ISSN 1450-216X Vol.48 No.4 (2011), pp.719-733 © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2011
http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.htm
Best Practices of Human Resource Management at Brazil’s Top
Universities: Case Studies
Wesley Ricardo Souza Freitas
Human Resources Manager, UNESP – Sao Paulo State University, Av. Professor Vicente Quirino n 837 - Aparecida, ZIP Code 14882-075 - Jaboticabal/SP-Brazil
E-mail: [email protected] Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour
Assistant Professor, USP – University of Sao Paulo Business School Av. Bandeirantes 3900 - Monte Alegre
ZIP Code 14040-900 - Ribeirão Preto/SP - Brazil
E-mail: [email protected] Rosani De Castro
Assistant Professor, UNESP – Sao Paulo State University, Av. Eng. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube 14-01 - Vargem Limpa, ZIP Code 17033-360 - Bauru/SP - Brazil – P.O. Box: 473
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
The objective of this study is to identify and verify how the best practices of human resource management are being developed at three of the most prestigious public universities in Brazil located in the state of São Paulo (USP, UNESP and UNICAMP), focusing on administrative employees. It can be concluded, that these universities are at relatively different levels of human resource management. This could be justified by the decentralization policy at UNESP (more than 20 campuses) and USP (seven campuses), since they are present in several cities in the state of Sao Paulo that are geographically dispersed. As a result, these campuses have great autonomy to develop actions, different from UNICAMP, which concentrates most of its units and colleges at the same campus.
Keywords: Human Resource Management, Universities, Higher Education, Brazil.
1. Introduction
As a result of discussions regarding the role of HRM in Public Sector, advances are necessary to discover whether HR action is truly contributing to these organizations (Truss, 2008). However, in most public organizations in Brazil, human resources management is viewed in a traditional manner, emphasizing basic activities (Marconi, 2003).
In the Brazil, most of the best Universities are totally public, completely free. Brazil’s public universities are inserted in a context in which they are presented as knowledge creators and disseminators, through teaching, research and extension activities and have didactic-scientific, administrative, financial and disciplinary autonomy. Recent studies conducted by three important international institutions, specifically in 2009, the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong
University (ARWU), Cybermetrics Lab, Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council of Taiwan, on the academic performance of universities around the planet, ranked the three public universities of the state of Sao Paulo, University of Sao Paulo (USP), “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) and Campinas State University (UNICAMP), among the five hundred most important universities in the world due to their academic productivity and excellence, with most of Brazil’s scientific knowledge found at these three universities.
But human resource scholars rarely conduct research on HRM practices at academic organizations (Janssens & Steyaert, 2009). For example, this difficulty is observed in Australia, where little is known about professional management at Australian universities (Mcinnis, 1998), as well as Brazil, since studies on management at Brazil’s public universities are restricted (Cunha, 1999). Because of this gap, the objective of this study is to identify and verify how the best practices of human resources management are being developed at three of the most prestigious public universities in Brazil located in the state of Sao Paulo, focusing on the administrative and operational employees (non-academics and non-scholars). These employees represent more than 73% of the three universities’ functional staff.
Best practices in HRM is a set of identified HR practices that, when implemented, improve the organization’s performance (Richardson & Thompson, 1999). Their adoption generally leads to superior organizational results (Huselid, 1995) and promote organizational efficacy (Galang, 2008). In the perspective of this study, best practices are those that integrate with an organization's objectives, are developed integrating organizational objectives with those of the individual, and if implemented, can improve organizational results.
This paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the theoretical reference, comprised of a review of public administration in Brazil, human resources management in the public sector and at universities; Section 3 presents methodological options and a description of the study’s target organizations; Section 4 discusses the main results obtained, comparing them with the theoretical reference; and Section 5 presents some discussions. Finally, Section 6 shows the conclusions, limitations and suggestions inherent to the study.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Public Administration in Brazil
Public administration in Brazil is based on a bureaucratic model that emerged in 1930 (Ribeiro, 2002; Bresser-Pereira, 1996), to make public management moral and efficient (Bresser-Pereira, 1998A). The bureaucratic model was created to avoid some views that “in concept the state has a function to meet personal interests and loyally serve political bosses to the detriment of the quality and efficiency of services provided the public” (Coutinho, 2000).
