fill out timesheets before they can be paid, have to worry about getting the paper to their supervisor for signature? There are better, cheaper ways to report our time that are easier for students, staff, and supervisors.

Timekeeping is a routine process that has not received much attention until budgets tightened and we looked for ways of making more effective use of technology. We estimated the amount of time needed to fill out paper sheets, collect them, approve them, manually enter them into a payroll system, and correct errors.

We learned that by standardizing and automating timekeeping we could reduce the cost of this business process, improve the efficiency, and reduce errors.

Thus, as part of Operational Excellence, this month Berkeley launches its campuswide timekeeping standardization project. The major part of this effort is in moving all departments off of the myriad paper, home-grown, semi-automated, and various Excel timesheets and onto a new Kronos system. It will take approximately five months to fully develop and test the new system. During this time, departments will be assisted with preparing their current records for the transition. Training will also be available prior to rollout.

We anticipate that by this time next year, the campus will be transitioned to a standardized, automated tool.

Presentation at CUPA-HR on Shared Services
April 21, 2011

Theresa Richmond (HR Center Director) and I recently gave a presentation on the lessons learned in the creation of Berkeley’s HR Center at the CUPA-HR’s (College and University Professional Association for Human Resources) Western Region Conference in Austin, Texas.

During our session we reviewed the steps we took (from design and development to implementation) to launch our Human Resources Center last year, which has a client base of about 2,500 employees.  Other universities were interested in learning from our experience as many are facing the same need to improve the efficiency of HR service delivery.

In the 9 months since the HR Center opened, we have changed some of our processes and policies to reduce workload and improve customer service.  We have implemented methods of collecting client satisfaction metrics included in our service level agreements.  We are testing automated workflow tools that provide us information on the effectiveness and efficiency of specific business processes handled by the HRC.  From our clients we are tracking levels of satisfaction with the services we provide, whether they feel supported by HRC staff, and in the case of new hires, whether they are satisfied with their onboarding experience.

Creating a shared services center has changed both culture and business processes in what was a decentralized service delivery environment in three major units of the university. Roles and responsibilities have changed at the department and central office levels.  

The HR Center began as a pilot to test the concept of a shared services center delivery model.  From it we are reaping tremendously-rich information that is helping us understand the resources needed, the automation required, and the possibilities for further transformation.  We began with the goal of improving service and efficiency, and reducing cost and risk.  In just 9 months we can already see progress on all fronts.  Even with the best possible planning, launching such a project involves missteps along the way, stumbles along with the successes.  We continue to measure our success in part by the speed with which we learn, recover, and recalibrate.

This is indeed an exciting time to be in Human Resources at UC Berkeley!!

New website and new beginnings
February 24, 2011

The launch of our new website provides an opportunity to improve our services.

A website that is more user-friendly and easy to navigate enhances communication to campus and external users.  We know that the Berkeley HR website is a reference for people around the globe seeking information on everything from performance management to diversity in the workplace.  We hope users will have an easier time finding information with some of the new tools that have been added.

As the campus enters a period of transformational change, Human Resources looks forward to supporting managers and staff in the implementation phases of the Operational Excellence initiatives.

Among the initiatives is the move to shared services centers, which will include HR functions.  We look forward to working with these centers to provide strong, coordinated services, and to redefining the role of the central HR units.  Part of the change involves assisting campus managers with the development of talent the university will need in the future.

The high performance culture initiative, which Rich Lyons, Dean of Haas Business School, and I co-sponsor, will provide helpful guidance to ways in which the Berkeley operational culture must change so that talented individuals can produce their best work, unhampered by inefficient systems and tools.  This initiative will bring new opportunities for HR to provide leadership in the areas of performance management and talent development.  We look forward to partnering with campus leadership during this period of rapid change.

Welcome to 2011!
January 4, 2011

Welcome back to the beginning of a new year!

As we start the new year, it is worth taking a short pause to reflect on some highlights of the past year, a year in which we did extraordinary things…

  • We expanded!
    • Two units joined our HR family: COrWE in spring 2010 and HRIS support in the fall.
    • We opened the first HR shared services center (the “HRC") on July 1st, after spending much of that spring staffing it and putting the final touches on the business processes… or what we thought were final touches!
  • We developed new systems and worked on our “public web face”
    • In about June we assumed responsibility for moving all HRC clients to the same timekeeping system, resulting in a major initiative we now lead on standardizing timekeeping for the entire campus.
    • We tailored a work request ticketing system (“PAWS”) for HR use and implemented it in the HRC.  It was subsequently adopted for use by Student Affairs, saving them hours of development time.
    • Our Communications team worked with all units in HR to complete the overhaul of the HR website, which will be released soon, giving our clients more efficient ways of accessing the information they seek.
  • We assisted with Operational Excellence, organizational simplification
    • In anticipation of the organizational restructuring work that began last fall when 27 senior administrators (Vice Chancellors and Deans) were asked to flatten their organizations, we brought on board an Operational Excellence HR team dedicated to assisting the 27 units during the restructuring process.
    • Transition Services ramped up activity to meet the needs of separated employees.
  • We assisted with changes directly impacting our employees
    • The fall brought the challenges of changes in our health care providers that had a profound impact on Berkeley, requiring our Benefits staff to play a key role in responding to people in distressful situations.
    • Labor Relations assisted UCOP with successful negotiations on academic collective bargaining agreements that expand our role vis-a-vis our academic employees.
    • The new supervisor training program (KEYS – the Keys to Enhancing Your Supervisory Success)  was launched in the spring and was very well received by campus supervisors.
    • We developed and implemented the new Achievement Award for campus managers to recognize high level achievements of our staff employees.

In 2011, we have our work cut out for us as the campus engages in transformational changes that impact the workforce as well as our business processes.  At the systemwide level we are hosting the first meeting of the UC HCM collaborative this week, the first group of its kind in the system, and an opportunity for partnering to achieve more efficient use of resources and standardize our HR business processes across campus boundaries.

May 2011 be filled with many successes,

Jeannine