Officials increase communication with workers about restructuring

University employees are calling for more information about plans for administrative restructuring, even as officials in charge of the project say they are using a variety of methods to communicate with workers. At last month's University Council meeting, the presidents of both Penn's professional and support staff assemblies asked for improved communication from administrators about restructuring plans. And next Friday, representatives of the Penn Professional Staff Assembly will meet with Executive Vice President John Fry to talk about creating a better communication program. Vice President for Human Resources Clint Davidson said his office is trying to inform employees and get their input on restructuring ideas through "multiple and repetitive feedback functions." "There's always more work that can be done," said Karen Wheeler, president of the A3 Assembly. "The issues and concerns [of employees] are not just phantom, they are real." Davidson said the restructuring project is still in the planning stages, and he predicted that implementation of the plans will begin late this academic year or next fall. "I think people assumed a lot more is going on," he said. "As more and more units get involved, there will be more information that gets out." John Heuer, director of Staff and Labor Relations, said his office is holding Human Resource Forums several times a month to talk with employees about the restructuring. He said that at these confidential forums, Heuer's staff meets with roughly 15-20 employees, answers their questions and asks them to suggest ways to improve the office. "It's kind of a more personal approach," said Marie Witt, president-elect of the PPSA. The Human Resources Department has started addressing restructuring questions through several regular features in campus publications. The office created an e-mail address where employees can send their questions and receive daily responses from a Human Resources staffer. The Compass started printing a monthly column of these question and answer exchanges in December. In addition, Compass staffers write a feature story twice a month, called "Innovation Corner," detailing a restructuring success of a particular office, according to Phyllis Holtzman, associate director of News and Public Affairs. The Human Resources Department will also be using "smart agents" -- technologies that provide automated responses -- to make information available to University employees in the future, according Heuer. These technologies may include phone hotlines with recorded messages and World Wide Web pages with on-line work policies. While employees' groups are calling for increased communication about restructuring, they said they are happy with the efforts of administrators so far.