Due to this bureaucratic model, the quality and providing of services at public organizations in Brazil could be considered poor and became a very critical factor for public administration in Brazil (Coutinho, 2000). This could occur, due to the impersonal nature of the rules, without any space for developing more flexible and innovative management practices, disregarding the HRM at the organization (Saraiva & Capelao, 2000).
At the end of 1980, important changes began to be introduced in the context of Brazil’s public organizations, starting with differences perceived between management at public and private organizations, such as the incorporation of concepts like flexibility, strategic planning and total quality, aimed at guiding public services towards society’s needs (Rua, 1997). Among these changes, a new model of management was adopted, based on managerial and most advanced practices in the administration field (Bresser-Pereira, 1998B). This new model, known in Brazil as “New Public Management” is based on the application of practices that occur at private organizations in the public sector, geared towards the search for efficiency, decentralization and administrative flexibility and a focus on demand (Ayres, 2006).In this sense, while public administration concentrates on procedures,
managerial public administration is guided by results. In other words, for example, while the old model is guided by punishment for deviations, which is always difficult, the new model seeks its prevention (Bresser-Pereira, 1998B).
In this context the role of human resources management in Public Sector gains importance, especially to face the challenges on behalf of the “citizen-client” satisfaction (Saraiva & Capelao, 2000), in which several practices are used to facilitate carrying out the institutional mission in the mid- and long-term (Nogueira & Santana, 2000).
The traditional focus given to human resources in the Brazilian public sector, after the bureaucratic administration model, restricts it to the operationalization of administrative tasks that refer to the legal aspects of the servant-government relationship. In other words, due to the characteristics in the bureaucratic model, which is geared towards control, standardization and bureaucracy to guarantee that the activities are being performed, HRM is a functional orientation that inhibits possible strategic action.
2.2. An Overview of HRM in the Public Sector
Due to the evolution in organizational concepts, which positions HR as an important instrument for organizational success through its strategies and practices, public organizations need to modernize their management (González & Gidumal, 2009). There is growing empirical evidence showing a connection between human resources management practices and performance in private organizations (Willians, 2004). This movement in the HRM field has implications to Public Sector and to the model named “New Public Management”. The characteristics of the New Public Management are (Kaul, 1997; Edgar & Geare, 2007; Truss, 2008; Gonzáles & Gidumal, 2009; Bissessar, 2009): (a) a set of ideas and practices imported from private organizations; (b) application of new models that assesses performance and replaces the individual evaluation with an evaluation of the organizational results; (c) definition of policies that facilitate the accomplishment of society’s more ample objectives, satisfying the yearnings and needs of citizens (Bissessar, 2009) in a manner that on private sector practices this support aims at increasing efficiency and efficacy to eliminate public sector inefficiencies (Edgar & Geare, 2007). The most famous examples of the New Public Management are found in Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom, Sweden and Canada (Bresser-Pereira, 1996; Edgar & Geare, 2007; Smeenk et al., 2006). In this paper, we don’t aim at defending or avoiding “New Public Sector” ideas. We only recognize that these ideas have influenced HRM practices in the Public Sector.
For example, in Ireland and Australia, seniority at an organization is no longer considered the only factor for progression or promotion to higher levels, whereas in South Africa, there is great difficulty in retaining talent due to the growing competitiveness of the private sector, which offers better career opportunities, even in other countries (Lavelle, 2006). In the state of Michigan, legal, political and technological pressure, as well as pressure for adopting an advanced HR information system by human resources professionals who began to exert an advisory role, helped drive improvements in the practices to reach efficiency and efficacy of public organizations in the American state (Mothersell et al., 2008).
In face of external and internal pressure, some public organizations have been replacing uniform and standardized practices with flexible and differentiated practices, mainly in the work organization (Boyne, Jenkins & Poole, 1999).
2.3. Public Resources Management at Brazil’s Public Universities
In Brazil, there are many public universities. At these universities, the Government assumes all costs. The public university is a different organization from all others. It differs from an industry that produces goods, from retail commerce that sells those goods and from any other organization, because it does not seek financial returns. The main goals of public universities are the creation and transmission of knowledge, being the highest body of learning (Roknuzzaman, 2007).
