At the end of 2022, Human Applications and the University of Sheffield piloted a tailored version of the USHA Health, Safety and Wellbeing Leadership workshop. The workshop is designed to engage senior leaders in universities in what ‘good’ looks like and how to become a more effective leader in health, safety, and wellbeing. After the pilot, the workshop was amended slightly and delivered to the Vice Chancellor and his leadership team. The session covered issues of accountability through discussions and a worked example. It explored what factors might drive the behaviour of colleagues and how understanding those factors can lead to more effective interventions and support the development of a Just Culture. The workshop concluded with an exploration of curiosity and how it can be used in a proactive way to talk to colleagues about all aspects of work and how being actively curious can be an effective engagement tool.
Following the delivery of the session to the VC and his team, the University of Sheffield has rolled the programme out to leaders across the University. The feedback from the training has been exceptional. Direct quotes from delegates include:
- “I came away with three things to do right away”
- “Helped me put safety risk in the correct place on my agenda”
- “We will use two of the techniques at our next faculty meeting”
We are pleased to say that a number of other universities have now signed up to the programme and we look forward to working with them into the future.