Progress Update: 2023
Highlights
Began to implement our 5-year plans
Took action toward the UBC Student Strategic Plan
Bigger and better OWC events and initiatives
Increased scope and reach: Not Myself Today
Create a shared vision and strategic alignment
Provide clear, regular communication of the SHCS vision and mission
Sharing our Vision and Mission: In 2023, we continued to share our SHCS Vision and Mission through staff email communications and on the SHCS staff website and amplify it through our staff award programs. In spring 2023, we installed print posters in staff areas on both campuses, which featured our full vision and mission.
Clarity in governance and decision-making
Increased collaboration: Our efforts to build a more cohesive, collaborative and aligned senior leadership team have also resulted in greater clarity in governance and decision-making within and between departments, where specific gaps and barriers were previously identified.
Ensure alignment with relevant UBC plans
Student Strategic Plan: In 2023, we continued to strengthen efforts on approximately 70 existing initiatives in SHCS—with completion or substantial progress on nearly 40—to advance the UBC Student Strategic Plan’s strategies: transformative learning, wellbeing and connections.
Develop unit and departmental 5-year plans
5-year plan: In winter 2023, we shared the SHCS 5-year plan with SHCS employees and the UBC community. The plan outlined current priorities and road maps for the next three years, along with aspirations for the next five; it also highlighted intersections and alignment with UBC’s various strategic plans.
In late-2023, departments updated their 5-year plans, and the updated version will be released in early-2024.
Build a more cohesive, collaborative, and aligned senior leadership team
Professional Development: Throughout 2023, we held three professional development sessions for the SHCS Senior Leadership Team, on the topics of cultivating an exceptional culture, giving and receiving feedback, and conflict management, persuasion, and influence.
Plus, in November 2023, we held a half-day session for roughly 60 leaders and managers from both campuses to discuss the SHCS Employee Survey results and help inform the updated People Plan for 2024 and 2025.
“Thanks to the effort, dedication and contributions of many colleagues across SHCS, in 2023 we continued to make substantial progress toward the goals established in our People Plan—and in service of our vision to cultivate community, inspire wellbeing and enrich lives.”
— Andrew Parr, Associate Vice-President, SHCS
Progress: Theme 2
Build connection and community
Identify opportunities for cross-departmental interaction
Not Myself Today: We launched Not Myself Today (NMT) for SHCS employees again this year, from November 2023 to April 2024, with an expanded roster of volunteer ambassadors and a revised model for 2023/24 which will include more in-person sessions and events.
Notable NMT initiatives so far this year include the creation of a “Zen Den” for UBC Child Care Vancouver employees, the result of a collaboration between the Residence Life NMT ambassadors and Child Care, and an NMT information booth and juice bar held at the Great United Way x Thrive Bakeoff event in late-November, organized by Food Services and held at the Marine Drive ballroom.
Create greater equity, inclusion, respect, and mental health literacy
EDI Committee: Two members of our HR team continued to participate in an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee, along with colleagues from across the Vice-President, Students (VPS) portfolio, to pursue ways of enhancing our EDI efforts related to staff recruitment, hiring, onboarding, training and education. The committee is in the process of developing an inclusive hiring and recruitment guide, which they intend to launch in 2024.
EDI Workshops for leadership: The SHCS Senior Leadership Team participated in a variety of workshops focused on equity, diversity and inclusion—delivered by colleagues from UBC’s Equity and Inclusion Office—and through these workshops, explored the various resources and tools available to help us make SHCS a more equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace.
Inclusive marketing and communications: In December 2023, the SHCS Marketing and Communications team, including members from both campuses, participated in an inclusive marketing and communications workshop with AndHumanity, a marketing agency with a justice, equity, diversity and inclusion lens.
Increase participation in workplace enhancement programs
Outstanding Workplace Committee: In 2023, the SHCS Outstanding Workplace Committee (OWC) substantially ramped up its employee engagement efforts, hosting a wide range of events, ticket and photo contests, fundraising efforts, and more. Notable events included the OWC Summer Kickoff Carnival, SHCS Staff Appreciation BBQ and OWC Winter Festival.
Define and develop SHCS-wide and department-specific communications approaches
Staff newsletter and memos: In 2023, we continued to implement our SHCS-wide internal communications plan and schedule, which includes a bi-monthly SHCS staff newsletter alternating with memos from Andrew Parr, AVP of SHCS, at key milestones throughout the year. Through these communications, we provided a wide range of stories, news and updates from departments on both campuses.
Departmental internal communications: In 2023, Marketing and Communications continued to meet with departmental leadership toward the development of a more comprehensive and cohesive department-level internal communications plan.
Recognize and reward people for their contributions
Communications: Throughout the year, in addition to recognition through our email newsletter, we highlighted staff awards and recognition through stories, news and updates on the staff website.
Awards reception: In April 2023, we hosted our third annual SHCS Awards Reception at the University Centre, to honour our Outstanding Contribution, Hero and Long Service Award recipients, along with our recent culinary apprenticeship program graduates.
Recognition wall: In January 2023, we unveiled our new staff recognition wall, which celebrates our SHCS Outstanding Contribution Award and Hero Award recipients in a permanent way, at the SHCS Main Office.
“It was encouraging to see the 2023 survey results, which affirmed that a lot of great work is being done across SHCS to move us forward, and I am excited to see more of our collective work come to life over the next few years.”
— Jennifer Dowdeswell, Associate Director, Organizational Development and Learning, VPS
Progress: Theme 3
Develop and engage our people
Identify and address gaps in the orientation process
Needs analyses: In 2023, our Organizational Development and Learning team from HR conducted needs analyses in SHCS departments to better understand their operations and onboarding processes. We were able to identify gaps and start to redesign the onboarding and orientation programs for Food Services, Facilities and Building Services, and Child Care Services.
