One staff member’s thoughtful “passion project” is creating a positive buzz in UNE’s School of Education.
The Strengths Cards initiative developed by Marty Schmude provides an opportunity for staff to acknowledge the strengths of their colleagues by sending them a digital card. The card – celebrating a strength such as curiosity, creativity, fairness, humility, kindness, perseverance or teamwork – is sent privately to the recipient via email. Head of School Professor Sue Gregory receives a breakdown of aggregated statistics after the event has concluded, including the top strengths sent.
“So often we are focused on fixing what’s broken in us, but strengths cards recognise that we already have positive strengths we work with every day,” says Marty, an academic in the School of
Education and currently Lead Education Enterprise and Atrium within Education Futures. “Giving compliments or feedback on your colleague’s strengths face-to-face can be intimidating and awkward. With the digital cards, this is a quiet exchange between two people. It can be just what the person needs to hear at that time.”
During the first trial of the Strength Cards with the School of Education, in 2018, staff dispatched 660 cards in just one day, which Marty says “created a real buzz in the hallways”.
Sue uses the exercise to track how her teams are feeling, to analyse their top strengths and even to encourage desirable ones. Leadership, for instance, was ranked 13th by participants in the very first Strength Cards event; by May this year (when 467 cards were sent) it had been elevated to number one, demonstrating that people are showing and noticing leadership qualities more.
Marty based the program on the 24 strengths the VIA Institute on Character Strengths identified as contributing to flourishing in life, which are consistent with the PERMA wellbeing framework developed by US psychologist Martin Seligman.
“Everyone exhibits these strengths to varying degrees, but each of us have 4-6 signature strengths,” he says. “The idea is that people can flourish even when bad things happen to them if they draw on these strengths. In an organisation, defining strengths you wish to promote can help teams to meet challenges collectively.”
Marty used a strengths mindset himself back in 2019 when, after finishing his PhD at UNE, he was feeling “flat-footed”. “It helped me to get through, because it encouraged me to acknowledge each personal achievement and the meaning behind it. And I got some life energy back. In 2014-15 I thought this had bigger potential applications for the School of Education.”
Sue said staff love the exercise and nearly everyone sent at least one card in the last event.
“Most people prefer to be anonymous, and I get that, but some will add a personal message,” Sue says. “The top strengths recognised in May included leadership, teamwork, creativity, kindness and perspective.
“I think it empowers people and is a great way to welcome new staff members. It helps to build our culture and aligns with our school values, as well as bigger UNE positive workplace ambitions. As educators, it also promises spin-off benefits for the students we teach and the schools they will enter. I think strengths cards should be used university wide.”
For Marty, the value of the initiative lies in its simplicity. “It reminds the recipient that they are enough, and that people are noticing their positive contributions,” he says. “It is not the solution to everything, but I have every one of the cards I’ve been lucky enough to receive saved on my computer. They can make a big impact.”