In this episode of OMNI’s podcast “Power of People: Higher Education Edition,” our guest Shanna Legleiter, Associate VP Human Capital Services at Kansas State University joined us to examine how work has changed in the post-pandemic world.
Season 1, Episode 2: “Rethinking Work”
During Episode 2 of “Power of People: Higher Education Edition,” sponsored by OMNI Human Resource Management, we visited with Shanna Legleiter, Associate Vice President for Human Capital Services with Kansas State University and Chair of CUPA-HR’s Midwest Region Board of Directors, about how work had changed on our campuses in a post-pandemic environment.
Shanna explained that the key to effective organizational development and analysis is building strong partnerships and collaboration, offering helpful resources on how K-State achieves this goal. She stressed that all the players need to come together to examine the work and find ways to make improvements in processes that result in labor saving and greater efficiencies, adding that those partnerships help to change the perception of the HR department as the “Department of No” to the “Department of Know.”
In exploring how our workplaces are evolving, we addressed current trends such as “quiet quitting,” “bare minimum Mondays,” no-meeting Fridays, workplace burnout, and employee well-being. According to Shanna, people have learned to adapt and grow during the pandemic, and her campus has learned to trust and encourage this growth, improving satisfaction and productivity. Though she believes people have always been resilient, this was never more evident than during the pandemic and the transition back to campus.
During our conversation, Shanna weighs also weighed in on how K-State has learned to work remotely. Management has learned that remote work has much to offer and that organizations need to accept that it’s her to stay. They must continue to learn and adapt and determine how to use remote work for the betterment of both the employee and the institution. While K-State has certainly experienced the phenomenon of quiet quitting in the wake of the pandemic, Shanna argued that employees are pushing back due to being asked to do too much with too little consideration, rather than simply not wanting to do their jobs.
Shanna believes that, as with many things, addressing quiet quitting involves communication and understanding. Shanna suggested that one way to alleviate any “bare minimum Mondays” issues is to institute a “no-meeting Fridays,” policy, giving employees a built-in day that allows them to catch up on work, allowing them to have a restful and recharging weekend and to return the following week to a clean desk and manageable to-do list.
Please join our conversation with Shanna and send us your comments and suggestions at [email protected].
Dr. Dale Marrant is the Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development at Cleveland University-Kansas City, reporting directly to the President and serving as a member of the institution’s President’s Council. Dr. Marrant has functioned in leadership roles on multiple accreditation self-studies and has lead the University’s strategic planning efforts. Over 27 years of administrative experience, coupled with years of classroom instructional experience, affords him a multi-faceted understanding of the issues and challenges relevant to higher education and the people that work and learn in the higher education space.
Dr. Marrant holds a BBA as well as an MBA from the University of Missouri – Kansas City and a doctorate in Leadership in Higher Education through Baker University in Overland Park, KS. Additionally Dr. Marrant holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources certification through the Human Resource Certification Institute as well as the Senior Certified Professional credential through the Society for Human Resource Management. He is certified leadership trainer with AchieveGlobal and a graduate of the Society for College and University Planning Strategic Planning Institute.
Dr. Marrant is a past board member and regular presenter for the Kansas City Professional Development Council, a consortium of local HLC-accredited educational institutions which exists to offer professional development opportunities to faculty, staff, and managers of member institutions. He was a founding board member and current president of the Kansas Chapter of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
