Higher education institutions are navigating a period of transition. Shrinking enrollments, workforce shifts, and tightening budgets are forcing colleges and universities to rethink long-standing practices, and those positioned for long-term success are taking a more strategic approach to their HR programs.
To help higher education institutions streamline HR, benefits, retirement plan management, and more, we’ve developed a comprehensive checklist. Below are a few critical highlights from that resource, designed to help ensure your institution is positioned for sustained success.
Maximizing the Value of Your Benefits Program
A competitive benefits program remains essential in attracting and retaining top talent in higher education. To get the most value from your offerings, start by evaluating your health and wellness plans. Do they balance cost with coverage effectiveness? Consider whether you’re providing support for mental health, offering wellness incentives, or making use of telemedicine services — all of which can contribute to a healthier, more satisfied workforce.
Benefits education and communication also deserve close attention. Are you making it easy for employees to make informed choices? Tools like digital benefits guides, interactive decision-support resources, and live Q&A sessions during open enrollment can boost employee awareness and utilization of their benefits.
In addition to core benefits, institutions should consider expanding their offerings with nontraditional and voluntary options. Tuition assistance, student loan repayment, and childcare benefits can meet employees where they are in life, while voluntary benefits such as legal assistance, identity theft protection, and pet insurance add flexibility and personalization.
Leveraging Technology to Streamline Workforce Management
Technology is a powerful tool to reduce administrative burdens and improve the employee experience. One of the most impactful opportunities lies in student employment. Centralized job boards and automated onboarding systems can dramatically improve the efficiency of hiring and managing student workers.
Higher education institutions also face unique challenges in managing adjunct faculty. Implementing automated scheduling and contract management tools can improve oversight and consistency. For all employees, 24/7 access to self-service tools for things like pay stubs, leave balances, and benefits info can help boost engagement and satisfaction.
As remote and hybrid work models continue to evolve, colleges and universities should also ensure they’re supporting these arrangements with cloud-based HR systems, virtual onboarding, and performance tracking.
Honing Your Retirement Plan Strategy
Retirement benefits are a foundational part of your total rewards strategy — and an area where faculty and staff expectations are changing. To help ensure continued effectiveness of your retirement strategy, analyze participation rates, workforce demographics, and financial stress indicators to better understand your employees’ financial needs.
Offering personalized investment solutions is becoming increasingly important. Employees are looking for interactive tools and planning resources that align with their individual financial situations and long-term goals.
To improve plan participation, higher education institutions may also consider implementing features like auto-enrollment (typically at 3% –10% of salary) and auto-escalation, which can help increase savings behavior with minimal administrative effort. And while digital tools are essential, don’t underestimate the value of human guidance — access to financial advisors continues to play a critical role in driving engagement and enhancing financial wellness.
Optimizing Key HR Processes
Your HR systems are the backbone of your people strategy, and they require consistent optimization to ensure maximum effectiveness. Streamline key HR processes by simplifying access to essential resources and empowering your faculty and staff with self-service. Consider providing a centralized dashboard with links to HR systems and contacts, and enable staff to update tax forms, direct deposit information, and personal details via user-friendly portals.
Employee feedback is another powerful driver of improvement. Leverage anonymous surveys to gather insights from faculty and staff — then adjust your offerings to better align with their unique needs.
Download the HR Optimization Checklist
Download the full HR Optimization Checklist to explore key considerations for colleges and universities striving to streamline HR, benefits, and retirement plan management.
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