Human Resources

Strategic Plan
2018-2023

2021 PROJECT FOCUS

 A M E SSAG E F R O M
T H E V IC E P R E SI D E N T O F H UM AN RE S O URC ES

Over the period of five years, Human Resources will strive to deliver exceptional service and resources in an
effort to realize our vision of creating a culture where our employees are engaged and empowered.

With the human resources industry gradually becoming less about administrative tasks due to the finessing of
technological solutions, the future of HR is more about adding strategic value, enabling us to focus on building
and nurturing a University culture that positively impacts employees’ lives.

HR serves the University in the unique role of ensuring a positive work environment for both departments AND
employees. In order to do this we are committing ourselves to the following strategic focus areas:

GOAL 1 : PEOPLE
• Total Rewards
• Improved Service

GOAL 2 : OP TIMIZATION
• Collaboration, Process and Documentation

GOAL 3: TECHNOLOGY
• HR Technology and Infrastructure
• Effective Partnering with Central IT

GOAL 4: COMPLIANCE
• Initiatives
• Mandates

The goals and strategies identified in this report are a result of a collaborative effort by the Human Resources
leadership team with feedback and input from the HR staff and the Executive Vice President’s office. The projects
associated with these goals and strategies will continually evolve in ways that best align our support of UNM’s
goals and the outcomes of President Stokes’ strategic planning efforts.

Dorothy T. Anderson
Vice President, Human Resources 

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WHAT WE STRIVE FOR

M I SS I O N

Deliver exceptional service and resources to make employees’ lives better every day.

VISION

Create a culture where our employees are engaged and empowered.

G U I D I N G P R I N CIP LES

FRE E DOM OF INQUIRY

We encourage, protect, and respect the exploration of ideas and their free expression.

INTEG RIT Y
We build trust through transparency, truthfulness, and responsibility.

INCLUSIVE NESS AND RESPEC T

We thrive in a diverse environment characterized by respectful regard for other
persons, recognition of their dignity, and considered use of influence and power.

RESPONSIBILIT Y TO COMM U NIT Y

We reflect upon our past, serve our present, and strive to improve our future through
thoughtful stewardship of our cultures and environment.

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GOAL 1: PEOPLE
First and foremost, HR is about people. We must enhance the quality and consistency of services and resources we
provide to the people who work for UNM and the people that work with HR if we are to succeed in creating a culture
of engagement and empowerment for an improved overall experience at UNM.

ST R ATE G IES

1.1 Total Rewards: Build upon programs and practices that attract, develop and retain quality
employees
1.2 Improved Service: Cultivate relationships by providing employees and departments with
up-to-date and useful information through consistent and exceptional customer service

202 1 PR OJ E C TS

PROJECTS ACTIONS

Coronavirus Pandemic Planning COVID-19 Pandemic Planning and Mitigation Strategies Continued
– Human Resources continues to provide support for the University
Community through issuing policies and guidelines, and providing
resources to aid staff with the many situations the university is facing.
Below is a list of key initiatives that are being managed by Human
Resources during the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Employee Support Services and Policies
• Communications and Guidance Materials
• Compliance and Safety Policies
• Systems and Reporting
• Return from limited operations planning as needed

HSC and Main Campus Position Evaluation of job-based differences in complexity, nature, and scope
Classification Review between like-positions situated at HSC and Main Campus, with
consultation from an external consultant. Development of new/revised
classifications to reflect differences identified.

Project includes market analysis of positions, analyzing jobs identified

with market differences, identifying unique skills and complexity
differences; and providing recommendations for changes to current
job titles between HSC and Main Campus.

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GOA L 1: PEO P L E 2 02 1 P ROJE CTS (CO NTI N U ED)

PROJECTS ACTIONS

Resident Physician Benefit Currently, UNM is the benefit administrator for approx. 650 Resident
Administration Physicians (RPs), split between Benefits & Employee Wellness and
Graduate Medical Education Office (GME). Benefits & Employee
Wellness provides full administration for dental, vision and FSA plans
for RPs and Banner transaction for GME’s medical, life and disability
plans. GME administers their own self-funded medical plan and
separate life and disability policies.

Benefits & Employee Wellness has proposed to transition the full

administration of RP benefits to the Benefits & Employee Wellness
office such that they will be responsible for full administration and
oversight of the RP benefits. This transition will also include the
payment of medical claims invoices and life and disability premium
payments to carriers like currently done for the benefit plans for
faculty, staff and students.

Salary Placement & Level 3 Develop and implement enterprise level process and policy changes
Equity- Process Change pertaining to staff salary placement and equity review for new hires,
reclassifications, career ladders, and demotions. Changes will also
require union discussions.

Process changes include a pilot program beginning Jan. 2021 through

June 2021. Target implementation date is schedule for July 2021. Pilot
will include participation from select units across campus. Participants
will provide feedback on process changes.

Efforts include tool design, testing/piloting the tool, creating job

aides, training and communication, and website updates.

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GOA L 1: PEO P L E 2 02 1 P ROJE CTS (CO NTI N U ED)

PROJECTS ACTIONS

The Successful Supervisor The Successful Supervisor Pathway is divided into 4 levels with the
Pathway training program first two being the core that will give new leaders and supervisors the
(formerly Employee Life Cycle) tools and strategies to be the most effective supervisor/leader they can
be. The third and fourth level will dive deeper into tools and advanced
leadership skills.

The most common issues reported to Employee Relations, HR Client

Services, Ombuds Services for Staff and the Office of Compliance,
Ethics and Equal Opportunity are conflicts between parties due to:
Communication skills, respect/treatment, not understanding policies,
departmental climate, and work-related stress. Courses have been
selected for this pathway that address these issues. The pathway is
appropriate for a new supervisor as well as a refresher for current
supervisors.