Review recruitment and address any gaps and opportunities
Improved recruitment approach: Through collaboration between HR, Marketing and Communications, and several departments, we established a new approach for more active employee recruitment, including the development of a new careers web page, social media campaigns and boothing materials.
Plus, we cross-promoted job opportunities in staff communications and streamlined the process of posting jobs on sites such as Indeed and HigherMe, among other efforts. This new approach resulted in job postings being filled much more efficiently and consistently.
Create new courses for SHCS employees
Wellbeing courses: In 2023, in addition to workshops offered through Not Myself Today, the Occupational Health and Safety team, in collaboration with the Outstanding Workplace Committee, offered two Micro-Wellbeing Lunch and Learn sessions, focused on informing staff about paramedical services covered by our benefits, such as Occupational Therapy.
Leadership skills training: The Residence Dining team in Food Services began to offer leadership development courses through LinkedIn Learning, with learning paths curated for supervisors and managers who wanted to increase their leadership skills and capacities.
Food Safety: Food Services created a new course in UBC’s Workplace Learning Environment for all Food Services’ employees, which helped address new and changing food safety requirements.
Read about our people
Progress highlights: 2020–2022
Theme 1—Create a shared vision and strategic alignment
Create a draft vision and mission
In 2020, the Leadership Team developed and finalized the SHCS Vision and Mission, announcing it in November 2021, then sharing it frequently with employees on both campuses—on the staff website, through email communications, and on posters—in addition to integrating it into our staff awards criteria.
Ensure alignment with relevant UBC plans
The SHCS Leadership Team met with leaders for each of UBC’s strategic plans and identified areas in each where SHCS can take aligned actions, which now includes the UBC Student Plan and Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force report.
Build a more cohesive, collaborative, and aligned senior leadership team
Both as a result of COVID-19 and by design, the SHCS Leadership Team met with increased frequency in 2020 and 2021 to collaborate and coordinate across departments and campuses. In late-2022, we held a retreat at UBC Okanagan for members of the SHCS Leadership Team, where they learned more about the dynamics of workplace culture and participated in activities that fostered connection and alignment, along with individual and collective leadership development.
Clarity in governance and decision-making
In 2020, we identified significant gaps and barriers to efficient decision-making between (and within) SHCS departments and communicated those issues to departmental leaders.
Develop unit and departmental 5-year plans
In 2022, all operating and support departments developed 5-year plans, which outline current priorities and road maps for the next three years, along with aspirations for the next five; they also highlight intersections and alignment with UBC’s various strategic plans. The plan was published in early 2023 and is available at SHCS 5-year plan.
Theme 2—Build Connection and Community
Recognize and reward people for their contributions
We successfully launched two new staff recognition programs, which have now gone through several cycles, and we have held three annual SHCS Awards Receptions, where we recognize recipients of these new programs, our Long Service Awards and our Culinary Apprenticeship Program graduates. Plus, we continued to feature staff recognized through UBC award programs on our blog and on our new employee recognition wall in the SHCS Main Office.
Identify and address communications gaps
We provided all current SHCS staff with UBC email addresses and set up a system to ensure that all new staff received an email address as part of their onboarding. Plus, we held regular Town Halls and provided frequent updates via email throughout COVID-19.
Identify opportunities for cross-departmental interaction
Between OWC committee meetings and events, our coaching conversations and leadership development courses, and our Not Myself Today ambassadors—plus the two campus leadership breakfast meetings—we’ve identified, initiated and stewarded many opportunities for cross-departmental interaction and collaboration.
Increase participation in workplace enhancement programs
In 2022, the SHCS Outstanding Workplace Committee (OWC) welcomed a new Chair, department representatives and support members and resumed its monthly emails/posters to SHCS Vancouver staff. With the return of in-person events, the OWC ramped up its employee engagement efforts, hosting a wide range of events, ticket and photo contests, fundraising efforts, and more.
Create greater equity, inclusion, respect and mental health literacy
We rolled out the now-annual Not Myself Today program in SHCS, regularly highlighted UBC wellbeing resources, supported employees in completing UBC’s Preventing and Addressing Bullying and Harassment online course, and collaborated with Central HR and UBC at large on anti-racism and inclusion work.
Two members of our HR team are also participating in an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee, with colleagues from across the Vice-President Students portfolio (VPS), to pursue ways of enhancing our EDI efforts related to staff recruitment, hiring, onboarding, training and education.
Define and develop SHCS-wide and department-specific communications approaches
In early-2022, we redeveloped our SHCS-wide internal communications plan and schedule, which includes a bi-monthly SHCS staff newsletter alternating with memos from Andrew Parr, AVP of SHCS, at key milestones throughout the year. Plus, we launched a news and updates section on the staff website to publish shorter-form updates—in addition to staff newsletters and longer-form storytelling—to increase access and visibility.
Throughout 2023, SHCS Marketing and Communications met with departmental leadership teams to kickstart the development of a more comprehensive and cohesive departmental internal communications plan.
Theme 3—Develop and engage our people
Identify and address gaps in the orientation process
We launched an overhauled set of onboarding and orientation processes and resources to ensure a more comprehensive and consistent welcome to SHCS, which includes every SHCS staff member receiving a UBC email address. Now, effective October 2022, staff email accounts are set up automatically, removing manual steps and reducing potential setup delays.
Create new courses for SHCS employees and support supervisor-employee career progression discussions
We created a suite of online courses specifically for SHCS staff, and have offered several cycles of the Coaching Conversations course, through which we have now trained well over 60 supervisors and managers. We have now created a Development Conversations training course for managers, which welcomed its first cohort of six managers in January 2023.
SHCS People Plan: 2020–2025
Your SHCS. Your plan.