Dear Colleagues,
Human Resources now has a new name - People & Culture. It’s the culmination of what we’ve been hard at work doing over the past several years, namely, moving the focus of the department to improve your employee experience. Two years ago, in the Engagement Survey results, you were vocal about what needed to be done. In 2020, we’re proud to celebrate our moving that needle and provide you with a robust set of staff development offerings to help keep the momentum going. Here are just a few suggestions:
Communities of Practice & Staff Organizations: Check out our Staff Orgs website to find like-minded communities of practice and affinity groups made up of Berkeley staff like you. To make participation even easier, we have created a new policy that reflects Chancellor Christ’s full support for you to participate in Staff Organizations and other campus-sponsored activities during your regular workday. Consistent with applicable personnel policies and collective bargaining agreements, campus unit managers are expected to provide staff members time to participate in camp us-sponsored activities that support learning and development, networking, engagement, and community building consistent with the mission and goals of the University. Exempt employees should receive at least 10 workdays of approved paid release time annually, and non-exempt employees should receive at least 80 hours of approved paid release time annually to participate. In addition to the policy, we have prepared a brief FAQ section that addresses the new changes. We encourage you to discuss your participation in campus-sponsored activities with your supervisor as part of your professional development.
University Extension - Sponsored Tuition: Starting this year, we will cover the tuition for eligible contract and career staff (both represented and non-represented) allowing you full access to the vast majority of University Extension classes (UNEX) through our Sponsored Tuition program. This is a massive upgrade from the previous program which limited course offerings to one class per year for contract and career non-represented staff and just one union. Looking to pick up your certification in Project Management, or even learn a new language? UNEX has you covered!
Berkeley Executive Education - Staff Rates: Another first for us, is the partnership with the world-renowned Berkeley Executive Education at Haas School of Business. We are offering special staff rates to take courses focused on advanced business and management techniques for our emerging and seasoned campus leaders. As part of our joint commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), you can even ask a DEIB partner to join you, for free! More details can be found on our website. Courses include Negotiations and Influence, Executive Presence, and the flagship Women’s Executive Leadership Program among others. I took one of their courses this past Fall and thoroughly enjoyed it - I give it my highest recommendation.
Our People & Organizational Development team also has thousands of free learning opportunities through offerings as diverse as the Berkeley People Management certificate series, LinkedIn Learning, the UC Learning Center, Wisdom Cafe, and more - check out their offerings page!
Career Development: Developing your career is most effective when you make it an ongoing part of your routine. We have specific career-development workshops that you can sign-up for right now.
As you might recall, to underscore the importance of professional development, we ask each staff member to always have a performance goal focused on professional development. If you don’t have one, now is a good time to sit down with your manager and develop one. We encourage you to sign up for classes or a new experience that sounds interesting to you. Our updated Grow Your Skills page can help you find something that’s right for you.
The newly branded Talent Management Exchange is a day-long career consulting event that offers 25-minute appointments with a UC Berkeley Talent Acquisition Advisor. You will have the ability to choose one area to receive one-on-one consultation on:
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Resume writing and tips on how to showcase your transferable skills.
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Tips and best practices on preparing and shining during interviews.
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General consultation about succeeding in your job search on campus, and being qualified for your next opportunity.
This event will be taking place on February 27, 2020. You can sign up now! Spaces are limited.
Greater Good Science Center: Featuring the famous Science of Happiness at Work, Berkeley’s own Greater Good Science Center offers a vast array of self-paced online courses and lessons in gratitude, resilience and well-being. See what individuals and companies around the world are discovering, right here - it’s a fantastic part of what makes Berkeley such a Great place to work!
Be Well at Work! This is also a great time to take care of your physical and emotional health here on campus with University Health Services (UHS). Be Well at Work offers workshops for staff ranging from parenting and ergonomics to financial wellness and stress management. A full list of Spring workshops can be found on the UHS site
I again want to challenge each of us to do something ’Be Well’ related for ourselves this semester:
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make time in your schedule for lunch (not a working lunch!) or coffee with a colleague,
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take a walk in the middle of the day to clear your mind and enjoy our beautiful campus or the Botanical Gardens,
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try saying, “no, I can’t,” the next time you’re just too busy to take on more work,
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sign up for one of the many opportunities right here on campus sponsored by Be Well at Work
For those of us who manage other people, we have a special responsibility to help our employees Be Well at Work, and this is more than just asking how someone is doing. In addition to supporting our employees who might want to do one of the things suggested above, there are other simple things we can do. For example, when an employee says that they are too busy to do more work, believe them. Even better, next time when you want to ask someone to take on more work, ask them first if they can, or ask them how much time they might need before you set the deadline. These are just a couple of examples of the many things we can do to improve the experience of our employees, and model a healthy workplace culture. At the same time, however, we cannot forget the equally important task of taking care of ourselves.
And finally, as always, we’re eager to hear your feedback, so please let us know what personal and professional development opportunities are working for you, or if there are courses or programs that we could add to further your wellbeing and development. While we understand that finding time for these efforts can be challenging, please remember you are well worth the investment!
thanks,
Eugene
Eugene Whitlock, Chief People & Culture Officer
If you are a manager who supervises UC Berkeley employees without email access, please circulate this information to all.
