To date, PHCC Human Resources has not removed any services, but has added many new offerings, including, but not limited to:

-Annual benefits fair
-Annual diversity and inclusion training
-Diversity and Inclusion Council
-Training sessions specifically for PHCC supervisors (FMLA/ADA, classified performance reviews, and state/VCCS updates regarding hiring and diversity)
-Monthly orientations for all new full and part-time employees 
-Regular staff communications - employee newsletters, supervisor newsletters
-Regular visits from benefit vendors
-Created a part-time hiring packet, consolidating all required forms to assist managers
-After-hours drop box for new hires and current employees

Regarding location, the major change has been the integration of the VCCS Shared Services Center, which is located in Botetourt, Virginia. Though the SSC is processing part-time and full-time payroll as well as processing onboarding forms such as W4s and direct deposit forms, PHCC HR remains heavily involved in all payroll and onboarding operations on a daily basis. A typical day involves 5-10 emails and 1-2 phone calls, with 2-3 phone conferences per month with the SSC to discuss current and future projects. The future SSC-HR initiatives include an applicant tracking system, due to launch in April 2020 for PHCC and a new onboarding system to include background checks and possibly reference checks.

PHCC HR has come to adjust to a new normal, due to the steady influx of operational changes and requirements from not only the VCCS Shared Services Center, but from State HR and VCCS HR. Some of these changes are needed to modernize systems and procedures. We are consistently called on to serve on work groups, subgroups and have conference calls regarding initiatives that may or or may not come to fruition. In regards to State HR changes, their payroll, personnel, and benefits management systems were scheduled to consolidate and move to a new system in 2019, called Cardinal, but after many delays the HR transition date was pushed to 2021. In 2018, the state begun requiring a succession (workforce) plan at each agency, which is now a very comprehensive annual requirement incorporating data from the state system.

At the VCCS HR level, new requirements such as the Diversity Search Advocate and Mediation Policy have been enacted which has changed PHCC’s hiring process and the grievance process. These are just a few examples of mandates passed down from our governing bodies that we must immediately adjust to and fold into our plans and schedules. Staying up to date with changes from all three entities requires constant vigilance and review to ensure that we have the most up-to-date and accurate information needed to fully support our employees. 

In regards to personnel and role modifications, most have occurred due to the incorporation of the Shared Services Center. New employee onboarding and data entry duties were successfully transitioned to the SSC in 2017. Therefore, the HR Analyst I position was abolished in late 2017 as 90% of those duties were being completed satisfactorily by the Shared Services Center. Prior to the launch of the SSC, around 2015, it was decided that the full-time Payroll Specialist position would be restricted and later abolished when the college’s payroll was moved entirely to the SSC. That decision was based on the projected shared services center costs to the college. PHCC began with moving part-time payroll in 2018 and full-time payroll in 2019. Through a restructuring in the Financial and Administrative Services division, the college was able to transfer the full-time Payroll Specialist to the Business Office as an Accounts Payable Specialist and abolish the position as planned. However, because the SSC still heavily relies on the colleges to send the payroll changes, we hired a part-time employee to assist with payroll and general Human Resources tasks.  

With the elimination of the HR Analyst I position and a Reduction in Force which began in 2016 and lasted through 2017, we saw a need for more benefits consultation services to be provided to our employees. A part-time benefits position was created to assist with the RIF and, over time the duties expanded to include consultations with employees regarding the myriad of state benefits, such as retirement, insurance and leave. When the current HR Generalist vacated the role in 2018, benefits administration was added to the HR Generalist role and employees have appreciated and utilized the new service evidenced by retirements that are now planned out a year or two in advance, more employees using their short-term disability benefits and more employees inquiring about benefits. The current Human Resources staff members are Belinda Stockton, HR Director; Teddy Martin, HR Generalist, and D. Tracy Vasquez-Gomez, HR & Payroll Assistant.

We typically work with students only when they are hired as work study employees. They are invited to the new hire orientations, but due to the fact that orientation is not mandatory, only a few attend.

Goals Data

Goal 1: Increase the percentage of minority faculty members over the next five years. 

Increasing the percentage of minority faculty members could improve the number of minority students who complete their degree or certificate. This will increase the total number of completions for PHCC, increasing revenue for the college.

