The WVU Modernization Program's job family architecture project seeks to simplify and standardize how positions are categorized at West Virginia University by grouping similar staff positions into “job families.”
Background
In February 2022, WVU kicked off a series of foundational projects in an effort to modernize core enterprise systems to support the University’s teaching, research, service and economic development missions. The aim of the Modernization Program is to invest in unified, integrated and adaptive systems that will enable WVU to keep pace with technological advancement and cultivate future innovation.
The job family architecture project is one of the foundational projects that will allow the University to leverage functionality within the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool.
In addition to supporting the new technology, the job family architecture will develop a career structure for job families, functions, levels and titles for roles across the University. By developing a career structure, it will support internal consistency and market relevancy while providing employees with a visible career path.
Project Scope
The scope of the job family architecture project includes staff positions across all WVU campuses, including Morgantown, Health Sciences, Keyser, Beckley and the Research Corp.
Faculty and student positions are not included in the scope of this project.
Job Family Architecture Components
The job family architecture provides a structural base to create consistency and a better understanding of the roles and their purpose at WVU. It is a standardized framework to classify jobs based on the nature of the work they do and the level at which the work is completed. The architecture provides visibility into how jobs are organized, and typically reflects both industry market practice as well as the internal needs and characteristics of the organization but is independent of organizational reporting structure.
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Job Family: Jobs that involve similar types of work and require similar training,
skills, knowledge and expertise
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Job Function: Subset of the job family, usually more specialized in nature
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Job Category: Progression of job levels based on fundamental nature
of the work being performed
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Job Level: What defines the scope, authority, autonomy and responsibility
required of a job
- Job: The culmination of all job family architecture components
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Job Level: What defines the scope, authority, autonomy and responsibility
required of a job
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Job Category: Progression of job levels based on fundamental nature
of the work being performed
-
Job Function: Subset of the job family, usually more specialized in nature
Purpose and Goals
- Organize jobs with similar duties and responsibilities into job families
- Establish consistency in how jobs, titles and career levels are described across the University
- Align jobs with market trends
- Create opportunities to attract and retain top talent
- Provide visible career paths to allow staff to identify growth opportunities and pursue career advancement
- Enhance transparency of position job profiles and career advancement opportunities for employees and managers
- Improve reporting capabilities