As already mentioned, in Brazil, different from other countries, there are universities sustained only by public resources, and their administrative actions are regulated by Brazilian legislation, based on rigid concepts and values and traditionally managed in a far from professional manner, contrary to other countries, like England, where all universities are public, but administered like private organizations (Schwartzman, 2008). In face of the political and social pressures during the century, the university is one of the few organizations that maintained its stable values (Mcinnis, 1998), but, external changes over the past decades have influenced their management (Middlehurst, & Elton 1992). They need to strengthen HRM to respond to external and internal changes (Mackay & Torrington, 1986), professionalizing management (Holmes & Mcelwee, 1995), incorporating innovative practices, considering resistance to change at public organizations (Watson & Watson, 1999).
Some empirical evidence stands out in human resources management at public universities in Brazil. Like at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil), which in 1999, adopted an organizational development program with the objective of implementing innovations in the organizational structure and human resources practices, characterized by a bureaucratic functional structure (Concurso, 2000).
A study of human resources practices and their influence on State University of Maranhão (Brazil) strategies revealed that there are no actions specifically directed towards the technical administrative employees (Mendes, 2001).
Between 1992-2002, the Human Resources Development Department at the Fluminense Federal University (Brazil) adopted some premises to guide actions on HR that, theoretically, place the university within the context of valorizing the human side (Andrade & Santos, 2004), such as the adoption of a workforce fitness policy, education policies, training and development and well-being and worker satisfaction policies.
In the few highlighted cases, due to the lack of research in the areas, observe that Brazil's public universities are trying to adjust to the constant changes the organizations face, adopting HRM strategies that values their employees, by trying to implement strategic and innovative HR practices, as it already occurs in some Spanish universities that are adopting new management models like the
Balanced Scorecard (Ramyrez, Lorduy & Rojas, 2007), like the Australians in relation to cultural diversity (Chesterman & Ross-Smith, 2006), and in England where HR managers are trying to broaden their power (Mackay & Torrington, 1986).
Despite the limitations in legislation, and perhaps due to a typical bureaucratic public administration culture, it is believed that Brazil’s public universities are able to develop good human resources management practices.
3. Methodology
In this research, an exploratory-descriptive approach was used with a qualitative focus (Llewellyn & Northcott, 2007; Eisenhardt, 1989). Due to the few studies on HRM at Brazilian university organizations, the case study was adopted as the research strategy. They were held at the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) Human Resources Office in the city of Sao Paulo, the Campinas State University (UNICAMP) Human Resources General Directorate in the city of Campinas, and the University of Sao Paulo (USP) General Administration Office, also in the city of Sao Paulo. Altogether, these three universities have more than 160,000 students in academic learning and research activities.
Evidence was gathered between May and October 2009 from interviews. We interviewed four Campinas State University employees; employees from University of Sao Paulo’s top management; and from answers gathered from a questionnaire sent to the Sao Paulo State University Human Resources Office, which was combined with some interviews. We analyzed secondary data obtained from diverse documents and informal conversations with employees from the universities. In other
words, an attempt was made to ensure study reliability and validity from multiple sources (Voss, Tsikriktsis & Frohlich, 2002; Alves-Mazzoti & Gewandsznajder, 2004; Yin, 2005).
3.1. The Cases
The three Brazilian universities analyzed are public organizations of the State of Sao Paulo and have didactic-scientific, administrative, financial and disciplinary autonomy. Campinas State University (UNICAMP) was founded in 1962 and was actually put into effect in 1966 in the city of Campinas, Sao Paulo State. It currently has two campuses with 73 units and diverse bodies in which the undergraduate and graduate activities, research, extension projects and community services are distributed (Portal Institucional, 2009). According to 2009 Statistical Yearbook information, it has 9,910 active employees, 7,841 of whom are technical administrative employees. The Human Resources General Directorate (DGRH) is responsible for HRM at Campinas State University.
The University of Sao Paulo (USP), was founded in 1934, and built its solid history on research and academic excellence. It is the most prominent Brazilian university in the world with 15,438 technical administrative employees, 5,638 faculty members, and campuses in seven different cities in the state of Sao Paulo, to develop teaching, research and extension activities. The Human Resources Department (DRH) is responsible for human resources management at the University of Sao Paulo.
Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) is based on a multi-campus approach was founded in 1976, and it came about after an initiative by the state of Sao Paulo public authorities to integrate and unify various units of the Isolated Institutes of Higher Education of the State of Sao Paulo (Anuário Estatístico, 2009). It is the most present university in the State of Sao Paulo with campuses and units in 23 cities, 21 of which are inland, one in the capital and one along the coast. It has 6,984 technical administrative employees and 3,354 faculty members. The Human Resources Office (CRH) is responsible for human resources management at the Sao Paulo State University.
4. Results
Despite the peculiar characteristics of public organizations and their consequent limitations, the Public Universities of the State of Sao Paulo are carrying out practices in keeping with current human resources paradigms.
Recruitment
In relation to the recruitment of personnel, the three universities adopt similar procedures in their search for candidates: (a) they obligatorily make it known in the Official State Gazette; (b) they make it known on central HR sites at the Dean’s Office in the case of the University of Sao Paulo and Campinas State University; (c) they make it known on university unit sites, in the case of Sao Paulo State University; (d) they make it known in newspapers, regional radio and specific civil servant exam sites. The selection process is a complex and critical practice for the organizations (Selden, Ingraham & Jacobson, 2001), verified by the universities’ research practices. While at Sao Paulo State University 80% of the recruiting and selection processes are performed by an external organization, which speeds up the process due to the organization’s specialization in civil servant exam operations, at the University of Sao Paulo the practice has limitations due to difficulties in operating civil servant exams since they are conducted by the institution itself. This generates high cost in overtime pay for employees who collaborate as well as infrastructure difficulties, since according to one interviewee some exams have more than 10,000 candidates. Because of this same difficulty, Campinas State University adopted, sometimes, a “brief selection process”, which consists of hiring temporary employees until conclusion of the civil servant exam, which sometimes requires plenty of time by virtue of the number of candidates.
Training and Development
In training and development practices, Campinas State University stands out because it has a specific area for managing training, with its own structure, called the Professional Training Agency. It has the same hierarchical level as the Human Resources General Directorate, promoting continuous and strategic actions such as educational qualification programs that encourage formal education and self-development, literacy programs, in partnership with external organizations and the managerial development program that aims at preparing people to work in leadership positions, which contributes towards their acquisition of global skills to better perform their current or future function (Bateman & Snell, 1998), contributing with organizational efficacy (Huselid, Jackson & Schuler, 1997).
Another initiative that deserves to be underscored is “Proseres” promoted by the Social Benefits Manager Group (GGBS) at Campinas State University with the objective of supporting employees in graduate studies programs as well as signed partnerships with diverse teaching institutions, subsidize monthly payments and even grant scholarships in some cases. Besides that, the Human Resources General Directorate's development area, the Planning and Development Division, works in internal consulting in HRM, developing various actions and programs tied to institutional strategic planning (Santos, 2001).
At Sao Paulo State University, actions develop along two paths: from the Human Resources Office and from unit initiatives. Some units have commissions or areas (that are not part of the units’ organizational structure) to work in training and development issues, and some don’t, relegating the performance of administrative activities to some units aimed at meeting legal requirements and inhibiting the strategic role HR could have. However, valuable initiatives adopted by Sao Paulo State University stand out, such as the “Educational Complement Fund”, which is an incentive for the employees to seek empowerment and self-development, and the holding of events aimed at disseminating good human resources practices to the units.
At University of Sao Paulo, many actions aimed at training and developing technical administrative employees can be observed, such as the promotion of lectures for employees in several topics such as management by processes, quality of life at work, communication, organizational learning, given by highly qualified professors from the university itself. However, it is similar to Sao Paulo State University, since although the Human Resources Department develops actions, some units have commissions and/or teams that advise HR areas at units in the development of actions in these areas.
Different from the Human Resources Department (USP) and the Human Resources Office (UNESP), the Human Resources General Directorate (UNICAMP) holds functional integration and socialization practices.
