February 28, 2017
Total Rewards update
We are ready to take the next steps to implement the Total Rewards pay grade and salary structure for unclassified professionals and university support staff. Human Capital Services collected feedback from many employees across the university, receiving a total of 5,714 comments. Each comment has been reviewed and changes have been made where appropriate. The salary bands have been revised based on input and comparison with our peers, including the University of Kansas.
Having the salary structure in place will give departments and similar units more flexibility to work within the ranges and also reduce the need for reclassifications.
Here is the plan:
- This week. The revised structure including salary grades and positions will be distributed to the senior administration and shared with deans and vice presidents. The updated compensation structure will be published on our website.
- March 6. Training, communications and implementation plans discussed with deans at their budget retreat.
- March 13. Training begins for Human Capital Services liaisons. Training will include topics about the new compensation structure and how to manage pay within new pay grades.
- March 31. Notify employees of job title changes. Some employees will see a change in their job title while others will stay the same.
- April 9. Implementation of compensation structure in human resource information system, or HRIS, for existing employees and in applicant tracking system, PageUp, for new hires.
One important step of the Total Rewards study is to reduce the number of staff job titles. Over the years, our number of job titles has ballooned far beyond our peers. The system needs to be simplified with compensation based on duties, not just titles. This sounds simple, but represents a major culture shift for our university.
Employees will have the opportunity to adopt a working title that better reflects their job. If employees have questions regarding working title guidelines, contact Compensation at hrcomp@k-state.edu.
Many of you expressed the need to develop career ladders for jobs. The work involved in developing career progression tools will be the focus for future Total Rewards work. Creating pay grades is the first step toward this future work. Please note we are still involved in the meet and confer process with KAPE for maintenance and service employees covered by our agreement and they are not included in this phase of the implementation.
Finally, as we adopt the new pay grade and salary structure, we know there are employees affected by compression issues that cannot be immediately addressed. These issues were not created overnight and will take some time to resolve, especially given our budget uncertainty.
This structure gives us a path forward, but won't solve everything right away. Our first priority will be to address those below salary minimums.
Following this timetable allows us to begin a phased approach, with the goal of having a more fair, equitable compensation system. It will take time, effort, and understanding. We appreciate your help in this endeavor.
Jeff Morris
Vice president for communications and marketing
Acting vice president for human capital services