Workforce Excellence

1. Recruitment
   1. Develop targeted recruitment campaigns to attract diverse talent.
   2. Establish partnerships with educational institutions, professional associations and community organizations to build a talent pipeline.
   3. Refine recruitment and hiring practices to promote inclusivity and align with organizational HR and diversity goals, emphasizing good faith efforts to engage underrepresented groups.
2. Onboarding
   1. Reframing our formalized mentoring program to include mentor training and a mentoring manual.
   2. Finalize the Manager’s Guide to Onboarding to include onboarding expectations at the unit, program, region, and campus levels.
   3. Develop a survey for new staff at the end of 6 and 12 months about the onboarding process at all levels to be shared with hiring managers and the Extension Leadership Team
3. Upskilling
   1. Upskilling staff to enhance their skills and develop new skills to continue to be relevant in their work.
   2. Develop an organizational professional development plan and provide credible and inclusive opportunities for all employees such as workshops, seminars, and conferences that focus on new technologies, refined competencies, and mission critical content areas.
   3. Continuously evaluating, assessing, and identifying new critical training and development areas for Extension staff.
4. Inclusive Collaboration
   1. Build a culture within our organization where all employees feel valued, included, and accepted.
   2. Develop plans to assess and actively remove barriers.
   3. Work with DEIA AD to implement the Illinois Extension DEIA survey every three-year basis.
5. Retention
   1. Develop and implement a structured stay interview process creating standardized questions to identify factors influencing employee retention and establishing a system for analyzing and acting on feedback to improve the work environment.
   2. Explore recognition initiatives for exemplary performance for Extension staff and develop criteria for this recognition.
   3. Conduct a comprehensive salary audit to evaluate compensation equity across all job classifications, considering factors such as market rates, job responsibilities, tenure, and regional cost of living. Develop a plan to address identified disparities.
6. Future Outlook
   1. Establish and advance Extension-specific international/global learning opportunities to support the workforce’s competitiveness in a diverse world and expand growth opportunities.
   2. Establish feedback forums to strengthen internal communication, understand employee experiences, and gather staff insights and suggestions.
   3. Adapt to changing communication and technology preferences and platforms to identify and recruit the future workforce.

• Increased representation of underrepresented groups within the organization, reflecting progress toward hiring goals while strengthening the alignment of hiring practices with organizational HR priorities.
• Establish a Talent Pipeline Formalizing partnerships with educational institutions and organizations yield a steady stream of qualified candidates.
• Sustainable Recruitment Model: Alumni and stakeholders contribute to our talent network.
• All Illinois Extension staff will be paired with a formal mentor within the first three months of employment.
• Mentors will be trained and receive a checklist on topics to cover with their mentees.
• Illinois Extension would have consistency and efficiency on how new staff are onboarded.
• The survey will identify gaps, opportunities, strengths, challenges, and preparedness for their role in our onboarding process.
• Assess current staff credentialing to assess what types of training/certificates/education needs to be fulfilled to meet the new initiatives.
• Identify and create a portfolio of upskilling opportunities for all staff.
• Number and percent of employees reporting completion of professional development activities.
• Identifying areas of continuous improvement and new opportunities.
• A structured communication system, including listening and feedback forums, will be utilized to effectively address conflicts and misunderstandings.
• Regional and Unit meetings will actively foster inclusive dialogue and recognize teams and individuals who have made measurable contributions to advancing DEIA initiatives.
• Employees will demonstrate increased knowledge and application of inclusive practices following participation in DEIA training sessions.
• Illinois Extension staff will have access to DEIA survey results, identifying barriers, biases, and opportunities for growth, leading to informed action and improvement in workplace inclusivity.
• Conduct stay interviews with at least 25% of eligible employees with actionable insights documented resulting in an increase in employee satisfaction scores and improvement in retention rates within two years of implementation.
• Illinois Extension will recognize exemplary staff who have reached max promotional levels and retain our top talent.
• Complete equitable salary review for job classifications within Extension every 3-5 years.
• Increase the number of Extension and College of ACES-sponsored international learning opportunities for staff.
• Illinois Extension will be better equipped to modify and respond to workplace needs, issues, and successes through the creation of feedback loop experiences for staff and supervisors.
• Illinois Extension will have support and training in place for staff to identify and recruit candidates successfully. 

Primary

Developing Illinois Extension’s staff members and teams creates a culture of competency, collaboration, inclusiveness, and belonging.

Secondary

Educating, training, and professionally developing Illinois Extension’s workforce strengthens the credibility in the translation of discoveries, development, and delivery of educational programs, and building of partnerships.

Illinois Extension is a large statewide entity comprised of a diversity of employees working toward a common vision. The scope and scale of the enterprise, along with organizational limitations and traditions have led to a disjointed ethos. Illinois Extension can better serve its internal and external stakeholders through greater efforts to educate, train, and professionally develop its workforce and to foster and reward collaboration, interdisciplinary approaches, and innovation in a culture of inclusivity and belonging.