Goal 2: 5 PHCC interviews per academic year to students who graduate or obtain certificate.

Providing a guaranteed interview to recent graduates or certificate holders provides an incentive to current students to complete their degree, improve their interview skills and possibly obtain employment at the college. 

Goal 1: Increase the percentage of minority faculty members over the next five years. 

Strengths: This goal aligns with the Chancellor’s diversity initiatives which has the support of the VCCS, which can provide additional resources and support to assist with this goal.

Weaknesses: Due to inclement weather and other factors, we were unable to attend job fairs at North Carolina A&T and University of North Carolina at Greensboro as planned. Currently, we do not have any full-time Teaching Faculty positions open which makes it difficult to engage in recruitment activities. 

Goal 2: 5 PHCC interviews per academic year to students who graduate or obtain certificate.

Strengths: This goal provides eligible students with the opportunity to fine-tune their interview skills to get jobs utilizing their PHCC education.

Weaknesses: Marketing this program has been a challenge. In addition, most of the jobs that the college posts require education or experience that recent PHCC graduates have not yet acquired.

HR Survey Results

Strongest Area:

The strongest area of the survey results with a 83.8% rating among college full-time staff is "I have a good working relationship with Human Resources staff members."

Explanation:

In Human Resources, we intentionally work to create and maintain good working relationships with PHCC staff. In every phone call, meeting or email exchange our goal is to both provide accurate information/assistance and to do so professionally and courteously. When collaboration or tough discussions are called for, we approach those situations with a team mindset - open to staff ideas, listen to concerns and thoughtfully respond knowing that our approach in that matter will impact our future work relationship with that staff member. Additionally, we believe this result is higher than the others because or our increased communications, training, fairs and monthly new hire orientations.

The fact that this is the highest rating lets us know that are efforts are meeting the needs of employees and that is what we are here to do. It is very good news for the HR staff. 

Weakest Area:

The survey results show that the weakest area with a 22.8% rating among college adjuncts is "I frequently (2-3 times per month) access the Human Resources/Payroll offices."

Explanation:

This is very understandable given that adjunct instructors are a very transient employee group, working a semester here and there over a few years. Due to many of the adjuncts holding full-time jobs, there is not much need to visit the Human Resources office since their PHCC paycheck is often not their sole source of income and they are not eligible for employer-paid health insurance or retirement. 

While the weakest area is understandable, we do value our adjunct instructors and want to them to know that HR does support and appreciate them as PHCC employees. We are addressing this by presenting at the annual adjunct orientation at the beginning of the Fall semester. We have participated in this for the past three years. They also receive an invitation to our regular monthly new hire orientation. As will be mentioned later in this service review, we would like to expand services to all part-time employees with performance reviews and service/recognition awards.   

Future Personnel and Costs:

As the new tasks and system initiatives begin to slow down and the Human Resources Department is able to gain its footing, we believe adding additional services for our wage and adjunct personnel would be beneficial to the college. Currently there is no formal performance review and service award program for part-time staff. Due to the large numbers of part-timers, moving forward on this would require additional personnel hours.

Also, as the VCCS SSC takes on more projects, there will be more management of the SSC needed to ensure tasks occur accurately and on time. We currently have to check action items and remind SSC to complete tasks. Once the SSC begins to manage the applicant tracking system, we expect that would increase the amount of time currently spent on checking and re-checking behind SSC staff. 

Due to the items mentioned above, we anticipate needing a third full-time Human Resources staff member to ensure we are able to maintain the current level of service, while adding the important services mentioned above.

In the future, we should prepare for more mandatory initiatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) and the Governor’s office. DHRM has a new director, who has been making some much needed changes and is partnering with the Governor of Virginia. For example, due to the increased number of active shooter and violent events in Virginia, DHRM is beginning a new safety initiative that require agencies to create a safety plan and identify particular employees to serve, via Executive Order 41. There are currently two requirements from that Executive Order: 1) Agency-Designated Virginia Emergency Support Team (VEST) Liaison Officer, and 2) State Agency Emergency Management Coordinator.

Also, the Governor’s office has begun a new diversity push, naming a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, for the newly-created role in September 2019, so we do expect some requirements as a result in 2020. The VCCS has already required diversity plans and initiatives, so we are in a position to easily meet any new diversity mandates from the Governor.