Performance Evaluation
At the three studied universities, the performance evaluation is employed to subsidize career promotions and progressions, identify training needs (Longenecker & Fink, 1999), promote development, correct unsatisfactory performance and the interaction between the manager and person being evaluated (Selden, Ingraham & Jacobson, 2001). At the University of Sao Paulo, the performance evaluation is not part of day-to-day activities of technical administrative employees, because although execution is scheduled for every two years, sometimes it is not conducted in this periodicity, thus distancing itself from integrating organizational objectives and those of people in conducting performance evaluations (Türk, 2008), due to evaluation discontinuity from one Dean’s management to the next. Sometimes, USP promotes the existence and participation of a commission in the performance evaluation, coordinating the evaluation process at units, acting as mediator between the manager and employee and promoting a feedback interview.
The performance evaluation process at Sao Paulo State University, called “Professional Development Follow-Up” (ADP), presents a coherent methodology with state-of-the-art, where technology can simplify the practice of performance management (Grote, 2000). The Human
Resources Office developed and computerized the entire performance evaluation process of technical administrative employees, elaborated to be conducted in an interactive process between the immediate supervisor and the employee in three stages every year: (a) activity planning; (b) performance follow-up; (c) performance analysis; where this practice is only valid if the employee actively participates in the process, but, as observed already observed by Sao Paulo State University, sometimes this interaction may not happen. Sometimes employees see performance evaluations like a control tool (Türk, 2008), which is not ADP’s case, since it aims at promoting development.
At Campinas State University initiatives are observed that are not found at University of Sao Paulo and Sao Paulo State University, such as peer or team participation in the performance evaluation process, and actions that aim at demystifying the traditional performance evaluation model, which depends on punishment for undesired results or attempts at correcting behavior (Grote, 2000), like promoting workshops with the objective of underscoring the importance of the evaluation process for organizational and employee growth and the attempt at changing the traditional belief that it is only used to reward or punish.
Remuneration
Remuneration is one of the most critical practices in human resources (Hipolito, 2002), an argument confirmed during this research, because the universities went through employees strikes and one of the main discussion points was precisely salary and benefits policy. The salary policy is similar at all three Sao Paulo universities, structured by level of education and segmented by function, with a main focus on position. The employee’s evolution in salary hierarchy is directly proportional to progression in career. Annual readjustments can also be granted for employees by CRUESP, the Council of Deans of Sao Paulo State Universities.
Within this policy of organizational growth, the University of Sao Paulo adopted an incentive tied to results at the university’s units and progression in academic ranking, offering financial rewards for employees and faculty members since 2008.
Remuneration at public organizations is changing, from being based only on hierarchy and seniority criteria and falling in line with results from performance evaluations (Boyne, Jenkins and Poole, 1999). The remuneration policy at the analyzed universities partially fit this affirmation, since the seniority related criteria still exists, as also occurs at Iranian public organizations (Yeganeh & Su, 2008), but at the University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo State University and Campinas State University, besides the seniority factor, salary levels also depend on performance evaluations, qualification and competence.
Benefits
With regards to the benefits policy, the Sao Paulo State University innovated by making traditional transportation vouchers more flexible through a benefit called “individual trans voucher”, popularly known as a fuel voucher. The benefit, provided by a magnetic card, is optional for the employees who must choose what better meets their needs. The University of Sao Paulo, like Sao Paulo State University, offers several benefits: meal aid, transportation aid, day care, day care aid, as well as some clubs where their university units are located.
Different from University of Sao Paulo and Sao Paulo State University, Campinas State University has an exclusive area that deals with benefits (GGBS), developing actions that are directly tied to institutional strategic planning and that fits as optional benefits for the employer (Bateman & Snell, 1998). Besides signing partnerships with several companies and diverse organizations, it aimed at providing financial, cultural and sports benefits for employees, it also develops some continuous programs like “Proseres”, which is a support program for the student-employee, providing scholarships, offering credit lines, agreements with regional colleges and several other facilities, and “Pass”, a worker health assistance program.
Career Plans
In relation to career plans, Sao Paulo State University implemented the current career plan in December 2008 for technical administrative employees, instituting the “promotion” and “functional mobility”, as means to move up in their careers. The “promotion” can occur in two ways: by getting a degree higher than the function’s requirements, for example, continuous studying and completion of a PhD, where the employee can get a 20% raise; and through professional development, sustained by three requirements: time of service, performance evaluation results and qualification. Another career option for some technical administrative employees at Sao Paulo State University is functional mobility. This is exclusively for career positions, that is, after selection due to exams or titles, employees can move from one function to another within a sequence established for some co-related positions.
