L I V I N G W E L L AT T H E
U of L
Survey results help set wellness direction BY SUZANNE MCINTOSH Here is the information we have all been waiting for! Results of the Employee Health and Wellness Survey are finally available and posted online at our Wellness website (www.uleth.ca/hr/wellness). Thank you for your responses to the survey and your patience in waiting for the results – we have been analyzing, reviewing, goal setting and compiling information to share with you. The Wellness Committee online survey invited 1,258 U of L employees, of which 704 responded for a total response rate of 56 per cent. Survey experts considered this a very robust response rate. The committee worked with an independent survey company to administer the survey, ensuring confidentiality and anonym-
PEOPLE PLAN TAKING SHAPE In the last two years, the University of Lethbridge has developed both an Academic Plan and a Research Plan that, together with the University Business Plan, serve to shape and support the actions of the University Strategic Plan. But the University can only succeed through its people. Several members of the University community recently gathered to talk through the feasibility of creating a People Plan and how best to go about it. “As we begin work on the next five-year iteration of the University Strategic Plan, it appears that a bridging document speaking to the needs of faculty, support staff, APOs, senior administration and other groups is missing from our framework of support,” says Elaine Carlson, associate vice-president, Human Resources.
COMMITTEE ADDRESSES CAMPUS SAFETY CONCERNS They work under the auspices of the Joint Work Site Health and Safety Committee (JWSHSC), but to put it simply, they are your co-workers and they want more people to know about the purpose their committee serves. The JWSHSC has existed
ity for all respondents. Our goals going into the survey exercise were to: determine employees’ perceptions regarding health and wellness; identify gaps and target programming; raise awareness of current wellness activities and resources; and benchmark metrics of health and wellness indicators. Using the results, the Wellness Committee will be developing health and wellness programming and we plan to offer similar surveys every two to three years so that we are continually meeting the needs of our community. Without getting into the minutia of responses (those are available in a full online report), there are some general trends that I’d like to highlight. The top five survey responses when employees were asked what wellness meant to them
“A People Plan must align with the University’s fundamental principles of a commitment to society; creativity, inquiry and discovery; students; inspiration; and responsible action, among other attributes.” Carlson says the People Plan is intended to link all employees to the University’s chosen direction, regardless of the focus of their work. “As a growing comprehensive academic and research institution with an increasing campus footprint and several campus locations, we are concerned about losing the sense of connection and community that has been a feature, if not a hallmark, of our development since the University’s inception in 1967,” says Carlson. “By bringing this initial group together, we were able to do a lot of brainstorming and direction-setting that will move us forward, so that we can encourage all members of the U of L Community to participate in future planning sessions.”
for more than a decade, but the work they do is largely behind the scenes, something the group would like to see change. Their mandate describes a group of employer and employee representatives working together to identify and recommend solutions to health and safety problems at the work site. The University of Lethbridge is that work site, and because of its vast scope, it presents a variety of health and safety challenges. “The committee serves as a very important communication link between workers and management,” says Dan Berte, com-
were: health (63 per cent), exercise (24 per cent), happiness (22 per cent), balance (10 per cent) and well-being (8 per cent). Overall, employees believe the U of L encourages positive health and wellness practices, but that an awareness campaign should be undertaken regarding current health and wellness activities. Most employees would prefer to attend wellness activities Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays and the optimal times to attend these activities would be at lunch or in the early evening, starting at 5 p.m. Employees at the U of L do generally consider themselves to be healthy, with 81 per cent of respondents indicating so. There was a consensus that employees felt they could improve their physical activity levels, eat healthier and improve sleep habits, but noted a lack
of time, lack of energy, stress and not knowing how to begin changing habits as barriers to improving their health. Discovering stress factors played a big role in the survey, with 63 per cent of respondents saying they occasionally or often wake up feeling unrested, with work stress a major cause of their angst. It seems the campus is well aware of the Employee and Family Assistance Program (73 per cent of employees said so), and 74 per cent of respondents said that wellness programming at the University has been of benefit to them. Some of the key takeaways we learned from the survey were that there is a demand to continue with the Lunch and Learn programs, but to expand them to include both the upper and lower areas of campus, and to have the segments taped for viewing on a
Photo, left to right: The beginnings of the University’s People Plan rest with this group. Chris Hosgood, Faculty of Health Sciences; Mike Whipple, Sport & Recreation Services; Jennifer Thannhauser, Faculty of Education; Tyler Hayward, Printing Services; Elaine Carlson, Human Resources; facilitator Vic Shewchuk; Aaron Tamayose, Disabilities Resource Centre; Barry Knapp, Advancement; Diane Boyle, Information Technology; Kelly Williams-Whitt, Faculty of Management (Calgary Campus); Laurel Corbiere, President’s Office. Missing: Jennifer Mather, Faculty of Arts & Science; Kim Ordway, Financial Services. Missing is Aaron Tamayose, Disabilities Resource Centre.
mittee co-Chair and a Health and Safety Officer with Risk and Safety Services. “It’s important that the University community has a representative body that is available to them to report issues of health and safety.” Its broad representation of all campus groups is a key benefit of the JWSHSC because it allows anyone an outlet to relay a health or safety concern. “If any member of the University community feels as though they need to bring up a safety issue, they can go directly to their representative on the JWSHSC,” says committee
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co-Chair Mike Pinder, the operations co-ordinator with Sport and Recreation Services. Committee representatives can be found on the JWSHSC website at www.uleth.ca/hum/ riskandsafetyservices/jwhsc. As well, the committee’s terms of reference, handbook and minutes from meetings over the past 10 years can also be accessed. Both Berte and Pinder stress that as a community, we can help each other keep the campus a safe place to work by reporting accidents, incidents or near misses. Only then can action be taken to address hazardous or
website. We are also looking to arrange lifestyle/fitness assessments as part of the Health Check for U program and to offer monthly draw prizes (free fitness pass, massage session, dietitian session) to those employees who engage in wellness activities. Again, thank you for participating in the survey – we couldn’t have done it without you. We are looking forward to a continued and improved Wellness program here at the University of Lethbridge. More information will be available on the new wellness website and I encourage you to check it out. www.uleth.ca/hr/wellness Suzanne McIntosh is the wellness co-ordinator at the University of Lethbridge
Carlson says that with the assistance of Vic Shewchuk from VisionWorks Consulting (who is also the senior advisor, Organizational Planning and Development at the University of Alberta), the group was able to take dozens of ideas and focus them into a narrative from which a report to the president will be prepared. As of now, the group has not confirmed how it will be engaging with different groups, but expect to hear from them before Christmas. “This preliminary planning group is open to hearing ideas from everyone on campus,” says Carlson. “This group is highly motivated to provide the groundwork for the creation of a People Plan – a living document that will hopefully enhance the way we at the University feel about our workplace and our roles within it.” To learn more about this Strategic Planning process, please visit this website: www.uleth.ca/ strategic-plan/people-plan
risky situations. “We don’t resolve the situation, rather we’ll take concerns from the community, have a look at it and then make a recommendation for action,” says Pinder. “We really try to instill the message that there will be no repercussions when reporting a health and safety problem,” adds Berte. “As we all are responsible for safety on Campus, it’s important that these incidents be reported so that the University can act on them and make this a safer environment.”