Position Structure and Salary Administration for SPA Employees: The Transition to Career Banding

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Position Structure and Salary Administration
for SPA Employees The Transition to Career
Banding
Job Family Administrative and ManagerialDefined
Branch Administrative Support Services
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What is Career-Banding?

• Collapsing of classes into more generic titles
• Wider pay ranges and career paths developed
• Pay movement is based on the development of
  competencies (knowledge, skills behaviors)
• Managers and employees work to design career
  plans that align employee development with
  organizational objectives.

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General Example

• Grade 54
• Mail Clerk
• Grade 57
• Office Assistant III
• Grade 60
• Administrative Sec II
• Grade 61
• Admin Services Asst V
• Grade 63
• Administrative Assistant I

Broader Pay Range

• New Career Band
• Administrative Support Associate

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Why Move to Career Banding?

• The State Salary Schedule has not responded to
  changes in labor market
• Managers find the compensation rules restrictive
  and the reallocation process cumbersome
• Focus on position rather than employee places no
  value on employee development
• There are 6,059 class titles to administer
  state-wide
• The transition is being mandated by state
  government and University Administration

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Changes for Supervisors

• New methods of describing work and output
• Completion of careful, accurate employee
  competency assessments
• Pay increase requests based on business need and
  competency development
• Employees encouraged to develop competency

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Changes for Employees

• A new state title
• No guarantee of salary change no decreased
  salaries
• New job description format and work plans
• A job culture which expects employee development
• Competency assessments
• Related years of work experience or longevity
  no longer the most important factor in salary
  equity

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Potential Positive Outcomes

• Compensates employees based on competencies and
  skills.
• Rewards career development when it has been
  demonstrated.
• Provides managers tools to be more responsive to
  labor market changes.
• Eliminates restrictive salary rules and promotes
  appropriate pay based on the employees
  contribution and market data.
• Sets pay to a market rate instead of a salary
  grade maximum.
• Gives managers more flexibility and holds them
  accountable for pay decisions and spending.

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Potential Reasons for Failure

• Current grade inflation impacting application of
  market reference rates
• Quick and unsubstantiated competency assessments
• Market comparisons invalidated by inflated job
  descriptions and exaggerated competency ratings
• Unrecognized competency development in employees
• Years of little or no funding for
  competency-based increases

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From Classification to Progression

• Current
• Job content determines classification level job
  change drives reallocation decisions

• Career-Banding
• Job role determines band development and
  progression in functional competencies drives pay
  decisions

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Terminology Transfer

• Classification
• Salary Grade
• Salary Range

• One of Four Career-Banded Classes as opposed to
  46 now used at UNCC
• No Grades. Banded Classes divided into three
  competency ranges based on
• - business need (represented by job)
• - documentation of functional competency
  level demonstrated by incumbent
• Broad band ranges. Example
• - Administrative Support Associate
• 20,112 - 39,600
• Encompasses ranges from Grades 54 - 63

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Salary and Competency Ranges

• Each banded class has a broad salary range.
• Example Office Assistant IV, Grade 59 has a
  range of 22,426 - 32,689
• Administrative Support Associate has a market
  range of 20,112 - 39,600

Contributing Journey Advanced
39,600
20,112
Office Assistant IV, Grade 59
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Market Reference Rates
23,478
27,000
31,500
Contributing
Journey
Advanced
Administrative Support Associate

• Each competency range has a market reference rate
  established by OSP based on the salaries of other
  employees in the market performing similar work
  requiring similar levels of competency
• Employees are eligible for increases (subject to
  funding) when competencies needed by the
  organization are gained and demonstrated
• Employees focus should be on achieving personal
  growth in competency rather than moving to a
  higher class
• Future funding flexibility may eventually lead to
  UNC Charlotte establishing our own local market
  rates

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Primary Factors Controlling Salary Administration

• Availability of Funding
• Relevant Education Work Experiences
• Salary Equity
• Will be supplemented by
• Management Assessment of Demonstrated Functional
  Competencies
• Job Audits to Confirm Competency Level
• Application of Market Reference Rates

