August 17, 2009
KNOXVILLE -- The University of Tennessee is redesigning its Human Resources structure to make services more accessible to employees and to position HR to better prepare for the University's future workforce, according to the plan announced today.
With support from campus and institute leaders and Interim President Jan Simek, Human Resources will transition through the remainder of 2009 to a shared-services model, a best practices approach used by many large corporations and other universities.
Under the shared-services model, there will be System-wide HR Administration, Regional Service Centers and Human Resources Officers (HROs) for each campus and institute. Employees across the state also will have a toll-free hotline to call about HR issues such as benefits, policies, employment and training opportunities.
Most HR staff will be located in the Regional Service Centers, the East Center in Knoxville and the West Center in Memphis. The centers will be operational on Jan. 4, 2010.
"We are transforming UT Human Resources to move non-strategic activities such as routine processes and transactions to a shared-services organization and refocus our efforts on workforce planning," said Chief Human Resources Officer Linda Hendricks.
"Over the next five years, more than 50 percent of our employees will be eligible for retirement. Obviously, developing plans for our future workforce is critical, and the new structure will provide HR the time and the resources to focus on this and other challenges."
"Our employees are the University of Tennessee's most important asset, and we believe this redesign of Human Resources will make working at UT an even more positive experience for them," Simek said. "Linda Hendricks and her staff have done a great job to put UT in a better position to serve employees and to plan for the future of our workforce."
Each campus and institute will retain its HRO, walk-in offices and some staff. Transition to the Regional Service Centers will result in some reductions in staff, and affected employees have been notified of their status. Statewide, seven filled HR positions and two vacant positions are being eliminated.
As part of the redesign, there will be a new toll-free hotline answered by staff during business hours for employee inquiries about HR issues and concerns. The number will be 1-888-444-UTHR and will be in service on Jan. 4.
The new Regional Service Centers will reduce duplication of work across the System and allow HROs to have more interaction with employees. Over time, the new model also will allow HR to take advantage of technology to track job applicants, automate processes and turn paper employee records to digital files.
Staff in the centers will help answer questions fielded from the toll-free hotline, maintain records, process transactions and provide training, to name some of the services that will be provided.
For more information, visit www.tennessee.edu and click on the Human Resources icon to access the redesigned Human Resources Web site. Over the next several months, additional information and tools will be added.
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Contacts:
Gina Stafford, (865) 974-0741, stafford@tennessee.edu
Elizabeth Davis, (865) 974-5179, elizabeth.davis@tennessee.edu
