New Human Resources Council Launched

Ioana Patrigenaru | November 19, 2007

UCSD’s new Human Resources Council

Succession planning, management training and online learning are some of the issues that UCSD’s new Human Resources Council, launched recently on campus, plans to tackle.

The group was set up to make sure that Human Resources addresses issues and delivers services that are in sync with the needs of the campus’ vice chancellor areas, said Tom Leet, assistant vice chancellor of human resources.

“We want to have that dialogue,” he said.

The council, which meets quarterly, was Leet’s brain child. Its goal is to take a page from private companies’ playbook by finding out what costumers want before drafting a business plan, he said.

So far, succession planning has been high on the list of the council’s priorities, Leet said. UCSD is faced with a shrinking workforce, with 25 percent of its employees currently eligible to retire in the near future. Succession planning ensures that qualified employees within the organization are ready to compete for vacancies and that positions are filled quickly.

Recruitment, training, retention and the preservation of institutional knowledge before employees head out the door are key to successful succession planning, Leet said. Marketing UCSD to the outside community also is crucial, he added. The Human Resource Council is gathering information about what different divisions and departments are doing. “There are great things going on in the vice chancellor areas,” Leet said.

The group hopes to produce a comprehensive succession planning blueprint for the campus by next year. Various retention planning projects have been underway at UCSD for years, but this will bring them all together under the same umbrella, Leet said. The initiative will target a wide variety of positions, from management, to technology and office support.

The vice chancellor areas also have talked about the need to provide leadership training, better management training and more online learning opportunities. Building and championing diversity and recognizing and rewarding employees also are on the council’s list.

“In general, we very much need to ensure that we have open and expedient dialogue on issues,” Leet said.

Click here for more information about the Human Resources Council
http://blink.ucsd.edu/Blink/External/Topics/Policy/0,1162,23215,00.html

Click here for more information about succession planning
http://blink.ucsd.edu/Blink/External/Topics/How_To/0,1260,23245,00.html