If you work in the HR department of a college or university – particularly a small to mid-sized private school, you better tighten your seatbelts, because we are going on a bumpy ride. Several big things coming down the pipeline are going to affect your institution, and your leaders will be—or will need to be—looking to HR for solutions.
If you are a small to mid-sized institution, it’s likely you are heavily reliant on tuition for your income, and those tuition dollars are getting harder to find. The pending enrollment cliff, compounded by pressure from large online schools, is going to threaten your ability to recruit new students. Unless you offer some unique, high-value programs, or offer an incredible on-campus student experience, it will become harder to fill your incoming classes.
CUPA-HR just released research showing that over 57% of non-faculty higher education staff report being “Somewhat Likely” to “Very Likely” to quit in the next 12 months. The Chronicle just published a survey where 77% of respondents said that “higher education is a less appealing place to work than it was a year ago.” To top that off, HRDive.com just released a report showing that the average wage increase in 2023 will be 4.1%. I bet your institution is not planning to spend that much, and if not, your “desirability” as a workplace just dropped another notch.
Let’s face it, Higher Education is a people business. For most schools, salary and benefits are their largest expense. If you need to cut costs, you likely have to cut people, and nobody likes to do that.
You can cut salaries and benefits by implementing a hiring freeze, or you can offer some form of voluntary separation program. Both of those options let you avoid a reduction-in-force or retrenchment, but that does not mean they are good ideas. While those solutions may seem more “employee friendly,” they are just the opposite because they allow you to lose the wrong people. You see, the strongest swimmers are going to be the first to jump ship. If you let attrition reduce your staff, you’ll lose a lot of good people and the ones you retain won’t always be your best, or at least your most valuable, workers.
If you need to shrink your workforce, you need to do it strategically; to do that well, you need to engage your HR department. You need a robust, well-functioning, and accurate performance management system in place so you know who your best people are, and whom you might be able to do without. You need to know your succession plans so you know who is critical, and who’s not. You need to know who has talent that can be redeployed to another area, or to a different role. While it is difficult—and unpopular—you will be better off if you make the hard decisions about which people and positions to cut rather than if you simply let the good ones drift away until you have your expenses where you need them.
Then, when you decide to cut, cut deep. Don’t just cut enough so that you can balance the budget, cut more so that you can spend again. Take some savings and invest that in your survivors. Increase their pay, increase their rewards and recognition. Show them how much they are valued. Work hard to keep those strong swimmers on board, because without them, you’ll be doing this all over again.
One last thing: as you reduce the staff, make sure that you also reduce the work. If your enrollment is dropping, then in some areas there should already have been a reduction of work, and lower staff makes sense. But in other areas, reducing the staff and still keeping all the work will simply burn people out. Figure out what must be done and what you can do without, and make sure to balance the workload with the staff size.
In Higher Ed, cutting expenses usually means cutting people, and to do that well, you need to engage your HR team. Make data-driven decisions about people, jobs, work, and expenses. Make the hard decisions, and then work twice as hard to re-recruit the survivors. These are hard times, and hard times require hard decisions. And a strong HR team can help you make better decisions.
Roger Dusing, PhD, is a Senior Consultant and the Higher Education Practice Leader at OMNI. He previously served as Chief Human Resource Officer at Park University for eleven years. With over 40 years of HR experience, including 30 years in C-suite level roles, he looks forward to reflecting his passion for higher education in his work to bring affordable, high-quality HR services to small- to medium-sized colleges and universities.
Roger holds a PhD in Business Management, with a concentration in Human Resources from Northcentral University, a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University. He also authored the book “I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable About the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another.”
JONNA BRANDEL
HR Consultant
Jonna comes to OMNI with 10 years of human resources experience and 15 years of risk management consulting experience. As an HR Consultant, she will provide strategic support to clients in recruiting, workplace safety, compensation and benefits, employee relations, and performance management. Prior to joining OMNI, Jonna was Partner and Senior Director of Client Services for The Brandel Group, a boutique consultancy specializing in providing independent, objective reviews of organizational and risk management challenges and needs. Other previous roles include Business Development and Project Manager at The Lion Partnership, as well as Insurance Analyst and Regional Director at Expense Reduction Analysts.
LAUREN TRACY
Recruitment Operations Manager
As OMNI’s Recruitment Operations Manager, Lauren serves as the operational hub for OMNI’s Talent Acquisition Team, including coordination of proposal development and administration; project tracking, monitoring, and reporting; and general oversight of departmental systems, processes, and quality control. Lauren comes to OMNI from Payne & Jones, Chartered, where she served as a Legal Assistant for almost seven years, and Front Desk Receptionist for just over a year. Her comprehensive experience in client relations and project management make her an excellent fit for her new role. When she is not at work, Lauren enjoys spending time with her husband and two young daughters.
Karen serves as Senior Consultant to select outsourcing clients, bringing with her more than 20 years of experience in HR leadership. Karen provides HR guidance, coaching, and counseling for her clients, with an emphasis on start-ups and fast growth companies. Her background includes 13 years as Executive Director, HR Services, at Applebee’s International and Director of Training & Organizational Development at Gentiva Health Services. Karen attended the Executive Leadership Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. In addition to her talents in HR, she is passionate about helping women achieve their full potential and has expertise in strategic business meetings and conferences, serving as President & CEO of her event management company.
