This article aims to help you develop a conversation with your line manager around this topic during appraisal, and to identify an objective/goal which could be part of your role and/or aligned to your personal or career development.
It’s everyone’s responsibility to focus on inclusivity, culture change and wellbeing
Our university is a diverse community of people from many different walks of life, with different life experiences. This diversity is our strength and underpins our strategic priority to be inclusive, have a positive culture that we’re all proud of, and support the health and wellbeing of our staff and students - to meet our vision for 2030 of being the best modern university in the UK.
How you can consider inclusivity, culture change and wellbeing in my appraisal
Make sure you're familiar with our ambition and approach in our university strategy ‘This is Our Time’. Strategic priority number 2 (Inclusivity and Culture) makes particular reference to the ways in which we will all support inclusivity, culture and wellbeing. Reflect on your work and career at the university and consider any initial ideas for incorporating inclusivity, culture change and wellbeing into what you do, how you do it and your career development. Consider how you will measure the impact of your objective, making use of the data that is available, and linking your objective to wider team/departmental/university plans and strategic outcomes. And remember that completing objectives for wellbeing can also support the objectives we have for sustainability.
Principles to follow when considering your objective around delivering inclusivity, culture change and wellbeing
These principles could be a helpful starting point when considering how you can promote inclusivity, culture change and wellbeing in your role and/or personal and career development:
- Develop a better understanding of our staff and student profile, views and experiences by consulting and collaborating with more representative groups - to build diversity of thought and perspective - and then respond accordingly.
- Amend or adopt practices to ensure that the needs, expectations and aspirations of the diverse university community are supported.
- Empower and celebrate different voices, personalities and mindsets.
- Try to embed inclusivity and wellbeing across all areas of your work and career, regularly and routinely considering and discussing how it can be advanced.
- Engage with the results of staff surveys (such as My University, My Voice) to identify what to prioritise in terms of inclusivity and wellbeing to have the biggest positive impact on the university’s culture.
- Contribute to the university’s action plans and working groups that support inclusivity and wellbeing - for example the health and wellbeing strategic action plan or Stonewall Workplace Equality Index steering group – considering the positive impact you can make in your role.
Examples that could be developed into relevant objectives
- Seeking feedback from a range of staff, students, alumni and/or visitors.
- Promoting the development of underrepresented groups through providing coaching or mentoring, including reverse mentoring.
- Learning about the history, experience and culture of different groups, and making any relevant changes to your work based on what you learn.
- Contributing to groups working towards equality accreditations.
- Considering how you can contribute to the work to decolonise learning material.
- Ensuring that your communications, and any working groups you set-up are inclusive and representative for our diverse university community.
- Participating in staff network/community activities.
- Identifying how you can demonstrate active allyship and role model upstanding in support of equality groups and the university community.
- Developing your own Wellbeing Plan, considering how you will look after your own wellbeing and what support you may need to do so.
- Identifying how you can look after your own and others’ wellbeing in your work and career. Visit the Wellbeing Hub and Resilience Toolkit for information.
Groups, teams and networks are there to help deliver on inclusivity, culture change and wellbeing
When coming up with your objective, speak to different people to consider how you could carry out your role and/or develop your career to be inclusive, and deliver on culture change and wellbeing, for example:
- The university’s equality, diversity and inclusion staff networks and groups, including our LGBT+ Staff Community and Black Asian and Minority Ethnic, Disability, and Women’s Staff Networks.
- The university’s staff network of wellbeing champions. Speak to your local champion about role-modelling a positive approach to wellbeing in your work and career.
- The university’s different teams which lead on supporting your learning and development, career, and wellbeing, or with specialist knowledge, including:
- Organisation and People Development - for advice on inclusivity, wellbeing and people development: LND@gre.ac.uk
- Research and Enterprise Training Institute (RETI) - for those involved in research and enterprise: reti-training@greenwich.ac.uk
- Academic and Learning Enhancement - for support with learning and teaching development: glt-admin@greenwich.ac.uk
- Health and Safety - who lead on this area for staff: safetyunit@gre.ac.uk
- Internal Communications – for advice and guidance around your communications at the university: internalcommunications@greenwich.ac.uk
- The Institute for Lifecourse Development – the university’s specialist area working on health and wellbeing throughout the lifecourse: ild@greenwich.ac.uk
- The Student Wellbeing Service - wellbeing@gre.ac.uk
