The College will implement the staff salary increase program in two phases over the next 18 months.
First Phase
This year, all employees who consistently meet expectations or significantly exceed expectations will receive the bi-level percentage increase. However, the percentage increase will be calculated on individual salaries instead of the midpoint. (We will implement increases calculated on the midpoint in the second phase, described below). During the first phase, we will also begin giving bonuses to employees who do exemplary work.
Second Phase
During 2011-2012, Human Resources will do extensive market research to review bands, levels, and salary midpoints. At the end of this review, a third party will verify the results to ensure we are on target.
Successful completion of the review will allow us to move in to the second phase. By July 2012, the bi-level percentage increases will be calculated on the midpoint of the salary range. We will also cap salaries at the maximum. Employees at the top of the salary range will be eligible for annual increases; however, these increases will be distributed as single sum payments (at the beginning of the fiscal year), and will not be incorporated in the base salary. One-time bonuses for exemplary work will continue.
Read more about the staff salary increase program’s background and plan.
Again, if you have questions or just want to weigh in, you may use the comments section. Or, if you prefer, you may email questions to me at vpadmin@middlebury.edu.
I have a comment about the decision to cap salaries at the maximum. I realize that employees at the top of the salary range will be eligible for increases as single sum pyaments, but these won’t be incorporated in the base level.
I think this approach makes it hard for some of our most experienced and talented staff to continue to build on what they have done, and to really reward them for the exemplary work. It could even lead to demoralization once someone hits their salary cap, they will feel like they can’t move upwards.
So…pride has nothing to do with how we approach our work? With this new system, we get to help the lower paid staff members in our bands reach the 80 percentile of salaries faster, we are still able to get cash increases each year (just not added to the base), and are eligible for the special performance bonus on top of the one time payment if we have exceptional years, we continue to get benefits and any increases in our benefits (they are not capped and this past year 2 or 3 of our benefits were increased, while health costs were not passed on to us for the third or fourth straight year), and staff members will be demoralized? If one is at the top of his or her band, that means he or she is at the top of the pay scale outside the College, too, so…where might one go to do better?
I’m passing along a question that came up in the training on evaluations with Sheila Andrus.
It shows on the evaluation form that the Vice President needs to approve a “top 25%” placement, but many staff members feel that “their Vice President” does not know who they are. If a Vice President is faced with more than 25% having been nominated by their supervisor as worthy of being in the top 25%, how will a Vice President determine which of them “does not make the cut”? If there are significantly fewer than 25% designated, can/will a Vice President designate more staff to be granted the higher raise?
Given that the aim is for 25% of 1292 employees, or 323 (give or take a few) to be rewarded in this way, presumably there is a target number for each Vice President’s area based on the fraction of total staff in the area. If there are fewer folks nominated than the target in Vice President A’s area, and more nominated in Vice President B’s area, will Vice President B be aware that, perhaps, all of the nominees in B’s area can be awarded the higher raise because there were fewer nominated in A’s area?
If there are more nominees than slots, will the financial impact of different nominated positions be a factor in determining whether or how many of those nominated will not get the raise? (e.g., a 3.6% raise in the Specialist 2B pay level [over $2200] will use more of the raise pool than a 3.6% raise in Operations 1 [less than $900]; these numbers are based on the current midpoints)
Finally, if there are more than 25% nominated, when and how will those who are not approved by their Vice President be informed that they will not get the higher raise that their supervisor nominated them for?