Cornell's Core HR Values and Principles
Core Cornell Human Resource Values
- Cornell highly values its faculty and staff, and will treat them with fairness, respect and dignity at all times.
- Cornell will provide outstanding education and services by recruiting and developing high-quality faculty and staff.
- Cornell's faculty and staff are valued for their knowledge, skills, talents, service orientation, flexibility, commitment and the creativity they bring to the University.
Fundamental HR Principles
Reflecting these core human resource values and recognizing budgetary realities, Cornell affirms the following fundamental human resource principles that commit the University to:
1. Encourage faculty and staff to take risks and be creative, generating fresh ideas and innovative practices that enhance the University's ability to compete with peer institutions.
- Reward and recognize staff for taking risks and demonstrating creativity in support of University objectives, as well as for securing successful outcomes. Taking risks may result in some failures; staff should communicate regularly with supervisors throughout a change process so that possible adverse outcomes can be identified and either anticipated or avoided. Supervisors should recognize that creative change, even when mentored and supported, may not result in complete success.
- Adopt and maintain a set of tenure, promotion, and salary enhancement criteria that recognize and reward those faculty and staff who meet and exceed these expectations.
- Encourage the payment of faculty who advance the University's commitment to excellence at or above the levels paid by universities with which we compete for faculty. The set of universities with which we compete may differ, depending on the academic discipline.
- Promote, in the markets where we recruit, the competitive payment of staff who support an efficient, high-quality University.
- Create pay-for-performance strategies that reward collaboration, team work, and superior results; develop career pathways and job transfer strategies that facilitate the career growth of high-performing staff; and institute other reward strategies that recognize and value work performance in support of Cornell's changing needs.
2. Develop and maintain policies and programs that support creative, flexible, high-performance faculty and staff.
- Provide faculty and staff with the tools and educational opportunities required to develop the new skills that are needed at the University and strive to retain those staff who have the needed skills, flexibility, ability to adapt to changes and demonstrated work performance.
- Provide supervisors--including faculty in their supervisory and managerial roles--with the training necessary to enable them to manage staff effectively, especially during times of change.
- Hold supervisors accountable for giving staff honest and timely appraisals of work performance, developing improvement plans and, when necessary or desirable, supporting the transition of staff to other jobs either inside Cornell or beyond.
- Develop or refine time-away-from-work policies that reflect the value that Cornell places on having a competitive, highly motivated, flexible staff.
- Develop a total compensation strategy that gives faculty and staff increased choice and provides education and assistance to them as they make their compensation decisions.
3. Develop and maintain an environment that promotes a cohesive, inclusive, and diverse Cornell community, affirming the inherent worth of all individuals and underscoring the importance of teamwork, trust, and open communication.
- Communicate regularly and openly with faculty and staff about changes in the University, our challenges and our priorities, and the progress toward achieving our objectives.
- Encourage team-based approaches to accomplishing our work.
- Hold supervisors accountable for maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.
- Respect and support the importance of balancing work and family responsibilities.
University Expectations of Faculty and Staff
In addition to the expectations the University holds for itself as an employer, we look to our faculty and staff to:
1. Create a positive living and learning environment for Cornell students.
2. Support the University's priorities and act as responsible citizens of the campus community.
3. Ask questions and learn about issues that will affect them.
4. Exercise individual responsibility for benefit choices, career considerations, and professional behavior.
5. Accept new responsibilities and participate in activities aimed at making systems more efficient, and processes more streamlined, effective and valuable.
6. Take risks and think "outside the box" in order to keep the University competitive with other world-class universities.
7. Participate in educational opportunities in order to keep skills current and in line with University needs.
8. Work collaboratively and effectively in teams across units, departments, and colleges to support the mission of the University.