Goal: Develop and implement a new and updated version of the

Employee Life Cycle supervisor training (later deemed The Successful
Supervisor Pathway). The new offering will be developed as a
blended course, utilizing online modules for pre-work and improving
effectiveness of the in-person class by tailoring content to participants
and integrating ample time for discussion and questions.

Voluntary Retirement Incentive The University of New Mexico is offering a special opportunity to
Option (VRIO) eligible faculty and staff (non-HSC) who choose to retire in accordance
with the terms and conditions of the 2020 VRIO program with
retirement option dates extending to Jan. 31, 2021.

The program provides an incentive payment to retiring individuals

that is designed to ultimately achieve a cost savings for the University.
Similar to other universities, UNM is experiencing budget cuts and
expects future reductions in spending due to the economic impact of
the Coronavirus pandemic.

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GOAL 2: OPTIMIZATION
Optimize the HR Division by increasing internal collaboration, evolving our organization structure and refining our
business processes to allow us to focus less on red tape and more on helping UNM departments and employees get
their jobs done more effectively.

ST R ATE G IES

2.1 Collaboration, Process and Documentation: Enhance collaboration across HR departments

and reduce duplication through the review, refinement and documentation of internal
business processes

2021 PR OJ EC TS
PROJECTS ACTIONS

Graduate Student Transactional The division of Human Resources and Graduate Studies have begun
Processing Transfer discussions for the transition of transactional processing of graduate
contracts and employment personnel actions. The transition of these
business activities will reduce operational duplication and increase
institutional efficiencies by streamlining processes and procedures;
therefore, reducing labor costs.
• Transition Planning: List of personnel duties, copies of SOPs,
update website and train Client Services HR Transaction Center
personnel on graduate classifications.
• Communication: Meet with college Academic Officers, provide
notice of transition, transfer notices to Graduate Student
personnel.
• Labor Costs

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GOAL 3: TECHNOLOGY
Employ technology to improve efficiency within HR and to increase employee satisfaction and success across
campus.

ST R ATE G IES

3.1 HR Technology and Infrastructure: Deploy technical solutions within our sphere of
authority to enhance HR department effectiveness

3.2 Effective Partnering Across Campus: Leverage relationships and expertise with
departments across campus to implement and improve enterprise applications, systems
and processes

2021 PR OJ EC TS
PROJECTS ACTIONS

Centralizing Education and Develop system module to capture and maintain job-related education
Experience: Phase 1- Build and relevant experience for all staff employees including aging the data
Application in APEX and incorporating methodology for calculating relevant experience. As
a first step, the module will initially pull in data from the clearing house.

This effort will enhance the users experience for the purposes of salary
placement and managing equity at the Level 3 organization and ideally
feed into the Salary Placement & Equity Tool (SPET).

Salary Placement & Equity Tool A salary placement and equity application tool, SPET, is being
(SPET) for Level 3 developed by HR Information Technologies and will be used by
participating departments to assist with making salary placement
and equity decisions. Modifications and enhancements to the tool are
anticipated throughout the pilot program and implementation. The
tool will be instrumental in assisting departments with the anticipated
guideline changes related to staff salary placement and equity
approach, and will aid departments and HR in making informed salary
placement decisions.

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GOAL 4: COMPLIANCE
Embrace HR’s role in an effective university-wide compliance program while responding with agility to new
challenges and requirements.

STR ATE G IE S

4.1 Initiatives: Adopt best practices across the Division to effectively support employees,
manage risk and control cost

4.2 Mandates: Implement new obligations in a forward-looking manner that promotes an

environment of ethics and compliance while balancing efficiency and effectiveness

202 1 PR OJ EC TS

PROJECTS ACTIONS

FMLA Process Change Per the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Assessment conducted in
Implementation 2019, Benefits & Employee Wellness will rework the FMLA tracking
process such that it is managed centrally, rather than by the
departments. Banner will likely be used as the official tracking system,
and policy and process documentation may need to be updated to
comply with the new process. The first phase of this project for CY
2021 will focus on staff and possibly Resident Physicians. Centralizing
faculty FMLA procedures will be evaluated in CY 2022 as a possible
second phase.

Minimum Wage Response Plan and Year 1 - Evaluate cost and impact for 2021. Due to changes to the
Salary Structure Review - 2021 State minimum wage, we will evaluate impact and propose a plan to
Multi-year project - Implementation address the changes. Upon leadership approval, implement changes.
2021-2023 Project includes cost analysis, working with impacted departments,
broad communication, employee notifications, system updates, salary
structure review, etc. Evaluation to begin July 1, 2019 and will be
implemented Jan. 1, 2021.

Additionally, modifications to the staff salary structure will be made

based on movement to minimum ranges and in efforts to maintain
midpoint relationships. Recommendations made by Huron (external
consultant) will be considered in the salary structure changes for all
years.

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GOA L 4 : CO M P L I A N C E 2 02 1 P ROJECTS (CO NTI N U ED)

PROJECTS ACTIONS

Minimum Wage Response Plan and Year 2 - Evaluate cost and impact for 2022. Due to changes to the
Salary Structure Review - 2022 State minimum wage, we will evaluate impact and propose a plan to
Multi-year project - Implementation address the changes. Upon leadership approval, implement changes.
2021-2023 Project includes cost analysis, working with impacted departments,
broad communication, employee notifications, system updates, salary
structure review, and more. Evaluation to begin Jan. 1, 2021 and will be
implemented Jan. 1, 2022.

Additionally, modifications to the staff salary structure will be made

based on movement to minimum ranges and in efforts to maintain
midpoint relationships. Recommendations made by Huron (external
consultant) will be considered in the salary structure changes for all
years.

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 HR.UNM.EDU
[email protected]

REVISED MARCH 12, 2021