Moving work and the changes that come with it
The most significant part of this transformational change is the opportunities it can create for our people and our teams to refocus resources on our mission. As Finance and HR work moves from units to the shared service teams, the people who currently support that work will see their roles change and they will have important decisions to make.
The University is dedicated to making that a fair process and centering a lot of decision making ability with individuals. PEAK is not a workforce reduction process, it is a redistribution of work, which will require that some individuals take on new responsibilities and work.
In partnership with the PEAK Project Office, each phase of academic and administrative units will help support employees through this change in three parts:
The process is intended to transition work while keeping employees engaged and employed at the University. Supervisors and Transition Teams will help employees identify opportunities available to them, including roles on central teams for which they are eligible to transfer into or expected changes to their current roles if they ultimately stay in their unit.
"In October of 2023 I was able to move into a PEAK role that specifically supports Talent Acquisition efforts on the Duluth campus. As a Sr. TA Specialist, I've been able to contribute to recruitment efforts on the Duluth campus, as well as refine my skills in the HR space. This job change has had a positive impact on both my professional development and my sense of purpose working at the University of Minnesota."
Marguerite Gallagher, Sr Talent Acquisition Specialist
Information Gathering
The PEAK Project Office and unit Transition Teams will work together to identify who and how work is currently being supported that will be completed by a shared services team in the future.
Information gathered will help the PEAK project team and campus, college or administrative unit teams do three things:
- Understand the type of Finance and HR work an employee is doing and identify how much of that work will be moving to a shared service team—the Finance and HR operations centers, Talent Acquisition center of expertise.
- Help determine who will be eligible to move to a central team through the PEAK process called, Expression of Interest.
- Inform how units may redistribute work within the unit relying on the new shared services.
This will be accomplished through a series of activities and conversations including:
Employee Surveys
Employees who use services regularly (think end users) and employees who handle part of a specific finance or HR process, will be sent a survey from the PEAK Team at the beginning of implementation. These are called “Discovery” surveys and they are designed to gather information that will help leaders compare current and future state for opportunities to realign work and surface needs or systems in play that will need to be discussed.
Output will help shape Current State Discovery meetings and Workforce Realignment Workshops.
Current State Discovery Workshops
A series of workshops bringing together unit-based employees and PEAK Office facilitators to comprehensively map the processes across each unit using Visio flows.
Through conversations and using PeopleSoft/EFS transaction data to validate, we will learn who is currently supporting this work today and how much time is spent on the work that will be shifting to shared service teams.
Output will be clear process maps that will support realignment comparing current and future state planning at the unit level and inform future state workshops. These conversations will also yield estimated employee change impacts that will be validated with units.
Finance and HR To-Be workshops
This series of workshops is led by Finance and HR shared services teams to review how the new service model is structured and preview how work is done together.
These workshops will be organized by service area (eg. Procure-to-pay, accounting, billing, Talent Acquisition, workforce/ employee data)
Output will be an analysis and plan of action for moving work from each unit to a shared services center. Additionally, this information will be a starting point for designing new processes in each unit and Workforce Realignment workshops.
Work Realignment Workshops
After gathering and validating information about current state unit work, process and support. PEAK project office will facilitate another round of workshops focused on opportunities for reimagining unit-processes to best serve their community including potential realignment of roles and process flows based on being supported by new shared services teams.
Work realignment won’t be finalized until after staffing is completed.
- Capacity gained by individuals shifting some work to central teams.
- Managing work left behind by individuals who expressed interest and will transition to central team roles.
- Opportunities.
FAQ's
When will I know if I have work moving?
During each phase of Implementation, campus, college, and unit Transition Teams will work with the PEAK Project Office to identify the individuals who currently support the work that will move to Finance and HR shared services teams.
For Phase 3 employees, this process has changed and will include a combination of conversations and data validation that will be reviewed and discussed with employees.
What will happen if my work is moving to a central team?
If your job touches Finance or HR functions, it is likely that some of your work will be moving.
Employees with work moving will likely see their work change based on options available to them. Whether that is moving to a shared services team to specialize in an area of finance or HR work, or staying locally in a unit with a redesigned role based on strategic decisions by unit Transition Team and leadership teams on how work will be performed in the future and the realignment of roles.
Staffing and Expression of Interest
The University has decided to use an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to facilitate how the new central teams are staffed through each phase. Through this process, eligible employees will be able to express interest (transfer) into a central team role where they will continue to complete similar work within the new structure.
The EOI process is designed to retain University employees and provide opportunities for growth for those who currently support this work. These will be lateral transfers and not a traditional posting and interview process.
Some impacted positions won’t be eligible to transfer, but all impacted employees will receive preference when applying to posted positions.
Roles will be filled through EOI before being posted internally and eventually externally for candidates if needed.
FAQ's: Staffing and Expression of Interest
What is Expression of Interest (EOI)?
- Expression of Interest is the process by which some employees, whose work is impacted by work shifting through PEAK, will be offered the first opportunity to transfer into a newly created position on a Finance or Human Resources Operations Center team or Center of Expertise.
- Eligible employees who choose to express interest will not be required to go through a traditional application and interview process, but will need to submit their Expression of Interest form by the September 30 deadline.
How do I know if I am eligible?
During Discovery we will work together to identify who is currently supporting this work and estimate how much time is spent on that work individuals will be eligible for a lateral transfer via the EOI process.
As your unit goes through implementation, more information will be available about eligibility.
If I am eligible for Expression of Interest, am I guaranteed a position with a central team?
At this point we do not have enough information to guarantee positions or confirm who will be eligible for the Expression of Interest (EOI) process.
As we get more information about the amount of work moving and the number of people eligible to participate in EOI, unit Transition Teams will work with employees to understand their options and provide information to make informed decisions.
What we do know:
The EOI process is designed to help keep people at the University and create opportunities for growth for those who currently do this work.
Roles will be filled through Expression of Interest before being posted internally and eventually externally for candidates if needed.
PEAK News
Staff Transition
After eligible employees have expressed interest and staffing work is completed, the work of supporting employees through the transition and handoff of responsibilities and unit-based work realignment can begin.
Employees moving to central team roles will get to know their new leaders and begin to work together on a transition and onboarding plan including training.
Learn more about the central teams and the roles supporting this work: