The University of Washington danced its way into the
Guinness Book of World Records this week, also marking a year since the
inception of the university’s revolutionary employee engagement program.
On Jan. 28, coinciding with National Have Fun at Work
Day, more than 2,000 members of the UW community took to the Huskies Field to
perform the world’s largest umbrella dance.
More than just a PR stunt, the event was organized by the
university’s community engagement program, The Whole U, a part of the
university’s human resources department. The core of the program focuses on
overall health, specifically honing in on six pillars: staying healthy, being
active, eating well, recognizing family life events, volunteering and engaging
personal interest.
The entire effort began about a year and a half ago, says
Mindy Kornberg, vice president for human resources at UW, in reaction to trends
affecting much of the U.S. workplace. Gallup had just come out with new data
showing 70% of the employees are not engaged, or are actively disengaging.
“It wasn’t shocking because we had just come out of this
horrible recession,” Kornberg says. “We needed to figure out how we can
actively reengage our staff and faculty here at UW.”
Kornberg decided to go to UW’s president, Michael K.
Young, with ideas on boosting engagement throughout the campus. “I pitched this
holistic approach, allowing staff to meet and building a community based on
personal goals,” she says.
It started with a survey sent to the entire university
staff, asking employees what it is they wanted to do. A simple approach could
have been to offer something simple like yoga classes. “But, if I’m interested
in running, a yoga class won’t do much good,” she says. Instead, the school
opted to create The Whole U program, emphasizing recreation as part of an
overall healthy lifestyle, both on the job and in employees’ personal lives.
“[Young] suggested launching The Whole U while trying to
break a world record to build some hype, so last year we launched the program
while trying to break the record for the largest kettlebell [workout],”
Kornberg says. This week’s umbrella event reached the record-setting goal.
With a staff of five, she says, The Whole U began
leveraging events already happening around UW, essentially creating a central
repository of information on events happening around the campus. Today, that
Web site garners an average of 1,016 views a day.
The program has had a profound impact the UW employees,
and has helped with recruitment and retention, she says. In fact, she adds, UW
was named one of the best places to work by the Chronicles of Education for the
first time last year.
But, she advises, a program like hers can’t simply come
from benefits and HR managers being prescriptive on health and wellness plans.
“It has to be driven by the employees that want to be leaders in their
community,” she says.
“The engagement aspect means people will be more
productive, have increased loyalty and less absenteeism if they feel a part of
it,” Kornberg says. “The goal was to get people across the university to be a
part of the system.”
As an example, Kornberg points to a group of surgeons at
the medical school who would bike together. When the news of a biking group
broke, “we had custodians, analysts … all sorts of different people that these
surgeons never would have met, join in. It really is a community builder.”
As that work-life balance becomes more blurred in this
24/7 world, the importance of including family becomes even more necessary.
“There is almost no work-life balance unless you can incorporate family,” she
adds.
“The umbrella dance yesterday, it means if you’re going
to have to do some work at home one night … your kids understand where you work
and how cool it is, it makes them more understanding. With these programs
you’re breaking down barriers,” she adds. “You begin to realize, ‘we have
common interests in where we work outside our little vacuum.’”
Source: Employee
Benefit Adviser
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