Human Resources (HR) supports nearly every aspect of the employee experience, from hiring and onboarding to career growth, leadership support and workplace culture. As Rice continues advancing the goals of Building Momentum Together, we have an opportunity to take a closer look at how HR services are delivered and where we can better support faculty, staff and leaders across the university.
Over the past several months, many of you have shared feedback through interviews, surveys and campus discussions as part of an operational assessment of HR. I want to thank everyone who participated and helped shape this important work. Your input is helping us better understand both the strengths of our current model and the opportunities ahead.
Why Change is Needed
The assessment highlighted several areas where we can improve consistency, efficiency and support across the university.
Today, HR services are delivered through both central HR teams and department-based Human Capital Management Initiators (HCMIs), the staff members within schools and departments who help process HR transactions and personnel requests. While this structure supports day-to-day operations, it can also create uneven experiences and varying levels of support across departments.
The assessment also found that many HR teams spend significant time responding to urgent administrative work, leaving less time for strategic support, employee development and long-term planning. Like many organizations, we have opportunities to simplify processes, clarify responsibilities and create a more seamless experience for employees across campus.
Building a Better Service Model
The goal of the HR Transformation is to create a more consistent, efficient and people-centered approach to HR services at Rice. Ultimately, we want our teams spending less time navigating administrative complexity and more time supporting people, departments and the university’s long-term success.
Our work is focused on several key areas:
- Simplifying processes and reducing duplication
- Clarifying responsibilities between central HR and departments
- Removing administrative workloads placed on departments
- Improving consistency in how services are delivered
- Using technology more effectively to support HR operations
A Campuswide Effort
The HR Transformation is designed as a collaborative process shaped by voices from across the university. The work is supported by three groups:
- Executive sponsors who provide strategic direction and alignment with university priorities
- A steering committee representing faculty, staff and campus stakeholders
- A design team made up of faculty, staff, HR professionals and HCMIs
Over the coming months, the design team will continue meeting regularly to review processes, explore best practices from peer institutions and develop recommendations for Rice’s future HR service model.
This summer, the team will focus on defining the future service approach, followed by process updates and clearer alignment of roles and responsibilities later in the year.
Stay Connected
Communication and feedback will remain essential throughout this process. As the work moves forward, the Rice community will have multiple opportunities to stay informed, ask questions and share feedback through a broader change management and communications plan.
HR will continue engaging with campus partners through existing touch points, including HR office hours and other regular forums, while also introducing additional ways to share updates and gather input throughout the transformation.
An HR Transformation webpage featuring updates and project information will launch soon. In the meantime, I encourage you to view the recent HR Transformation presentation shared during the April Admin Forum and continue sharing your feedback as we move forward together.