Task Force searching for better ways to hire and keep good employees on Montana campuses

A Montana University System task force is looking for better ways to recruit and retain college and university employees. The group launched its research effort in a work session on March 16. Campuses are reporting increasing difficulty in their ability to hire and keep capable employees in a variety of occupational groups. The Recruitment and Retention Task Force is assigned to examine and recommend potential solutions to the Board of Regents in September 2007.

A number of factors have an impact on an employer’s ability to recruit and retain employees in a competitive job market. These factors include: compensation; health benefits; retirement benefits; scheduling flexibility; training and professional development opportunities; workloads; a variety of job satisfaction criteria; and recruitment methods. The Recruitment and Retention Task force is gathering research and data from other states for ideas on how to make Montana University System jobs more attractive to faculty, classified staff, contract professionals, and administrators.

The Regents have asked the task force members to study both economic and non-economic solutions, because funding limitations are inevitable. The task force devoted a day of work on March 16 to begin the long list of ideas at a work session in Helena. The task force meets next on April 17. The Regents have cautioned the task force against a “one-size-fits-all” solution, and have encouraged task force members to look for innovative ways of addressing recruitment and retention problems in order of severity. Failed job searches, declining number and quality of candidates in job recruitments, and high turnover are among the most obvious indicators of recruitment and retention problems.

The Recruitment and Retention Task Force formal mission statement and membership are listed below.

Task Force mission statement:

The Recruitment and Retention Task Force shall research and recommend ways to improve the Montana University System’s ability to attract and keep good employees. “Recruitment” in this context means the ability to hire qualified and capable employees in a competitive job market. “Retention” means the ability to remain the employer of choice for marketable employees when competing employers offer desirable pay, benefits, and working conditions. The Task Force shall report to the Commissioner and the Board of Regents on its findings in regard to hiring trends, employee turnover, and ideas for improved recruitment and retention ability (economic and non-economic).

Task Force Members

Doug Abbott, Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs and Research, Montana Tech

Elizabeth Nichols, Dean, MSU College of Nursing

Erik Burke, Public Policy Director, MEA-MFT

Gerald Fetz, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, UM

Mary Ellen Baukol, Assistant Dean, Business and Finance, MSU-GF COT

Quinton Nyman, Executive Director, MPEA

Rob Gannon, Human Resources Director, UM

Sara France, Classified Staff, MSU

Shannon Taylor, Faculty Council Chair, MSU

Susan Alt, Human Resources Director, MSU

Terrie Iverson, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance, MSU-Billings

Kevin McRae, Labor Relations and Human Resources, OCHE