Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
A new direction
As personnel director, Susan Zeiger reviews all university job openings. During the past 14 years she's checked off on hundreds of postings, from part-time positions to president.
Last fall, one came across her desk that piqued her interest: director of internship programs. The job, matching students with internship and research opportunities, seemed tailored for Zeiger, as it required experience in human resources and knowledge of higher education.
Reading between the proverbial lines, Zeiger also saw an opportunity to work for Furman in an exciting new position that would involve her more directly with faculty and students. And it seemed to offered other pluses: less pressure, fewer late nights and weekend work, and more time to perfect her backhand and sing in the choir.
With no major projects looming and many behind her, the Florida native says the timing for change could not have been better. She will leave an enduring mark on the personnel department and the university's personnel policies. Since coming to Furman in March of 1991 and being named director six months later, Zeiger has helped transform nearly every function of the personnel department.
Her office has expanded options for retirement accounts, updated policies and benefits programs, and implemented well-received compensation and annual review plans as well as the Datatel HR system. She has rewritten all university job descriptions, a task that required her to occasionally don an apron, hard hat and work gloves.
“I've cleaned out boilers, planted monkey grass, done secretarial work and tromped around in attics,” she says. “It was really fun and it increased my respect for the contributions of our employees.”
Perhaps more importantly, the policies Zeiger and her office have developed have given the administrative staff a stronger voice in shaping university policy.
Staff surveys were completed in 1998 and 2004, gauging employee opinions on compensation, morale, supervisor support, commitment to Furman and a variety of workplace issues. The survey findings resulted in several new initiatives and programs, including the formation of the Staff Advisory Committee in 2000.
Most recently, the restructuring of the university's internal communication program and the inclusion of staff professional development in the new strategic plan were, in part, an outgrowth of survey results.
“Susan has been far more than a personnel director,” says President David Shi. “She has been an advocate, a counselor, a friend for countless faculty and staff members over the years. On many occasions she has handled difficult issues and situations with grace and poise, professionalism and compassion. She has been one of Furman's treasures.”
Zeiger gravitated to human resources work in 1983 during a crossroads period of her life. After graduating from Newberry College in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, Zeiger worked for Fluor Corporation and for Cryovac as a systems analyst and accountant.
In 1982 she dropped out of the workforce when her son, Bryan, who recently graduated from the College of Charleston, was born. (Zeiger also has a daughter, Lisa, who is a freshman at Elon). The next year, anxious to re-enter the workforce and searching for a new career path, Zeiger took a career assessment course through Furman's Continuing Education Department. The results were conclusive: Her passion was human resources.
“I decided that's what I wanted to do, even if it meant taking a step back,” she says.
Shortly afterward, Zeiger began working part time as a clerk in the Greenville County Human Resources Department. She was quickly promoted to benefits and compensation coordinator and then moved to the City of Greenville in 1985 as personnel manager. At the time, the city employed about 650 with an annual turnover rate of 30 percent.
“We hired police officers, maintenance workers, everyone,” says Zeiger. “We rewrote the job descriptions and employee handbook, established a compensation system, designed and upgraded the annual review process and overhauled the benefits program.”
While putting in the time to do desk work, Zeiger preferred being in the field, meeting and working with employees and trying to be proactive by encouraging dialogue. When her new supervisor asked her to adopt a more reactive approach, Zeiger began scouring the Sunday want-ads.
The search landed her at Furman and launched a 14-year career in the Personnel Department. Zeiger is now checking off a few final items on her to-do list and is preparing to make the transition into her new role, where she will continue to hold in confidence personnel-related information.
In April she will move from the basement of the administration building to the more airy confines of Johns Hall, a new direction with the same employer. Citing discussions during the strategic planning process about revising the academic calendar and enhancing engaged learning opportunities, Zeiger says, “I like the challenges that change brings, and I look forward to pursuing opportunities for growth in the internship program.”