By SUSAN JONES
The second phase of the long-awaited compensation modernization project at Pitt will go live on April 17, but University employees not involved in hiring probably won’t notice much of a change.
The next Staff Council Spotlight — Compensation Modernization Update with James Gallaher and Shahfar Shaari
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
12:00 p.m.
Vice Chancellor for Human Resources James Gallaher and Project Manager for Human Resources Shahfar Shaari will address questions as Pitt moves forward with the new job classification system as part of the Compensation Modernization project.
More details and registration will be available soon. Be sure to check our website for updates!
“Compensation modernization will not change any given employee’s pay in and of itself,” Shahfar Shaari, the project’s manager in Human Resources, said in the Teams chat during a training session on April 4. “As mentioned before by (the vice chancellor of HR), our new job structure, including the corresponding compensation ranges that are based on the latest approved market data, will provide the foundation for any staffing or pay decision post-implementation.”
The first phase of the project involved “Building the job catalog, aligning positions in the new structure, and standardizing job descriptions for greater role clarity and consistency across the University,” according to information on the Compensation Modernization Sharepoint site. The new job catalog has approximately 1,300 unique jobs listed, into which all current employees will be placed and which will be used when hiring new staff.
The job categories are different than positions. For instance, under the job category of accountant, each department can create the position that fits their needs.
On April 17, access to PittSource, Pitt Worx and the Talent Center system will resume after being offline since April 11. At that time, department administrators will be able to review the new job catalog and how their employees have been mapped into the new system to ensure it is accurate and complete.
“This review will be crucial for administrators to verify their work on job mapping and how it aligns in the entire job catalog,” Shaari and HR head James Gallaher said in response to questions from the UTimes. “After this review, we will release the job catalog and its families so that all staff may understand their current position in its new job family, along with its standardized description. In addition, the new pay grades will be made available.”
Department administrators will be able to request a staff job mapping adjustment through mid-July without having to go through an HR review.
During the training, Shaari said a general communication regarding the changes will be sent to the University community. “They will be shown where the changes can be found in Pitt Worx. They will also be assured that no existing staff’s working title or job duties will change solely because of this implementation. We ask our RC and department administration staff to assist us with communicating the changes to specific employees since the final job mapping decisions were made by the RC/departments and know the work being done by them better than the project team.”
The changes will most impact those creating job postings in the Talent Center. Another online training session focusing on new procedures for managing job descriptions, job requisitions in Talent Center, and job changes in Pitt Worx for staff employees is available at 1 p.m. April 19. Register here.
HR will provide resources to supervisors to discuss updates with employees and if additional guidance is needed, employees can contact the Office of Human Resources' Compensation Modernization team.
For additional information, including a project overview and FAQs, visit the Compensation Modernization Sharepoint site.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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