From the Nominator

"Although the COVID-19 pandemic thoroughly disrupted our work environment, we chose to view it as an opportunity to reevaluate the way we work. Knowing that we would one day return to campus after a prolonged absence, we seized the opportunity to design a new working culture that incorporates the best of pre-and post-COVID work life and promotes and optimizes wellness and work-life balance for all of our team members.   

In November 2020, Queen’s advancement partnered with Queen’s organizational development to launch Building a Better Workplace, an initiative designed to understand our work patterns and our culture and reimagine them for the better. Using an appreciative inquiry approach, we engaged staff in reimagining advancement’s post-COVID hybrid working environment and footprint on campus.  

While we are still in the early stages of implementing our findings, this exercise sought input from every member of our team and elicited frank feedback and innovative ideas."

From the Judges

A great example of how our work and work environments can be reimagined with meaningful staff input. The staff involvement in the process is good for promoting buy-in. The fact that they were willing to give this type of model a try is really worth celebrating.