What We’re Fixing
Operational Excellence is strengthening how Portland State delivers Human Resources services by creating more consistent support, expanding training, and reducing administrative complexity for employees, supervisors, and units.
Where We Stand
During 2026–27, Human Resources will continue the work in the three major HR Operational Excellence areas: campus support, training offerings, and protected leave support.
HR is continuing conversations with campus units about the development of HR Campus Support Hubs, with particular attention to search coordination and hiring processes. The university is also expanding supervisor and change-management training and implementing a new Leave Management System to improve coordination and the employee experience.
Priorities for 2026–27
During 2026–27, Human Resources will focus on strengthening coordination among HR, payroll and campus units such as:
- Providing HR Campus Support Hub services in partnership with business units. This includes expanding support for recruitment, searches and hiring as well as overall HR coordination.
- Expanding training for supervisors and employees while updating existing resources.
- Continuing the updated protected leave program through the Leave Management System (AbsenceSoft), supervisor training and providing all leave payments through PSU’s payroll process (no more third-party checks or delays for OR PFML).
- Overall, we will standardize processes while preserving support for unit-specific needs
What This Means
The goal is to give employees and supervisors clearer, more consistent HR support while reducing the amount of specialized HR work handled by people who perform those tasks only occasionally. Increased central support and training should also improve continuity, compliance, and the overall employee experience.