The career plan for employees at the University of Sao Paulo was instituted by the “Career Access Plan”, where the employee must have a certain amount of seniority and the profile for the function in question in order to be promoted and move up. The process is structured on an evaluation of the employee’s curriculum and his performance over a certain period of time.
Campinas State University, like Sao Paulo State University, seeks to encourage employees’ qualification, financially compensating those with higher education levels than demanded for the position. Campinas State University rewards employees with a 10% additional for having a Masters and with a 15% additional for having a PhD, whereas at Sao Paulo State University an employee with any level of education who has a degree higher than required by his function, will receive a 5% additional for every degree above the requirement for their function.
In general, in the technical administrative employee career plans at Sao Paulo state universities, it can be observed that, despite being sustained by performance evaluations, qualifications or technical development and competence, only financial gains are offered. The University of Sao Paulo, by a movement and discussions of a new career model based on competence-based management, and the Campinas State University, have already conducted the initial stage of management by competence. They are also developing new competences through their programs to develop integrated HRM that effectively contributes towards organizational results.
Information Technology and Human Resource Management
In relation to information technology applied to HR, a HRM Website or e-HR portal is an unquestionable tool for organizations to automate several administrative procedures, optimizing resources and improving results, as well as promoting easiness for employees, offering services, information and tools that can add value for the people and the organization.
At Sao Paulo State University, the Human Resources Office portal is basically structured to present information for the units’ HR areas, for example, by making some operations manuals available. This is different from the University of Sao Paulo’s Human Resources Department portal which highlights on its home page the available job positions, while also presenting an HR information system for personnel management and diverse services for employees through a tool called the “Mars System”.
Campinas State University has a portal that fits the main theoretical currents that underscore that the e-RH is to make information available for managers and employees at any time and at any moment, permitting employees to control personal data, update records and facilitate decision making (Panayotopoulou, Vakola & Galanaki, 2007). The objective is to improve the communication system and consequently improve services (Lawler III & Mohrman, 1995) by reducing costs and increasing productivity due to the automation of routine and administrative tasks (Groe, Pyle & Jamrog, 1996; Karakanian, 2000). In other words, it centralizes several tools like the “competence database” and a system for managers to request several services from the Campinas State University HR office.
Competence-based Management
One of the practices that can be considered innovative for public organizations in Brazil is competence-based management, which was not identified at Sao Paulo State University and University of Sao Paulo. However, at University of Sao Paulo there is a desire and the creation of a new career plan sustained by competence-based management of technical administrative employees is already under discussion (USP 2034, 2009). The initial stages of competence-based management are already being developed at Campinas State University. After conducting a study of employee competences, a “competence database” was created that can be used to guide decisions related to training, performance evaluation, career and leadership development.
Within this thematic, an interviewee underscored a big problem faced by universities which is the lack of managers’ preparation who manage and coordinate areas, sections, departments, and who execute many HR practices: “In terms of management, they often choose a manager who is an
excellent technician, but does not have the skill and competence to manage people. So, the biggest problem of managerial positions at universities is not the technical component, but the lack of leadership and communication, which a true leader needs”.
Managing Quality of Life at the Workplace
Although not explicitly included in Brazilian legislation, Campinas State University stands out in developing actions geared towards quality of life at the workplace by a specific area directly tied to the Office of the Dean for University Development and institutional strategic planning. Programs to prepare for retirement, post-retirement and actions geared towards the physical and mental health of technical administrative employees are some of the actions carried out, which besides integration with organizational strategies, can also contribute towards improved results in people’s well-being and satisfaction (Janssens & Steyaert, 2009), which is similar to the practices conducted by private organizations (Osland & Osland, 2007).
5. Discussions
In face of the previously conducted analysis, the best practices found at public universities in the state of Sao Paulo are shown (Table 1 and Table 2), identified from USP, UNESP and UNICAMP and cross-checked with literature review.
