Culture of Care and Appreciation
As VCU employees, we share a collective responsibility to create and sustain an environment in which we can be our best physical, mental, social, and emotional selves. In a culture of care and appreciation, we are all seen, heard and valued as fellow human beings who work together for the success of VCU students, patients, faculty and staff. Quest 2028 provides direction and alignment on what we do together at VCU; the culture of care and appreciation is a framework for how we do it.
What does this look like?
We all make decisions every day that sculpt the world around us and impact our colleagues. To sustain a culture of care and appreciation, there are a number of values, intentions and behaviors to keep in mind as we strive to be our best selves at work. Read more below or download the VCU Employee & Manager Profiles here.
Employees are invited to:
- Demonstrate care, appreciation, and respect for others
- Understand Great Place HR basics
- Work flexibly and transparently with self-accountability and integrity
- Assume positive intent from others; when in conflict, asking questions, identifying the situational details, and considering the bigger picture
- Demonstrate understanding and behaviors supportive of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
- Demonstrate innovation, critical thinking and continuous learning in designing and implementing new ways of supporting students, faculty & staff
- Collaborate with others in pursuit of service excellence
- Help other employees adopt these behaviors through modeling and encouragement
Managers are also invited to:
- Create and sustain a culture of care, appreciation, and respect
- Have a deep understanding of our human resources policy and implementing all practices
- Guide and support employees in their career development, including DEIB understanding and behaviors
- Be self-aware, transparent, and respectfully authentic
- Lead through change, ensuring all team members are considered and included
- Create opportunities for collaboration and inclusion, fostering DEIB in the workgroup
- Manage flexibly and creating a sense of safety for employees, welcoming respectful disagreement and discourse
- Lean into difficult conversations and approaching honest mistakes as learning opportunities
- Streamline work for improved customer and employee experience and efficiencies
Ongoing Efforts
VCU HR continues to incorporate the culture of care and appreciation into our programs and services.
- We conduct surveys, manager town halls and listening sessions to hear feedback from staff at all levels.
- The career development and performance management processes include resources that support staff success, including career path frameworks for almost all job titles and a SMART goal library.
- We focus on VCU culture and building connections in a hybrid work environment through University Orientation, Manager Orientation, and quarterly in-person networking events for new employees.
- The Manager Toolkit provides an ongoing resource for managers to access important information.
- A curated collection of resources on resilience supports employees and managers in using resilience to navigate challenging times.
- The SMART Goal Library helps staff identify goals by showing examples of how to select and write goals for each position at the university.
Showing Appreciation
Want to learn more about how you can show appreciation for your colleagues (and receive some in return)? Here are some recommended resources on how to show appreciation in the workplace:
- VCU HR Recognition and Awards
- Great Place, Great People
- Learn more about the Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace via this Forbes article or the full book.