This article is the second in a series about the new Albemarle County Public Schools Human Resources Department. The restructuring effort has prioritized Human Resources’ ability to meet its mission to recruit, retain, and develop employees to ensure Learning for All. HR’s mission helps ensure that the strategic plan can be realized and that every employee is able to contribute to the success of every student.

As part of the HR redesign, the school division received quite a bit of feedback. One consistent theme in the feedback supported a move from “transactional” to “transformational.” This is a change, as HR’s historical role, in service to both county government and schools, largely involved interpreting policy and completing employment transactions. One key lever for completing those transactions was the role of the Human Resources Generalist. The Generalist worked to ensure transactions flowed to completion as employees were hired, left employment, or changed roles. Generalists also helped employees get answers to questions about their employment and triaged with other HR team members for assistance related to leave, benefits, and workers’ compensation. Many of these responsibilities are now supported by the Employee Service Center (ESC), which we featured in our August 24 Compass post. As a reminder, You can reach our ESC Specialists by emailing HR@k12albemarle.org or by calling 434-296-5827.

As part of this transformation, our HR Generalists are now Human Resources Business Partners. A Business Partner (BP) operates in a very strategic way to support school and department leaders in meeting their needs and the needs of their teams. The BP focuses on business objectives, such as a school or department plan, and supports leaders in their respective strategies and processes. They meet regularly with leaders and managers across the division to stay abreast of their needs in terms of vacancies, employee engagement, planning for the future (upcoming retirements, known enrollment growth, leaves of absence, etc.), and more. The BPs continue to provide post-supervisor support for employee concerns in our schools and departments.

Meet our HR Business Partners:

Stay tuned! Next week in our series, we will introduce our new Talent Team!