Employee Recognition Committee Meeting
August 3, 2006
1:00-2:30pm
Library West, Conference Room 429
Minutes
Attendees: Brian K, Trudi D., Betsy S., Peter McK., Matt D., Laurie B, Dina B., Lourdes S., Dale C.
Intro to ERC Charge by Dale C and subsequent discussion:
Objective: Identify and support the means for routine recognition of library staff and department accomplishments, and for fostering satisfaction among and rapport between library employees.
ERC needs to:
- Figure out how to routinely identify who and what should be recognized.
- Resources: management literature, what other campus divisions do, what peer institutions do. Get ideas from what has been done in the past. Get ideas from people in your unit.
- Get departments involved in leadership of ‘recognition’ within their units.
- ERC should distribute and maintain this kind of responsibility.
- ERC will provide guidelines to departments.
- Do creative fund searching.
- For example, Campus Credit Union has been known to provide some funding for employee events.
- Consider the distribution of ‘recognition.’
- Some units are very small: may need to even out the recognition process across library units.
- Consider library-wide recognition of major accomplishments that occurred before the scope of this ERC.
- Find and resolve what is problematic in a program that fills recognition needs.
Per Dale: Recommendations made by Staff Recognition and Awards Committee were heartily approved by library directors. However, primary emphasis of ‘recognition’ needs to be about culture and community building, not about money.
- This is because UF and IRS have stringent rules about rewards that involve or appear to involve any form of monetary reward or compensation. For example, no bonuses, gift certificates, and so on. Barbara Oliver can supply us with details. See also UF Controller’s Web page.
- An exception to the no-money rule is that ERC has a budget - from Foundation funds and thus very limited – which the ERC budgets to the sub-committees that arrange annual staff picnics, holiday party, retirement parties, etc.
Budget review
- Per Betsy: There is a current budget proposal available - based on past events (picnics, etc.). Copy was given to each committee member.
- Per Brian: There is also a ‘Discretionary Recognition’ fund. He estimates about 5K.
- This fund must be used only for ‘recognition’ parties and plaques.
- Events included in proposed budget: Homecoming picnic, Holiday party, Spring Picnic, Convocation.
- It was agreed that we would put forward all 4 main events
- Convocation will be in early June 9. This places it suitably near the end of the fiscal year and leaves the 4 main events distributed throughout the year. Convocation would be an indoor event.
- Allocation for the divisional service pin receptions is to be considered a separate line item in the budget.
Items on ERC slate that must be dealt with immediately:
- Distribution of UF ‘Years of Service’ pins.
- There was an uneven distribution or none at all by UF since the implementation of PeopleSoft.
- Distribution of Library faculty certificates are behind as well
- ERC consensus is to assign distribution of the UF Service pins to division heads. Division heads will be asked to arrange a small party/ceremony to distribute the pins within their division. ERC will supply a small budget - from the Discretionary Recognition fund - for purchasing cake for the distribution parties. There will be a deadline of September 30th for the distribution of service pins.
- Trudi and Brian will organize and supply the list of staff needing service pins.
- ERC will send an instructional email to Trudi who will then notify division heads
- ERC should determine how pins will be distributed in future. Possibilities include an annual distribution with some sort of party/ceremony or inclusion in the Convocation.
- Staffing of subcommittees that arrange and operate the annual events:
- ERC will solicit staff in their units for willingness to serve.
- John Ingram will be relied on to oversee the Homecoming and Spring picnics.
- Brian expects to have someone from his unit on these subcommittees because these events fall in the category of ‘employee relations.’
- Some previous subcommittee members will be solicited to serve again, to provide experience.
- It was suggested that potential, willing sub-committee members be ‘appointed’ by Dale as a means of formalizing the subcommittees.
- The nominated subcommittee members should represent all the different areas.
Other items:
- New members drew straws for length of assignment on ERC. Appointments are as follows.
- 1 year: Dina and Matthew
- 2 year: Lourdes and Peter
- 3 year: Laurie and Betsy.
- Betsy's first 2 years will be as chair.
- Trudi is excused from committee duties due to abundance of other obligations.
For our next meeting:
- We need to brainstorm for strategies to collect and advertise individual and departmental achievements and milestones.
- Before then committee members can do some research on this, looking for best practices.
- Consult people in your department, review other institutions, etc.
- Identify potential willing sub-committee members.
- Brian will discover the current total amount available for ERC budget
- Betsy will submit the budget proposal to the directors.
Recorder: Laurie Brennan
