The University of New Mexico recognizes the vital role its staff employees play in carrying out its stated mission to serve as New Mexico’s flagship institution of higher learning through teaching, research, patient care, and community service. To this end, the University seeks to retain employees in key professional or managerial positions that are deemed critical to business needs and difficult to fill.
Therefore, UNM Human Resources (HR) offers departments the opportunity to increase the salary of high performing staff members with critical skills whom they anticipate may be at risk of leaving and who have not received an offer from an internal or external employer, as outlined in the following guidelines:
A retention offer may be considered if a key professional or managerial employee in a position that has been deemed both critical to business needs and difficult to fill. It is not necessary for an employee to receive an offer from an external agency or another UNM department in order to receive a retention offer; however, the department must have a legitimate business reason to believe that an increase in salary will be vital to retaining the employee.
All proposed requests for retention offers must be submitted to HR Compensation for review and approval before making an offer to the employee. Employees who accept a retention offer will be required to wait 24 months prior to receiving any additional offers from their current department, including counteroffers. Employees on trial or probation are not eligible for retention offers.
There are many reasons beyond salary that motivate employees to remain in their jobs. Departments are encouraged to engage employees in conversations about retention, otherwise known as “stay interviews.” Stay interviews help managers understand why employees stay and what might motivate them to leave. HR offers a Stay Interview Guide to help guide managers and supervisors through retention conversations.
Additionally, a variety of beneficial information is available in the Managers Toolkit, including the New Employee Retention Program. Managers and supervisors may also consider attending one of the many valuable courses offered by HR Employee and Organizational Development, available for registration on Learning Central (search for any of the following keywords: retention, engagement, motivation, coaching, performance).
Departments must complete the following steps and receive all approvals before making an offer to an employee.
Departments may use the Salary Placement and Equity Tool (SPET) to assist in determining an appropriate salary, however, this is not required.
HR Compensation will review the department’s requested salary and make a final recommendation based on a variety of factors, which include but are not limited to the employee’s relevant education, experience, skills, equity between employees in the same or similar titles, and placement within the staff salary structure.
