KNOXVILLE — A redesign of Human Resources at the University of Tennessee will go into effect in January, and some information about UT Human Resources already is available on a new Web site.
Interim President Jan Simek and Chief Human Resources Officer Linda Hendricks announced in August plans to transition to a shared-services model, a best practices approach used by many large corporations and other universities.
Part of the redesign to go in effect Jan. 4, 2010, will be a new toll-free hotline for information on HR issues such as benefits, policies, employment and training opportunities. The number is 1-888-444-UTHR, and it will be answered by a member of the UT HR Call Center staff.
The call center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time or 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. central time.
“I believe our employees will benefit greatly from this redesign and new approach to Human Resources,” Simek said. “We feel strongly that our employees are one of the University’s greatest assets, and it is good to see changes implemented to assist them.”
Hendricks said, “The entire HR staff and I are excited about these changes and believe UT employees will see an improvement in service. It is important for the University to streamline our Human Resources operations, and that will help us refocus our efforts on workforce planning.”
Each campus will continue to have a dedicated Human Resources Officer and a walk-in office to assist employees. Employees have the choice of contacting their campus or institute HR team or the new hotline for help.
Also as part of the redesign announced in August, the University will have Regional Service Centers, located in Knoxville and Memphis. These centers will reduce duplication of work across the System and allow campus and institute Human Resources Officers to have more interaction with employees on their campuses. Staff in the centers will help answer questions fielded by the toll-free hotline, maintain records, process transactions, recruit for difficult-to-fill positions and provide training, to name some of the services that will be provided.
For more information about the UT HR Call Center, go to: http://humanresources.tennessee.edu/callcenter.html.
For more HR-related information, go to: http://humanresources.tennessee.edu.