The Human Resources General Directorate at Campinas State University has planned and proactive management, seeking to develop its activities focusing on strategic results, mainly by presenting human resources management integrated with the university's institutional objectives, with an established strategic plan, elaborated from planning by the units and the diverse functional areas of the university. Trying to align the units HR areas with the university’s objectives and seeking the actual application of institutional planning guidelines, the Human Resources General Directorate at UNICAMP looks to accompany HRM at the units even though they have autonomous HR areas to develop programs that contribute towards development of the technical administrative body. When a difficulty arises at the unit in a practice or work process, a specialized professional from the Human Resources General Directorate is sent to the unit to identify and solve those issues. They are also oriented to act proactively, conducting a diagnosis of all human resources processes. UNICAMP is more geographically concentrated than USP and UNESP. This fact supports communication and cooperation between academic units and HRM areas at UNICAMP.
Table 1: Best Human Resources Practices Identified at Public Universities in the State of Sao Paulo
Best Practice HRM
Category
University Brief Description
Civil Service Exam
Recruitment
and Selection UNESP
Outsourcing of the practice that permits agility, transparency and professionalism in the process.
Brief Selection
Process UNICAMP
Aims at optimizing hiring until the holding of civil service exams. Integration and
Socialization Program
Training UNICAMP
Seeks to insert new employees in Unicamp culture, presenting the university’s HR policy and its objectives, conducted with the participation of managers who will coordinate new hires. Diverse Empowerment and Development Practices Training and Development UNICAMP
Several actions are developed, such as the Managerial Development Program, Education Qualification Program, Program to Support and Promote Research, among others already pointed out, which aim at empowering employees to contribute towards the organization's mission. People Development Consulting and Advisory Program for Units Development UNICAMP
The HRM area provides advanced consulting to managers aimed at meeting the needs of teams, qualifying personal group relationships through recommendations, creative and customized solutions; It also advises Units in the identification and actions related to professional, interpersonal and personal problems of employees.
Complete Educational Scholarship
UNESP
This financial assistance aims at stimulating employee self-empowerment.
Lectures USP Promotion of lectures by professors with knowledge in diverse areas. Performance
evaluation tool (ADP)
UNESP
Conducted annually, ADP is a tool that plans, accompanies and evaluates through a completely computerized system, which is only feasible when there is interaction between the evaluator and the evaluatee. Operationalizat ion of the Performance Evaluation Performance Evaluation UNICAMP
An evaluation criterion that besides evaluation by the immediate supervisor and self-evaluation, the employee is also evaluated by the team and evaluates work infrastructure. The DGRH also holds workshops, lectures aimed at creating awareness of the importance of evaluations, for individual and organizational objectives.
Operationalizat ion of the Performance Evaluation
USP
Participation of an Internal Commission on Performance Evaluations that coordinates the evaluation process at the units, acting as mediator between manager and employee.
Academic Excellence Award
Remuneration USP
The award aims at paying back employees and faculty who through their work helped the university improve its performance in international rankings.
At Sao Paulo State University, the Human Resources Office adopts the decentralization of the Dean’s Office activities to the university units. On one hand, it is an advantage, because it permits greater speed, flexibility and autonomy in developing actions that meet the specific needs of each unit; on the other hand, it has a disadvantage, since some units are more advanced in developing actions and others have characteristics that resemble typical personnel department activities. What Sao Paulo State University needs is to strengthen human resources policy due to the decentralization of HR actions to the units, because UNESP has more than 20 campuses (in different cities). This can only be done through long-term planning, with the creation of performance indicators for HR areas and by tying human resources development to the institution’s strategic objectives.
Table 2: Best Human Resources Practices Identified at Public Universities in the State of Sao Paulo
Best Practice HRMCategory University Brief Description
Individual Trans Voucher
UNESP
The fuel voucher is an innovative alternative that adds flexibility to the traditional transportation voucher.
Proseres Benefits UNICAMP This benefit, aims at supporting employees-students offering scholarships, subsidies, financing, agreements, etc.
Social Benefits Manager Group (GGBS) UNICAMP
This area develops actions that promote several social benefits such as courses, agreements, assistance for participation in events, lectures, etc. aimed at improving the quality of life of employees, such as the Opportunities Bank.
Promotion Due to Education
UNESP
Represents a 5% additional every time the employee demonstrates education beyond what is required for his function.
Functional
Mobility Career UNESP
Consists of the functional evolution for certain career positions. Promotion
Due to Education
UNICAMP
Consists of granting a 10% additional in remuneration for employees with Masters and a 25% additional for PhDs.
