By Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Evans
UNE is initiating a deep assessment and overhaul of the University’s workplace culture.
Evidence and anecdote indicate that UNE’s culture has been shaken by a series of stresses from without and within. The uncertainties and anxieties that accompany everyday life have been compounded over the recent years by environmental crises, the COVID pandemic, and UNE’s own internal changes.
“Culture” can be difficult to pin down to specifics, but we have all experienced positive and poor cultures. A supportive and energising culture lends meaning to work and encourages people to give their best. It is resilient against stress from with and without.
UNE deserves a strong, supportive, safe culture. We are building concrete initiatives to get there. The first is a comprehensive review of the factors that support safety and wellbeing at UNE.
A group led by UNE’s Pro Vice-Chancellor-Indigenous, Professor Joe Fraser, and co-chaired by Director of People & Culture, Helen Smirniotis, is being formed to advise the Acting Vice-Chancellor and Executive Team on how to conduct the review and deliver its outcomes.
The remainder of the group will be selected after a call for expressions of interest, and will reflect the shape and diversity of the UNE workforce. A future all-staff email will invite consultation on the terms of the review and the advisory group, and ask for expressions of interest from those who wish to be considered for the group.
The advisory group’s first job will be to support the appointment of an external independent expert to conduct the review.
After delivery of the expert’s report, the advisory group will advise the Executive Team on how the report’s recommendations can be swiftly and effectively implemented.
I believe this process will be an important step towards bolstering the University’s workplace culture.
All of us want to be in a workplace that values the talents of individuals and empowers them to act, with energy and resolve, towards a common goal. Other initiatives, including the Safer Communities program profiled later in this issue of Pulse, and an updated approach to communications and consultation, are in train to support these objectives.
I hope that over the coming months, with your support and input, the actions we are taking to reset culture, improve supports and build trust will enable us to take UNE forward with shared purpose into 2023.
Is there not enough expertise within the University to conduct the review, why do we always need to go to the expense of appointment external consultants. Look at the Bevington Review, cost was enormous and the outcomes are not working.
The ‘group to advise’ should be devoid of any management personnel. This is absolutely clear. A small group of non management should be involved, I’m happy to advise.
Just look at the results of the UNE staff survey in 2018 as perceived by ordinary staff. Dixson Library staff identified a lack of communication with management in this survey and were promptly restructured with extensive redundancies as a consequence. Why would general staff trust any review process after this?