PSU Human Resources

PSU HR Service Center Best Practices

Purpose of this Policy

PSU Human Resources is your partner in developing positions within your school, college or unit that encompass HR responsibilities as part of a well-designed HR service center. Centers will combine administrative HR functions/duties for a particular school, college or unit along with additional support such as technical assistance or any other generalized tasks that don’t require HR subject matter expertise (e.g. payroll accounting, retirement plan administration, compensation market analysis, etc.).

A robust Service Center should meet several key requirements to effectively support the needs of an organization and its employees:

  • Accessible Communication Channels: Provide various communication channels (phone, email, chat, self-service portal) for employees to easily access services and support from your service center.
  • Skilled Staff: Employ knowledgeable administrative professionals who can efficiently handle inquiries, provide accurate information, and offer timely assistance on a range of matters.
  • Integration with Central Human Resources: Positions with HR-related duties, ensure seamless integration with other HR systems and tools (e.g., HRIS, payroll, timekeeping) to streamline processes and facilitate data sharing. The best way to accomplish this is to maintain a dotted-line report to your area’s HR Partner.
  • Data Security and Confidentiality: Prioritize data security and confidentiality to safeguard sensitive employee and student information in compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, FERPA).
  • Training and Development: Ensure that existing staff are trained to succeed in their new positions such as through an industry certificate program combined with PSU HRC training on specific internal processes.  Ensure ongoing training and development for staff to enhance their skills and stay updated on best practices and emerging trends in service delivery.

By meeting these requirements, a Service Center can effectively serve as a central college/unit hub for HR-related inquiries, support, and services.

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Step by Step

  1. Contact your HR Employment Team partner
  2. Determine goals & metrics
  3. Assess current positions
  4. Consolidate and/or restructure current model
  5. Training, development & mentorship
Image of a quote from the 2022 Huron Report

 

 

Staffing

  • Transactional decentralized HR positions are typically considered foundational or entry level and would generally be classified as an OS2 and/or APAs. However, in some cases other administrative classifications may apply.
  • HR-based Un/Un positions within a service center must predominantly perform HR-related duties and supervise 1+ other non-student positions.
  • Update position descriptions to accurately reflect new or changed duties and responsibilities.
  • As an example:  central HR Partner, one generalist, three transaction specialists

Staff Support

  • Allocate professional development funds to help employees achieve success in their new roles (e.g. CEPE courses towards an HR certification).
  • Have a central HR Partner mentor and advise employees with HR duties within your service team while coordinating PSU-centric ongoing training.

Duties Restricted to Central HR Department:

(Activities excluded from Service Center positions)

  • Information requests (from the public or Collective Bargaining Unit)
  • I-9 (employment and Front Desk)
  • Grievances (Labor/Employee Relations)
  • Compensation decisions (Comp)
  • Payments to employees and deductions from employee pay (Payroll)
  • Position classification (Comp)
  • FMLA, OFLA, Retirement (Benefits and Leaves Teams)
  • Development of HR-related reporting (coordinate with HRIS)
  • Selecting and purchasing HR software.  (Banner and PeopleAdmin remain the systems of record for HR related activities at PSU.)
  • Approve Banner Human Resources, People Admin, and HR restricted Tableau access

Important Considerations & Limitations

  • Specific job duties and responsibilities may be limited to certain bargaining units.
  • Job duties that fall into different bargaining units may be permitted in some cases, however official job placement will be determined by the HR Clas/Comp Team.
Text image of a quote from the 2022 Huron Report

Potential HR-Related Service Center Transactional Duties

  • Enter position description changes and refill requests into PeopleAdmin
  • Scan and submit completed forms to HR via OnBase or other approved method
  • Track and support the performance evaluation dates and form process, send them to HR
  • New employee orientation and onboarding for unit-specific resources or position-specific training and certification
  • Perform quality assurance tasks including, but not limited to:
    • mathematical calculations,
    • conflicting employment arrangements,
    • appropriate union affiliation,
    • benefits eligibility as well as compliance with PSU practice and policy,
    • collective bargaining agreements,
    • employment laws,
    • wage and hour laws.
  • Assist in data analysis with a team to resolve workflow problems, give feedback or needs assessment information to departments
  • Monitor audit reports and make corrections as needed
  • Serve as search coordinator for searches within the units
  • Collaborate with HR on project teams

Traditional HR duties that are mostly decentralized at PSU

Although service centers have generally been discussed regarding some transactional and regulatory HR elements, at PSU many traditional HR duties are not considered within the scope of the central human resources department. When examining your plans, please consider how your department addresses these other elements of HR processes including whether additional central support would be helpful. Departments are encouraged to reach out to central HR for assistance especially for the starred duties below.

  • Employee engagement
  • Managing volunteers
  • Organizational / Change management *
  • Performance evaluation *
  • Professional development
  • Recruitment *
  • Training * 

Next Steps

We are excited to hear from you!

Please contact your   to start (or continue) a conversation about how to adapt this general plan to your specific HR needs

We look forward to our upcoming conversations and our shared success.

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