5 essential strategies the top human resource professionals use every daySmart talent decisions that make a big difference in recruiting, retention, and compliance on campus

An eBook for chief human resource

officers and human resource professionals

Introduction

1 Define what talent management means to your institution

2 Identify talent management priorities

3 Align talent management with strategic institutional goals and measure success

4 Improve succession planning efforts

5 Use technology to track and administer talent management initiatives

Conclusion

About Ellucian

C O N T E N T S

Since 1991, the number of students in higher

education nearly doubled to 20 million. As many

faculty members and staff approach retirement

age, institutions must recruit and develop new

professors, administrators, and staff in order to

maintain an acceptable student-to-faculty ratio.

To help, we’ve culled some information based on

results from the 2014 Workforce Talent Management

in Higher Education survey. This independent study,

conducted by the Human Capital Media Advisory

Group, which is the research arm of Workforce

magazine, in partnership with Cornerstone and

Ellucian, explored the function and scope of

academic human resources. The results help us

understand how human resource leaders view their

roles within the larger context of their academic

organizations and examine what processes colleges

and universities have in place to attract, train, and

retain employees and ensure academic compliance.

Here, we share five smart ways you can get ahead

of growing student populations while maintaining

teaching and operational performance.

Introduction

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1Define what talent management means to your institution

Outline the elements and scope of your talent management program

As you create your program, consider the full employee lifecycle. This helps you develop unified talent

management strategies that encompass each stage and understand how they affect your institution.

For example, think of all the ways the workforce is changing: who, how, what, where, and when. We now

have four or five generations in the workforce. Roles within organizations are shifting. And in this global,

mobile world, where employees physically work from is no longer relevant. With options like flexible

hours and shared jobs, the traditional 9–5 workday is a thing of the past.

So who owns talent management? More than half (53.38 percent) of survey respondents said that

talent management fell under the human resource department. But in 28.4 percent of institutions, that

responsibility fell to deans and department heads. The reality is that everyone at your institution plays a

role in making make sure that talent management efforts align with your institution’s overall goals.

More than half of survey respondents said that talent management fell under the human resource department. But in 28.4 percent of institutions, that responsibility fell to deans and department heads.

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4.84%

35.64%

33.91%

57.79%

33.22%

66.09%

48.44%

75.09%

75.43%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00%

Other

Compliance

Compensation management

Leadership development

Succession planning

Performance management

Employee management

Learning and development

Recruiting/talent acquisition

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2 Identify talent management priorities

According to survey respondents, recruiting

new employees (75.43 percent) and

providing learning and development for

existing employees (75.09 percent) were

the most important aspects of a talent

management strategy. And many institutions

have applicant tracking and leadership

development programs in place.

But there has been a fundamental shift in

what talent management means and what

it encompasses. We now realize it’s more

than just recruiting, it’s about retaining

employees—and not just any employees,

the right employees. To identify and keep

high-performers in your organization, that

means expanding the scope to focus on

performance measurement and recognition,

succession planning, and appropriate

compensation.

Hiring the right employees, retaining talented

employees, and aligning talent management

with institutional effectiveness are critical

components of a holistic strategy.

Determine your challenges and build a strategy that helps address them

The top three priorities for human resource professionals are:

• Recruiting and talent acquisition

• Learning and development

• Performance management

Figures from the U.S. Department of Education show that faculty members have a median retention rate of 11 years, meaning that every decade or so a university needs to replace half its faculty.

58.6%

52.9%

44.3%

43.3%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%

Hiring the rightemployees

Managing employeecompliance and risk issues

Developing employee skillsand competencies

Retaining talentedemployees

What are the high/critical priorities in the talent management area at your institution for the next three years?

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3 Align talent management with strategic institutional goals and measure success

If you’re developing goals but not measuring their effectiveness, you’re just guessing.

Developing a talent management strategy is still

a work in progress for many—29 percent of the

institutions surveyed have a talent management

plan in place, 75 percent are in the process of

developing a plan, and 68 percent have no plan

at all.

Clear talent management goals that are aligned

with organizational goals can help ensure that

employees are working the right job, at the right

time, and moving the institution forward in a

targeted, meaningful way. So how do you know

if you’re hitting the bull’s eye? Track and measure. Being

accountable and tracking metrics are key to maintaining

compliance with board, local, state, and federal expectations

and laws. And as you know, compliance is key to

accreditation.

Unfortunately, even if an institution does have a talent

management program in place, almost half of the

institutions surveyed weren’t tracking their successes at

all. A comprehensive talent management solution provides

university leadership with the metrics and transparency they

need to make strategic decisions and track and report on

mandatory training for compliance. Detailed information

is essential to help institutions develop the compliance

strategies they need to meet requirements.

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We’re not currently measuring success in talent management.

The talent management function is currently well-aligned with the goals of my institution.

34.70%

38.60%

40.60%

42.90%

44.70%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

All organizations

4-year universities

Public universities

Universities with 10,000+ employees

Universities with 3,000–10,000 employees

51% 49% Agree

Disagree

We’re not currently measuring success in talent management.

