A UNE initiative has been launched to collect staff ideas and initiatives that have potential to better some aspect of the university or its communities.
Good ideas come in all shapes and sizes, but they are all good ideas, and they have no effect if they remain merely ideas. The Better Faster Stronger portal, now live, is a place where UNE employees can log ideas or initiatives – large and small – and have them assessed for strategic alignment and impact.
Rob Hale, Director of UNE’s Strategic Investments Portfolio, said regular assessments will be made of logged ideas, and consideration given to how to progress them as part of strategy in action. That might involve bringing in support to strengthen a concept, allocate some funding, or elevate an idea to become part of a larger strategic project.
“We’re not just looking for concepts that only exist as ideas,” Mr Hale says. “If you’ve already done something that made a positive difference, then we would love to hear about it.”
“The real point of the Better Faster Stronger portal is to acknowledge and celebrate employee ideas and initiatives that might otherwise go unnoticed. Micro improvements can be made by everyone, and our intention is to show that in aggregate, the impact is significant as we build momentum towards a Better, Faster and Stronger UNE.”
What is Better, Faster, Stronger?
It’s a place for initiative
In a big, multi-faceted organisation like UNE, initiatives undertaken by individuals or small teams seldom get recognised beyond their immediate impact. Better Faster Stronger is a portal designed to collect those initiatives so they can made available to others.
It’s a place for ideas
Similarly, new ideas about how we work at UNE, and how we interact with our student, alumni and local communities, may never progress beyond being an idea because there is no outlet for them. Better Faster Stronger is a place to post ideas, large and small, so that they are recognised and evaluated within the context of UNE’s strategic priorities.
Everyone welcome
Better Faster Stronger is not concerned with hierachy or position descriptions. The portal is open to any staff member of UNE who feels that there is a better way of doing things. Even a number of things – people can return to the portal with new entries as often as they like.
Gamifying initiative
When an idea or initiative is entered, it is evaluated by a member of the university’s Strategic Investments team using a points system:
➕ BETTER ideas improve the UNE experience for someone – points are allocated on an assessment of impact.
⏱️ FASTER ideas save time – points are allocated based on hours saved in a year.
💗 STRONGER ideas improve overall UNE wellbeing – heartbeats are allocated based on a concept’s ability to have a positive impact on the UNE community.
Let’s hear it
If you’ve done something that’s made a difference, or have an idea for something might make a difference, set it down in the Better Faster Stronger portal. By doing so, you may help others address their own challenges, and contribute to making UNE a more rewarding place to work and study.
Lodge your idea or initiative in the Better Faster Stronger portal here