The Service Center of Excellence (SCE) team met with staff throughout the Division of Finance and Administration between July and October 2015 to gather information about how best the transition to service delivery may be implemented. Over the course of nearly two dozen meetings, the team received feedback across the division from multiple audiences, including the senior administrative leadership, department directors, and staff who are currently doing work in one of the four areas that will be included in the service offerings of the SCE.
Thanks to the feedback of hundreds of Finance and Administration staff, the SCE team was able to compile a list of emerging themes from the Division in regards to the current state of service delivery: current services that are working well and need to be maintained, current services that are in place but could be improved, and services that are not currently offered but are needed. Click the ar for each question to see the list of answers below.
Communications
- Some groups have strong media relations support (DPS/T&P, Finance)
- Some groups have good emergency response communications (DPS/T&P)
- Some groups have good newsletters (Finance, T&P, Facilities, Auxiliary Svcs)
- Specific business knowledge, proximity
- Community relations (Energy Services)
- Some groups have good websites (DPS/T&P, Student Stores, Finance, Sustainability)
- Some groups have good social media (CDS, Sustainability, Auxiliary Svcs, Stores)
- Team family – internal trust with other staff and leadership
- Some groups have good graphic design and branding (Stores)
- Some groups have good writing/editing support (Finance)
- Some groups have good annual report support (EHS)
- More town halls, public outreach, by admin about division news
- Better, more consistent policy communication
- Consistently designed and updated website / website development
- Internal comms strategy – Message coordination
- Strategy and design support of printed marketing materials
- Social media – amplify and manage
- Process improvement
- Community relations
- Executive communications
- Project management
- Market research
- Video/multimedia/photography
- Emergency management communications coordination – roles/protocols/backup
- Accommodating workforce diversity in communications format and delivery
- Email marketing – mostly internal but some external
- Marketing/print production
- Writing/copyediting
- Storytelling / content marketing
- Media relations
- Website development
- Awareness of communications tools that are available
- Style guide for consistent design and communications tools
- Newsletter
- Graphic design
- Photography/video/multimedia
- Writing/content support/content marketing
- Interactive website/application support
- Social media
- Media tracking
- Metrics
- Communications Strategy
- Intranet – central/coordinated internal communications
- Annual report
- Media training
- Central Event calendar
- Promotion of Events and “Good News” stories
Finance
- Proximity to customers, both departmental and campus
- Knowledge of business, business-specific systems, and staff needs
- Campus billing systems (various in each department)
- Some groups have strong budget processes and financial reporting
- Rate development and approval
- Clarification of policies and processes
- Increased coordination with central financial offices
- Improved accuracy of financial data
- Improvements to ConnectCarolina
—Connection between HR and Finance
—Communication about changes - Workload and capacity issues in some areas
- Training in ConnectCarolina, Excel, other professional development opportunities
- Improved integration between Departmental subsystems and University systems
- Business Process Improvement
— Financial system security - Formal process to request new funding
- Defined service level expectations from Central Offices, guaranteed turnaround time for purchase orders as an example
- Increased amount of time to analyze data
- ConnectCarolina Needs
— Access to purchase order invoice images. Currently access is limited to central offices.
— Report of all open purchase orders by department
— Ability to change the chartfield for a purchase order
— Improved reporting
— Additional training - Automation of routine tasks, account reconciliations to subsystems
- Clear, efficient processes
- Communication of Financial policies and procedures
- Financial reporting
- Strategic financial support
- Forecasting and modeling
- Professional development, job specific training opportunities which are provided each year
- Career path
Human Resources
- In-depth expertise and knowledge of business in each department
- Proximity to helpful staff
- Expertise in processing ConnectCarolina transactions
- Customer service
- Classification and compensation in certain areas
- Onboarding programs in certain areas
- Internship and training program at Energy Services
- Temporary employee pool
- Employee and Management Relations consistency
- Employee handbooks in certain departments
- Translation services
- IT support for recruitment and onboarding
- Supporting special events
- Office space for private/confidential discussions
- TIM – especially time capture for special events
- Orientation/onboarding program for F&A
- Coordination of IT needs for new hires
- Off-boarding/exit program for F&A, including IT security
- Training; having training be budgeted and part of the performance process
- Reporting
- Writing job descriptions/classification and compensation
- Salary increase approval process
- Communication with OHR
- Length of time for background check process
- Organizational chart support
- Time tracking (TIM)
- Project management
- Employee compensation: linking performance, training, and service to pathways to higher competencies and salaries
- Less “back and forth” with OHR; getting to “yes” more quickly
- Process inefficiencies
- Tracking performance review completion and deadlines
- Employee system access during the new hire process
- Getting positions posted
- Streamline and reduce temporary hiring process; expand role of UTS
- Communications beyond HR Governance committee
- Repeat of many items above (Question No. 2)
- Management of a temporary employee pool
- Internships
- Mentor programs
- Bank of job descriptions
- Office space for new hires
- Hiring assistance for graduate students
- Sustainability messages out to campus; incorporate sustainability into orientation
Information Technology
- In-depth expertise in specific business applications and practices used in departments
- Committed and caring technology support staff
- Personable technology staff – know the people in the departments served
- Accessibility and responsiveness of technician support (especially in Finance and DPS/T&P)
- Reduction in ticket completion time by right-sizing technician staffing levels
- Increase in the quality of customer service experience by providing value-add interactions with technical staff outside of “urgent” requests
- Accessibility and responsiveness of technician support
- Back-up coverage on essential applications and systems to ensure business continuity
- Management of IT lifecycling; inventory, refresh cycle
- Purchasing and pre-order consulting (online store & standards for F&A)
- Simplified/more personal service desk/ticket processing solution
- Project management / consulting services (beginning to end)
- Improved file sharing options
- Solution development, testing, implementation
- Standards, policies, and processes: Created, posted, enforced
- Communications (regular updates and change management updates)
- Onboarding and off-boarding process (aligning HR, Tech, & Facilities processes)
- Dedicated security tracking and compliance support
- Website development and maintenance
- Training (orientation, specific application, systems, etc.)
- Career ladder for IT staff within F&A
- Cross-training to provide depth in coverage
- Remote access and management tools
- Clarity of service expectations, SLA’s, who to contact when?
- Strategic / Proactive planning and communication of strategic direction
- Consistency of service levels between different business units
- Process mapping and documentation
- After hours, on-call knowledge & expertise
- More training for end users
- Realistic scope of support (currently the breadth & diversity of apps exceeds capacity)
For questions or comments: FOservicedelivery@unc.edu.