The Request for Job Family Promotion form, which includes the Annual Employee Training and Development Plan, is available on the Human Resources website.
A job family is defined as a series of related job titles with progressively higher levels of impact, knowledge, skills, abilities (competencies), and other factors, providing for promotional opportunities over time.
Key Elements
Assignment/promotions to a level within a job family:
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Are based on identified competencies and needs of the department
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Are based on supervisor recommendation and/or committee review
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Are made concurrent with annual budget cycle
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Must follow the standard request/approval procedures
Job value standards:
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Focus on increasingly higher levels of responsibilities
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Focus on an increasing level of individual skills, knowledge, and abilities
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Focus on contributions to team, departmental image and service
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Must be met or exceeded to qualify for promotion to a higher level
Promotional opportunities:
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Are non-competitive
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Must be initiated by supervisor based on organizational objectives
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Are based on recognized increases in the value of job responsibilities and duties, and quality of performance
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Are in some cases based on completion of development plans and assigned training
Development/training opportunities:
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Are identified by the supervisor as part of annual performance review cycle
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Are based on competencies established for each level
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May include job enrichment activities, job rotation, AU HRD programs, in-house, on the-job, and external sources
Salary adjustments:
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Are based on the availability of funds
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Use a standard University formula to determine maximum allowable salary increase
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Are effective at the start of new the fiscal year
Committees
When appropriate, the University supports the use of job family oversight committees to screen all applications for job family promotions and to review and make recommendations regarding training and other requirements necessary to advance through the job family.
Recommendations for job family promotions or changes in a job family are generally presented to the oversight committee for review and approval. Such committees are intended to ensure consistency in promotional activity within a job family.
University Human Resources can assist in the development and operation of such committees.
Training and Development
Purpose
The goal of development programs is to define the quantity, content, and sources of accessible programs that enable employees to fulfill competency expectations of the job family, while allowing supervisors maximum flexibility in managing staff training.
Such programs do not necessarily require a lock-step training sequence per level. Development programs should be designed to promote an employee’s career objective and fulfill annual training and development activities which supervisors are expected to assign and employees are expected to fulfill in order to qualify for future promotions within the job family.
Additional expectations of professional and service activities, certifications, etc. may be assigned to the employee by the supervisor as the employee progresses to the upper levels of the Job Family.
General Professional Development
Human Resource Development offers training activities which stress the continuing development of human resource related skills and abilities that are of major importance in job effectiveness, focusing on the following categories: communications, leadership, service, teamwork, and process improvement.
The supervisor should assess the employee’s proficiency in each category to determine development priorities. The existing curriculum of Auburn University HRD courses offers a broad range of programs in these categories. As the employee completes all appropriate AU HRD courses, the supervisor should substitute content from other sources to provide continuing development in these categories throughout the career of the employee.
Areas of focus could include:
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Communications
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Leadership
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Service
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Teamwork
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Process improvement
Unit, Job Specific, and/or Technical Training
This training is designed to improve an employee’s technical or professional knowledge for his/her specific job. Areas of focus could include:
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AU Office Administration courses
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AU IT courses
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Discipline-specific certificates
Approved Credit Courses
Following University guidelines for enrollment in credit programs and as approved by one’s supervisor, an employee’s participation in credit courses may be taken into account toward job and professional development expectations on an ad hoc basis.
Documentation
Completion of training and assignments for the coming year should be documented as part of the University’s standard annual performance planning and review process. Included in the appendices of this document is the form “Annual Employee Training and Development Plan” which can be used to plan and track employee training and development activities.
Applications for the annual cycle of Job Family planned program promotions should document training accomplishments. Though these applications are generally due in March, AU Human Resources allows training completed before October 1 to count towards a job family member’s promotional requirements for that year.
For clarity, completion of such training should be documented as “anticipated.”
Procedures and Criteria
Advancement within a job family will be considered as part of the University’s annual cycle of planned job family promotions. Job family promotions are not automatic or employee-driven. Applications for promotional review of an employee must be initiated by the supervisors following the process outlined herein.
Contingent on funding, advancement within a job family requires the recommendation of the supervisor based on the objectives of the unit, change in work expectations, and the placement of the position within the organization. The employee must meet minimum standards and possess demonstrated capabilities to hold the position at a higher level. The employee will be expected to meet higher performance standards for the advanced position.
Promotions within a job family will be considered on the basis of the employee’s assignment to higher level duties, responsibilities, and accountability. The employee must have demonstrated increased competency, met all specified criteria for the advanced position, and performed at a satisfactory level for the period of time specified for their current level.
Participation in training and development opportunities appropriate for the prospective program promotion will be reviewed. The employee must meet any development and training goals established by the supervisor in annual performance planning. Promotions within a job family will follow the progression outlined for each job family. Promotions within a job family occur one level at a time within a budget cycle. Promotions of two or more levels within a budget cycle are not permitted.
For initiation and approval of program promotions, supervisors shall prepare and submit the form “Request for Job Family Promotion” through their appropriate department head/dean/vice president.
After all departmental approvals are obtained, the request must be submitted to the job family oversight committee established (if appropriate) who will review each application for promotion to ensure that all required training, experience, performance and other criteria have been met for the target job level. Upon completion of their review, the committee will forward all qualified applications to their department’s Human Resource Liaison.
Approved program promotions will take effect on Oct. 1 of the upcoming fiscal year.
