SHCS People Plan

Theme 1

Create a Shared Vision and Strategic Alignment

Three focus areas

Within Theme 1, the following three focus areas emerged as important to employees across SHCS.

A Shared Vision

Governance and Decision-making

Senior Leadership Excellence

A shared vision

A vision is the image of our organization that we’re all striving toward. Our commitment is to develop and communicate a clear 5-year vision for everyone in SHCS.

Why this matters

A clear vision will help ensure strategic alignment across all levels of SHCS and unify everyone towards the bigger purpose. It will inform decision-making, goal setting, and help us measure success. More profoundly, it will create purpose, inspiring and empowering each of us to help build a more engaged, fulfilling, and positive workplace culture.

Actions

  • Create a draft of the 5-year vision and mission.
  • Facilitate broad consultation within SHCS to finalize the 5-year vision, ensuring alignment with relevant UBC plans (i.e., Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Wellbeing, Indigeneity).
  • Provide clear and regular communication of the vision and mission.
  • Develop unit and departmental 5-year plans.
  • Share unit and departmental 5-year plans with SHCS employees.

Your voice in action

“3–5 year planning. A clear vision for SHCS. A rally cry.” — SHCS listening tour participant

Clarity in governance and decision-making

Our commitment is to ensure clarity on decision-making and governance, at the unit level (i.e., SHCS), departmental level (i.e., Bookstore, Food Services, etc.), the division level (i.e., areas within a department) and at the individual level for each employee.

Why this matters

Effective decision-making empowers the right individuals to make the right decisions at the right time, while also driving efficiency and accountability. By clearly outlining expectations and requirements, an effective decision-making process will help contribute to employee satisfaction: with a clear understanding of workplace and performance expectations, employees will be empowered to deliver.

Actions

  • Identify gaps and barriers to clear and efficient decision-making at all levels of the organization.
  • Create and effectively communicate decision-making processes.

Your voice in action

“To connect to another department for a decision, I have to go up my department, then over to another department, then down to the right person. It takes so long.” — SHCS focus group participant

Senior leadership excellence

Our commitment is to build and maintain a more cohesive, high-functioning senior leadership team.

Why this matters

The leadership team has a critical influence on SHCS workplace culture. When the leadership team is united in a common purpose, collaborating effectively and performing at their highest capacity, they provide inspiration and direction for everyone in their department and across SHCS.

Actions

  • Build a more cohesive, collaborative, and aligned senior leadership team, committed to our shared vision.
  • Design and implement a tangible and targeted plan to support the team in achieving this goal.

Your voice in action

“We talk too much about our successes. We aren’t talking enough about our points of improvement or what we’ve learned.” — Senior Leadership team member

SHCS People Plan Home Page

Find out how we got here, where we’re going, and the 3 People Plan themes.

Return to the Home Page

Build Connection and Community

How are we going to build enhanced connections and community in SHCS?

Continue to Theme 2
View our progress

What will SHCS look like in 2025?

  • A more cohesive, high-functioning leadership team unified around a clear vision.
  • Employees empowered to make decisions in support of our clients, customers, and stakeholders.
  • We rate our workplace experience 8/10 or higher.
  • We rate our internal communications 8/10 or higher.
  • We receive timely, accurate information about our work and our workplace.