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Terminology Transfer

• In Career-Banding
• Career Progression
• Definition Employee is hired into a position
  requiring a higher competency level and
  demonstrates competencies at that level. Employee
  is assigned to a new competency range within the
  same band
• Example Contributing to Journey

• Promotion
• Definition
• Employee transfer to a position assigned a higher
  salary grade than that in which currently
  employed.
• Example Office Assistant III (57) to an Office
  Assistant IV (59)

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Terminology Transfer

• In Career-Banding Reallocation
• Definition Movement from one banded class to
  another, for example from Administrative Support
  Associate to Executive Assistant. Banded class
  definitions describe different work roles and
  have different market ranges

• Reallocation
• Definition Position transfer from one
  classification to another based upon changes in
  the duties responsibilities assigned. (May
  result in a promotion, reassignment, or lateral
  transfer)

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Terminology Transfer

• In-Range Adjustment Definition An increase in an
  employees salary within the parameters of the
  current salary range.
• Changes in job content
• Establish more equitable pay relationships
• Respond to labor market conditions

In Career-Banding Based on funding, employees
may be able to be approved for some salary
increases based on periodic competency assessment
demonstrating development in a number of the
functional competencies demanded by work in the
unit.
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• ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT BRANCH FUNCTIONAL
  COMPETENCIES
• These functional competencies have been
  identified as the knowledge, skills, abilities
  needed to successfully perform the key
  responsibilities found in administrative support
  jobs. When career-banding is fully implemented,
  employees should be considered for movement
  within the band range based on their development
  of these competencies and how they are applied in
  the successful completion of key
  responsibilities. (Expectations of specific
  applications for each level of work are defined
  in the Competency Profiles).
• 1) Verbal/Interpersonal Skills
• 2) Information/Records Administration
• 3) Problem Solving
• 4) Program Knowledge
• 5) Office Technology
• 6) Written Communication
• 7) Work Coordination
• 8) Budgeting

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BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES

• This group of behavioral competencies has been
  identified as values that must be exhibited in
  the performance of key administrative support
  responsibilities. The extent to which each of
  these values is integrated into functional
  competencies will impact an employees competency
  development. However, while these behavioral
  competencies influence function, they are not
  considered compensable factors i.e., a manager
  cannot request salary increases on the basis of
  their development independent of development in
  the functional competencies. These values will
  become an integral part of the performance
  evaluation process. Definitions on Human
  Resources web site.

• INITIATIVE
• ORGANIZATIONAL AWARENESS
• TEAMWORK

• ACCOUNTABLITY
• ADAPTABILITY
• CUSTOMER SERVICE

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Tools for Managers

• Each manager of one or more SPA administrative
  support position(s) will be asked to attend three
  presentations
• Overview
• Completing a career-banded position description
• Completing competency evaluations on employees
• Tools will be placed on the HR website
• Each department will have a resource person
• Implementation is to be completed by July 1, 2006

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Use the Human Resources Web site under
Classification for Developing Information,
Processes, Instructions, and Forms
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To Learn More

• Fox and Lawson Associates, the human resources
  consulting firm, has published an excellent
  article on their web site discussing the
  advantage of a competency-based job structure in
  the university environment
• Competency-Based Pay The Emerging Model for
  Salary Management
• Author Howard Risher The link is
  http//www.foxlawson.com/govSector/articles/cbp2.c
  fm

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Excerpts

• There is a widely shared expectation that the
  most competent people should earn more. That is
  true in the academic world as well as other
  professions.
• It is also consistent with the shift to a
  knowledge economy. It reinforces the importance
  of individual growth and development, and the
  need to invest in knowledge development.
• In a learning organization, and colleges and
  universities certainly qualify, the focus on
  competence and the importance of individual
  growth is tied explicitly to the organization's
  mission and values.

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Why Get Excited about Change?

• The similarities between faculty salary programs
  and competency-based pay systems are striking.
  Faculty pay increase decisions and promotions are
  based on criteria that are accepted within the
  academic community. That is a key in any salary
  program. The acceptance of individual development
  and skill acquisition as the criteria for the
  rewarding staff employees should be a natural in
  higher education.
•