MOLLY ADAMS
Human Resource Specialist & Membership Concierge
Molly has been with OMNI since March of 2020 and has strong experience in customer service and human resources. Molly serves in two roles for our clients. As HR Specialist, she works with our clients’ hiring managers to ensure that the new hire process is efficient for all new employees. As Membership Concierge, Molly serves as a key liaison with OMNI Membership clients, helping responding to their questions and helping them to access tools and resources. Molly graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Business Administration and gained a certificate in Baking and Pastry Arts during her college years. Though she no longer bakes on a professional level, she does still enjoy indulging in fun desserts and pastries. In her spare time, Molly enjoys spending time with friends, family, husband and two young children, and enjoying all things Kansas City. She looks forward to communicating with clients and to assisting them with all aspects of the hiring process.
ROGER DUSING, PHD
Senior Consultant & Higher Education Practice Leader
Roger comes to OMNI from Park University, where he served as Chief Human Resource Officer for eleven years. With over 40 years of HR experience, including 30 years in C-suite level roles, he looks forward to reflecting his passion for higher education in his work to bring affordable, high-quality HR services to small- to medium-sized colleges and universities.
Roger holds a PhD in Business Management, with a concentration in Human Resources from Northcentral University, a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University. He also authored the book “I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable About the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another.”
Roger enjoys spending time with his wife, two children, and four grandchildren. He and his wife are addicted to pickleball.
Debi joins the OMNI team with over twelve years of prior Human Resource experience in benefits, payroll, and associate relations. In her role at OMNI, she serves clients and their employees with all payroll and benefits related inquiries. Previously, Debi worked at the Kansas City Zoo in the Finance and Human Resources departments. In her spare time, she enjoys working out, watching movies, doing crafts and spending time outdoors – especially at her favorite place, Powell Gardens.
TERESA WESTHOFF
Employee Services Consultant
Teresa joins the OMNI staff with experience in payroll and other related human resource knowledge. She will be helping our clients by facilitating payroll, benefits and onboarding. She has a master’s degree in human resource management and enjoys the new challenges every day brings. When Teresa isn’t working, she enjoys working out, traveling, watching Netflix, and hanging out with family and friends.
ANN CRIPE
Senior Consultant
Ann is a strategic business partner and HR leader across multiple disciplines of human resources. With a passion for building strong partnerships with her clients, she enjoys understanding the business and providing solutions in the areas of employee relations, compliance, leadership development, talent management, recruiting, training, and compensation. She has over 25 years of human resources experience in a variety of industries including PEO, legal, technology, energy, insurance, and nonprofit. Ann has a Bachelors’ degree in Psychology with minors in Management and English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In her spare time, Ann enjoys wellness, interior design, hiking and spending time with her husband and daughter.
MEREDITH HAUCK
Senior Consultant
Meredith brings more than 15 years of multi-disciplinary executive-level leadership to her work with OMNI as a Senior Consultant. She is skilled in organizational structure and management, strategic communications, employee relations, and leadership development. Meredith also utilizes her training as a certified executive coach to guide and counsel individuals and teams. Meredith has a Bachelors’ degree in Journalism and a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration, both from the University of Kansas. Outside of work, Meredith enjoys traveling, volunteering, attending concerts, and spending time with family and friends.
STACEY COWAN
Senior Consultant
Stacey Cowan brings nearly seven years’ experience as Membership Director for the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce to her work with OMNI as a Senior Consultant. While at the Chamber, she led membership recruitment and retention efforts and represented the Chamber in the community, building an extensive network of relationships to strengthen local businesses. Prior to that, she held several leadership roles in the hospitality industry. Ms. Cowan’s wealth of community involvement and business development experience will be an enormous asset to OMNI’s steadily growing Executive Search practice.
Kelly’s past roles include Director of Human Resources at Woodside, where she was the first to serve in such a role. While at Woodside, she implemented a new payroll system and was instrumental in streamlining operations and efficiencies through the development of new policies and procedures. She also optimized hiring and onboarding functions, restructured the performance review process, and assisted in staring up a new property management company. Kelly has a long history of working with payroll and benefits and has held leadership positions at Hyvee, Home Depot, and Westar Foods. She is the proud mother of three adult children and grandmother of two young grandsons.
KELI TUSCHMAN
Senior Consultant
With 20 years’ experience working in HR, Keli views herself as a businessperson, as well as an HR professional. Her background in accounting has also been a plus for her understanding of the business environment that HR supports. Keli has worked in the energy sector for Koch Industries and Merrill Lynch, in Higher Ed and K-12 education, and has served on several non-profit boards. She is a strategic partner who can provide services in all areas of human resources to support your business needs. Keli and her husband have two high school age children and love all that the Kansas City area has to offer families.
Prior to joining OMNI Human Resource Management talent acquisition team in 2020, Ms. Hoffman led the talent acquisition teams at Kansas City Southern Railway and Sprint world headquarters. She has over 30 years’ experience in HR management and talent acquisition and is recognized for partnering with senior leaders to identify needs, translating them into initiatives that attract, develop, and retain top talent. Ms. Hoffman holds a graduate MSM degree from Baker University and a BS degree from Pittsburg State University. Outside of work Karen enjoys traveling both domestically and overseas.