Salaries are often based on a longstanding “step” system that provides little flexibility to set salaries based on performance.
Under a new class and comp system set to take effect this July at Maricopa Community Colleges, the total number of job titles will be reduced from 1,800 to less than 500 — in part by getting rid of a bunch of “single incumbent” positions for jobs that didn’t really require a unique job title.
For instance, a KJZZ campus radio station employee might actually be an audio technician but have a KJZZ job title. Such titles are going to be a thing of the past.
“We have so much overlap; there were so many jobs that could be grouped,” explains LaCoya Shelton-Johnson, vice chancellor for human resources at Maricopa Community Colleges, who is overseeing the implementation of the new system. “We had a lot of those [jobs] that didn’t have distinguishable characteristics.”
Out with the old
Perhaps more importantly, the old “step” system — in which salary increases are linked to length of time on the job and blind to performance — will be replaced with a new “open-range” system that offers more flexibility to set salaries based on how well people actually do their jobs. And, “spot incentives” will be provided for employees who help their departments meet various performance goals.
These are some of the more radical changes set to take place at Maricopa Community Colleges. The process seeks to usher in a long-awaited overhaul of its class/comp system — something Shelton-Johnson says hasn’t been done in decades.
