If you stayed warm last winter while waiting for a University bus, you might want to thank the VOICES of the Staff Parking and Transportation Team, which worked with U-M Parking and Transportation Services to get heat for bus shelters. The two groups also collaborated to increase the number of less-expensive orange parking spaces, extend year-round commuter bus service until 1 a.m. and adopt a new program for sharing parking permits.
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VOICES Rewards and Recognition Network Team members, from left, Nancy Kelly, Sheryl Decoster, Guy Provenza, Brad Packard and Trudy Bahr create a Tinkertoy centerpiece as a connection-building exercise during the morning session. (Photo by Shawn Seig) Below, Diversity Team member Denise Moore shares her group’s “Good News.” (Photo by Atisha Vaughan-Shaw)
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These and other “Good News” items were revealed at the May 16 annual meeting of the VOICES program, which finished its third year of operation as a communication conduit between representatives of the more than 27,000 U-M employees and the administration.
Other accomplishments of the past year:
• Development of a broad list of discounts or freebies from local businesses to employees presenting an M-Card, including free checking accounts and reduced-cost cell phones, restaurants, travel and new car purchases
• Securing of $85,000 in start-up funding for a Career Services Center, and the beginnings of a comprehensive career development Web site
• Provision of a free one-year Recreational Sports membership for new retirees
• Funding for a new employee orientation video
• Development and presentation of a campuswide manager and supervisor conference focusing on the enhancement of employee’s work experience and engagement
Launched in 2005 under the supervision of Laurita Thomas, associate vice president and chief human resource officer, VOICES is a volunteer effort comprising employees from all campuses and the U-M Health System. One hundred employees, along with 24 facilitators and advisors from various University units, are divided into six network teams, each focused on a specific are of campus policy or activity.
Each year since its inception, the group has gathered for a mass meeting that celebrates accomplishments, creates future goals, and renews its membership with group retirements and admissions. Though the cumulative membership of VOICES is relatively small, much of the quality of the program derives from the force of its members’ communications with fellow employees, according to a recent member survey.
“We’re finding that VOICES team members are increasing their levels of awareness of their connections with the University, and increasing their belief in their ability to exert a positive influence on University policies and programs,” says Denise Stegall, senior project manager at MAIS and Human Resources and VOICES Program Management Team member. “Members report that as they share their VOICES experience with co-workers, they’ll find that employees who are not directly involved with VOICES tend to change their awareness of their interaction with the institution.”
Good communication and high-quality connections were a central theme of this year’s meeting. Keynote speaker Teresa Sullivan, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, noted that innovation and disagreement are two major components of positively communicating organizations.
“Expressing disagreement about workplace policies and practices can be difficult. Sometimes people worry that if they express disagreement with a policy or a practice, their jobs will be in jeopardy or at the very least that their annual review will be negative,” Sullivan said. “High quality connections that include respect, trust, and norms of help and support are essential if we are to have the full and open discussions we want and need. It is the responsibility of all of us to help create such a climate.”
The concept of high-quality connections, as expressed in the work of Jane Dutton, the Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration and Psychology at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, was further examined in a presentation by Dutton’s colleague Lynn Wooten, clinical assistant professor at the business school.
The spirit of employee service to the campus community came into focus with the presentation of the first VOICES Champion Awards, given to employees or groups who have “supported and carried forward the VOICES of the Staff mission of staff engagement in a visible way.”
Award recipients and presenters were: Professor Jane Dutton of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, presented by Jeff Evans, human resource director for U-M-Dearborn; FAST Connections, the Stephen M. Ross School of Business’ Faculty/Staff Relations Task Force, presented by Gloria Hage, interim vice president and general counsel; the Health Information Management Change Management Project Team, presented by Doug Strong, director and chief executive officer of hospitals and health centers; and Bitsy Lamb and Dave Miller, from Parking and Transportation Services, presented by Laurita Thomas. A special Distinguished Champion Award was presented by Thomas to retiring VOICES Faculty/Staff Communication Team facilitator and Program Management Team member Sally Johnson, in recognition of her career-spanning efforts to strengthen and celebrate the culture, climate, and values of the University.
Mary Pugh, user liaison coordinator at UMHS and a three-year outgoing member of the VOICES Career Development Team, spoke of how she’ll use her experience in her daily University work: “I’ll be monitoring the progress of the new VOICES career development Web site, and its connected career navigator section,” she said. “I want to be able to share that tool with people who are just starting out at the University, and with those who want to grow in their career here.”
More information on the VOICES program may be found at www.voices.umich.edu.
