HR Study
LAU is glad to announce the completion of the HR Study and its implementation as of October 1, 2008. Our objectives were to:
- Deliver a market-driven competency based job classification and compensation system
- Create a new employment culture focused on career development and enrichment
The completion of the Job Classification & Compensation HR Study was achieved in collaboration with local and external HR consultants.
The major contributions of the HR Study could be summarized as follows:
- Increasing LAU’s competitive attractiveness and hence transforming the Institution as an “employer of choice” in the Lebanese market.
- Boosting non-teaching staff satisfaction and trust due to a new employment culture of fairness, equity and transparency.
- Improving our employment retention rates, especially for those positions of high market demand.
A Position Information Questionnaire (PIQ) was developed to capture all the necessary information about every position in the University. The PIQ identified the major functions and responsibilities of the job. The minimum education and work experience required to perform job duties were identified in each job PIQ. Other factors include supervisory responsibilities, special skills and trainings, job complexity, impact on the Institution and many others.
The PIQ guiding principles contributed to the unification and integration of job titles and job descriptions across departments and campuses thus eliminating discrepancies as much as possible.
Another guiding principle was the collaboration with department heads on redesigning their internal organizational structures into more streamlined entities. It contributed to the creation of job families and career ladders or streams whenever feasible. Suggested logical and ethical solutions to chronic employment conflicts were implemented hence things were put in their right perspective.
The net worth of each job was determined by examining each PIQ’s relevant job attributes such as scope, requirements, supervisory responsibilities, complexity, difficulty and impact on operation.... All remarks and comments that were received from departments were incorporated in the PIQ forms. Jobs of comparable worth and value to the Institution were grouped to facilitate their future analysis.
A market survey was conducted by a local consultant that reviewed the salaries and benefits of bench marked jobs with 9,684 employees distributed over 13 institutions. The findings of this market survey were helpful in the development of a new grade and salary scale and employment structure.
The University contracted with a Canadian HR consulting firm to develop a Competency Based Management System. A new approach was adopted whereby focus was set on competencies most needed to accomplish job tasks and responsibilities rather than simple focus on job tasks and responsibilities.
Four core competencies were identified and used across the University that relate to:
- Work Ethics & Values
- Client Focus
- Continuous Learning
- Achievement Orientation
The profiling process selected a set of 11 to 14 competencies required to perform each job. The Study made sure that adequate levels of scope and competency were assigned to each position that was taken from the purchased competency library.
The results of this field work were fed to the “i-Skill Suite” software that was purchased from the consultant. Weighted competency ratings were attributed to each of the jobs that were classified. The competency rating scores were used as reference guidelines to shed more light on the value and importance of each position to the Institution.
A new grade and salary scale was developed based on 20 grades distributed between 3 occupational categories as follows:
Pay grades 1 to 5 for non professional jobs
Pay grades 6 to 13 for professional non-directorship jobs
Pay grades 14 to 20 for directorship jobs and above
The new scale represents a balanced pay scale commensurate with the Lebanese employment market dynamics.
A University Pay Plan was adopted to help categorize all positions in the appropriate pay grade level upon thorough analysis of the PIQ, competency rating scores and market findings. After this new job classification was developed, career ladders or streams were realized for each position, whenever feasible. Each incumbent in the new job classification and compensation system will start the employment journey from the minimum of the pay grade level to its maximum.
Moreover, some recommendations were in light of the new job classification system, where the job/position of every employee implicated his/her pay grade as specified in the University Pay Plan. The decision on the optimal point was based on three factors one of which was the employee’s years of work experience before joining LAU, while the other was the years of service at LAU and the third was the years of experience in the last position at LAU. The end result was a Lead/Lag spreadsheet that revealed the best fit situation for each employee in the new employment structure.
The new job classification and compensation system obviously affected the current distribution of benefits; where the salary benchmark survey revealed that we have an overall advantage over most of the peer group in educational benefits and the health insurance policy we maintained was one of the best in the Lebanese market.
A new Job Classification and Compensation Policy was drafted by the HR Team to regulate how the system operates for the future. This draft policy can be considered as a starting point for all necessary rules and regulations to monitor the new compensation system.
In addition, LAU Administration is considering a “Staff Development Policy” that will address career advancement and enhancement of excellence.
Finally, the HR will develop a Competency-Based Performance Management System to be implemented in the upcoming year.
Please refer to this file that summarizes the new grading systems with the positions in each grade identified by each functional unit/department together with the career ladder or streams for each applicable position.