The talent management function is currently well-aligned with the goals of my institution.

34.70%

38.60%

40.60%

42.90%

44.70%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

All organizations

4-year universities

Public universities

Universities with 10,000+ employees

Universities with 3,000–10,000 employees

51% 49% Agree

Disagree

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4 Improve succession planning efforts

The workforce is aging, what are you doing to bridge the gap?

Succession planning—identifying, selecting,

and grooming talent for leadership—is critical

to achieving your institution’s long-term

goals. Finding and developing leaders ensures

you’re always prepared for expected and

unexpected talent vacancies with a diverse

talent pool of ready successors. If you don’t

have a succession plan in place, how do you

know who you need to hire and when?

Smart succession planning gives you a

competitive advantage, as it takes you beyond

simple replacement planning—a gamble of

talent and resources—to creating individuals

qualified and ready to lead your institution

into the future. Maybe the right employee is

right under your nose.

To ensure your institution does not face an instructional knowledge gap when senior faculty do retire:

• Identify high performers • Offer mentor programs • Map current skills • Map needed skills

Although 60 percent of senior faculty members wanted to retire, there were compelling reasons to keep working past age 65, such as fulfillment in their duties and a lack of retirement funds. —2011 TIAA-CREF study

You may not have to hire outside of your

organization if you have accurate information

on your top performers. Develop the talent

you have. The millennial generation moves

around and moves forward, so give them a

place to go. Training your existing employees

as part of your succession planning makes

sense down the road, too. In 2012, Matthew

Bidwell, an assistant professor at the

University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School,

conducted a study and found that those hired

externally were 61 percent more likely to be

laid off or fired and 21 percent more likely

than internal hires to leave a job on their own

accord.

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80.0%

17.4% 0.0% AVERAGE

LOW

What percentage of your current employees do you estimate will retire in the next five years?

HIGH

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5 Use technology to track and administer talent management initiatives

Make better decisions based on data

Hiring well, training employees, and ensuring their growth and development in their respective fields are the top-level goals for any talent management program. While some organizations have modernized their talent management processes, there is still room to make significant progress.

Siloed, manual systems lead to missed opportunities and inaccurate information. Having the right data on faculty and staff provides human resource professionals with the insight they need to align talent management strategies with institutional goals. A single, integrated system that automates daily processes and boosts efficiency provides valuable insight that helps you make decisions based on facts, not guesswork.

“The market for top talent in higher education is more competitive than ever. We can’t simply let HR hire new employees and then leave it at that. We need a proactive strategy to develop and retain our best employees.” —Linda Boyer-Owens | Associate Vice Chancellor, HR and Organizational Development, Alamo Colleges

What type of technologies do you have in place to track and administer talent management initiatives?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

266 total respondents7 skipped

29.70%

27.82%

18.42%

6.77%

17.29%

We do not track or administer talent

management functions today

We mostly use spreadsheets and paper-based processes

for talent management

We have several di�erent tools that are not integrated

We use several di�erent, but integrated, tools to manage

di�erent talent management functions

We have a single unified solution that supports all

talent management functions

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Here, a breakdown of what institutions are using:

A single unified solution: 6.77%Not tracking talent

management functions at all: 29.7%

Multiple, unintegrated tools: 27.82%

Multiple but integrated systems: 17.29%

Manual solutions: 18.42%

Conclusion A unified talent management strategy encompasses multiple areas and spans the entire employee

lifecycle. Your plan should integrate talent management processes and technology into a single,

cohesive solution that helps you focus on business needs, alignment, and desired results.

The Ellucian Talent Management Suite, leveraging the industry-leading functionality developed by

Cornerstone, is customized to meet the unique needs of higher education professionals. Ellucian Talent

Management Suite delivers a powerful, secure set of cloud-based tools that can save you money

and is comprised of three modules that can be used together or individually depending on need: the

Recruiting module, the Learning module, and the Performance module.

Banner® Human Resources, part of the larger Banner® by Ellucian suite, is a comprehensive human

resources, payroll, and position control solution that helps institutions support every aspect of the

employee lifecycle.

Colleague® HR automates burdensome paper-based and administrative tasks, allowing HR staff to focus

on higher-value activities. Colleague HR empowers employees with self-service options for accessing

their own HR information. And it provides leaders with tools for predicting and planning for future staff

needs, including metrics on industry trends.

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www.ellucian.com © 2016 Ellucian, Inc. All rights reserved. EEB-522

About EllucianEllucian helps higher education institutions thrive in an open and dynamic world. We deliver

a broad portfolio of technology solutions, developed in collaboration with a global education

community, and provide strategic guidance to help education institutions of all kinds navigate

change, achieve greater transparency, and drive efficiencies. More than 2,400 institutions in 40

countries around the world look to Ellucian for the ideas and insights that will move education

forward, helping people everywhere discover their futures through learning.

To learn more, please visit www.ellucian.com.