Diverse QVT Programs Quality of Life in the Workplace UNICAMP
Directly tied to university planning with the support of top management, where preparation and post-retirement programs, programs to combat alcohol and drugs and programs to promote physical activity for employees stand out, etc.
DGRH Portal e-RH UNICAMP
Besides being an information channel, the DGRH site provides a system for employees to access customized information and for managers who can request services.
Mars System USP This is a personnel administration system that also permits employees and faculty to access customized information.
Competence Database Competence-based Management UNICAMP
Initially for mapping employee competences to later subsidize career related decisions, performance evaluation and training, the database is being constructed to support strategic decisions, including the choice of managers. A pilot project was implemented with great success. At University of Sao Paulo, human resources management is similar to Sao Paulo State University, since the strategies are defined by the Dean’s Office and practices are carried out at the units (seven campuses, in different cities). However, current administration’s concern in incorporating new paradigms in HRM can be observed, such as the proposal for a new career model based on competence-based management and worker valorization through the “Institutional Excellence Award”, which is retribution for results achieved.
6. Final Remarks
The objective of this study was to analyze which and how best human resources practices develop at three important Brazilian public universities. For such, human resources at University of Sao Paulo, Campinas State University and Sao Paulo State University were analyzed based on interviews with core managers of human resources and administration areas, complemented by an analysis of information from documents, observation and participation in events.
The best practices identified from studied organizations shows that this universities are trying to meet legal requirements of public administration in Brazil and also play a proactive role, carrying out innovative practices in the context of public organizations in Brazil and in keeping with some New Public Administration principles, such as the adoption of practices similar to those applied by private organizations, such as awards based on results, socialization programs, professional development programs and practices that seek well-being. In other words, although they are conducting their activities related to human resources management in accordance with the requirements of Brazilian
legislation, which is bureaucratic-based, the universities are working fast in the sense of seeking to develop practices that can integrate people to the organization’s objectives and thus contributing with the most modern principle of public administration in Brazil, efficiency, and it fully achieved, the needs of citizens who use public services will be better served.
If the assumption is true, that organizational performance is influenced by the set of HR practices found at an organization (Huselid, Jackson & Schuler, 1997), and university organizations, for having the most empowered people (faculty) and best infrastructure, are organizations with the greatest capacity to valorize the human factor (Colossi et al., 1997), then, consequently, they need to invest continuously in HR practices, through financial and non-financial compensations, in careers that permit continuous growth together with the organization’s objectives, a performance evaluation tied to development of competences aligned with the organization’s objectives, information and communication systems (such as Campinas State University’s “online functional life” and University of Sao Paulo’s “Mars System”) and practices geared towards the quality of life at the workplace, as already happens at Campinas State University.
But, for these practices to work, they need to be based on a strategic HR function that is aligned to the organization’s mission, which places the “personnel department” on a second level and adopts people management, which is more than managing resources or numbers. It is to orient, coordinate, and mobilize people in a single, actual direction that seeks organizational growth sustained by human resources strategies and policies in keeping with current social and organizational challenges.
It can be concluded, after analyzing HR practices that the Human Resources Department (USP), the Human Resources Office (UNESP) and the Human Resources General Directorate (UNICAMP) are at relatively different levels of human resources management. This could be justified by the decentralization policy at Sao Paulo State University and University of Sao Paulo, since they are present in several cities in the state of Sao Paulo that are geographically dispersed. As a result, these units have great autonomy to develop actions, different from Campinas State University, which concentrates most of its units, institutes and colleges at the campus in Campinas. The policies elaborated in the Dean’s Office at UNICAMP and carried out through human resources practices by units, institutes and colleges can be better monitored. Even with the differences, the University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo State University and Campinas State University are developing or trying to develop human resources practices that meet the organization’s objectives and the people’s individual objectives.
This study had some limitations and can be complemented with future research: (a) to verify the effect of best practices identified in this study with technical administrative employees, in the sense of checking the effectiveness of practices in motivation, commitment and satisfaction; (b) to identify which and how best practices in HR develop for the faculty, a public not considered in this study; (c) it is also suggested that case studies could be carried out at public universities in other countries and compared with the results of this study; (d) another situation that can be studied refers to how the best practices in HR identified in this study and the human resources areas contribute towards the evolution in the academic ranking of researched universities.
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