Tuesday 28 September 2021

People and Culture update

Kia ora koutou

I’ve met lots of people over the past few weeks as I’ve settled into my role as Interim DCE – People and Culture. It’s not ideal starting a role in lockdown but I’ve felt very welcome and have appreciated the warmth you’ve extended to me, despite the challenge of meeting on the screen!
 

Your mental health and taking care of yourself

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and is a great reminder that now, more than ever, it’s important to take stock of how we’re feeling and make a plan to look after our wellbeing. The theme this year is ‘Take Time to Kōrero’. Staying connected is an important part of our Covid response - check out the themes for each day on the website – there are some great ideas to incorporate the theme into your own or your team’s day. Our sustainability and wellbeing team can help you facilitate a discussion, so get in touch if you’d like some support.

After feeling the weight of the pandemic for close to two years now, fatigue is the most common wellbeing issue raised by our teams and indeed across Aoteoroa. We've all done our best to manage our stress and as a result are now feeling tired. Please use the support available, find ways to ‘fill your cup’, and reach out to your manager if you are finding things challenging.

On a positive note, it’s Spring and daylight savings has kicked in which often helps to lighten the mood as we look forward to longer, warmer days.

Two key date changes

We’d usually be running our Staff Engagement Survey at this time of year but have decided to delay the launch date a few weeks. This gives you all a few minutes back into your diaries, as we know the lockdown has created extra workload for many of you. More news on this soon but expect to see the survey in your inbox around 8 November.

We’re also delaying our New Staff Induction at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae, to give everyone time to settle back into campus (once we’re in Level 2). If you were originally booked for the 8 November event, you’ll be invited to the following date on 11 November. These inductions are a big part of welcoming our new staff, and it’s important that the whakawhanaungatanga (building relationships) can happen kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face), so we’ll only run these when we’re all be back on campus. I’m really looking forward to this special event myself.

That’s it from me today. Have great week everyone and enjoy those longer evenings.

Ngā mihi nui

Chris Hutton
Interim DCE – People and Culture