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WashU Champion News | October 2023
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Included in this newsletter:
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Onboarding New Employees: Welcoming New Hires into a Culture of Well-being
Why onboarding matters:
Effectively welcoming a new employee to WashU is the beginning of an ongoing relationship. It’s the point at which first impressions are made, new employees find their feet and commitments to the organization are nurtured. Great onboarding can impact productivity and engagement, retention and the trust within an organization. WashU's HR has recently developed and organized tools to provide support to managers and others focused on this important transition. The links below are for anyone navigating the early months of a WashU career:
As a Wellness Champion, you can provide unique insight to managers as they build onboarding plans. Encouraging managers to highlight available tools and resources that support well-being resources can be a great discussion opportunity with a new employee.
One of the most critical success factors in a successful onboarding experience for employees is their ability to build relationships and networks within and beyond their departments. Connecting with a Wellness Champion for an informal discussion or a more structured introduction to our “culture of care” can be a simple but impactful way to ensuring a new employee feels they have an important place in our community. Consider how you might welcome new hires and share our well-being resources with them!
Looking for more information, suggestions or onboarding resources? Drop us a line: WashU's Organizational Development, orgdevelop@wustl.edu.
Ellen Levine
Senior Consultant of Organizational Development
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| | - Share resources to support work-life and family care
- Join the Wellness Champions Microsoft Teams channel
- Welcome new WashU Wellness Champions
- Update your Wellness Champion Professional Affiliation in Workday
- Register for the Wellness Champion Recognition Luncheon
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Take Care Health FairJoin us at the Danforth Take Care Health Fair on Oct. 10, 2023, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Sumers Rec Center to meet with WashU partners and vendors while participating in a variety of well-being activities including:Participants can also visit with representatives from university departments and vendors, including TIAA, UnitedHealthcare, WUCare, and WashU Psychiatry. This is a great opportunity to connect with well-being resources and gather lots of great information.
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Fall Wellness Challenge: WalktoberWalktober is a fun and inspiring way to take advantage of autumn’s cool temperatures and spectacular views as you step out and step up to better health. During this 6-week challenge, you’ll be taken on a virtual color tour through some of the world’s most vibrant, breathtaking landscapes — while boosting energy, improving mood, and making walking a priority.
Priority registration opened for Wellness Champions on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Start logging your activity on Monday, Oct. 9!
We highly encourage all Champions to create a team and be a Team Captain for this activity challenge! See this toolkit for more information.
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Update Your Professional Affiliation in WorkdayAs part of our new reporting system, we are asking all Champions to indicate their Wellness Champion status by updating their professional affiliation in Workday. If you have not done so yet, we kindly ask you to take a moment today to make this update so we can keep current on our membership records.
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Register for the Wellness Champion LuncheonTo thank you for your efforts this year in promoting our well-being resources across campuses, we would like to invite you to our first annual recognition luncheon. This will be a time to recognize your hard work and accomplishments, socialize with other Champions, and highlight team captains and winning teams of wellness challenges. More informaiton here.
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Sleep Matters: How Sleep Impacts Our Mental and Emotional Well-beingBy: Krista Jarvis, LPC, MBA
When it comes to sleep, it can be easy to neglect our needs. With only so many hours in a day, time spent sleeping can feel like a necessary sacrifice to get things done. For another thing, times when others are sleeping are like golden opportunities for precious time alone. It is tempting to do the things that responsibilities take from us the rest of the day when we would be better off sleeping.
So why prioritize six to eight hours to sleep over all the other things we could be doing? The benefits of getting quality sleep are shown by research to have big impacts on our bodies as well as our minds.
Sleep deprivation can impact our ability to focus and impair memory recall. When we are tired we can become more easily confused and have challenges with decision making. Lacking sleep can lead to challenges with mood too. Irritability, difficulty coping with stress and feeling down are some of the ways this can show up.
Not having the sleep we need can also impact other behaviors that are supportive of our mental well-being. For example, sleep deprivation can cause us to crave sugar and caffeine for an energy boost. The resulting energy highs and lows can negatively impact our mood and emotional resiliency. Likewise, fatigue causes us to want to be sedentary. However, moving our bodies during our waking hours is known to provide a buffer for stress. Exercise also improves emotional and mental health.
Sleep serves a very important role in our mental well-being and is worth making a priority. To learn more about the link between sleep and the mind, visit the following articles:
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Promote Enrich, a new financial well-being tool
Enrich is a web-based financial education platform that provides personalized, interactive finance courses available to you, 24/7.
If you have not done so already, we encourage you to create an account, take the "Check-Up" and "Money Personality" assessments, and explore the online articles, videos, and financial courses available.
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Please note: The information you share in Enrich is confidential - WashU never receives any of your personal financial information.
Wellness Champions can request a brief demostration of the Enrich platform for your next staff meeting. Email wellnessconnection@wustl.edu with your preferred date(s).
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Schedule your annual health screening!
Each calendar year, benefits-eligible employees qualify for a free health screening, and once complete, receive a $50 gift card. Your health screening includes the following tests: blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index and cholesterol. At this time, onsite events are available on the Danforth, School of Medicine and Satellite Campuses. View our FAQs for more information Take Action: Email this flyer to your colleagues to encourage their participation.
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Upcoming Onsite Annual Health Screening Events:
- Tuesday, Oct. 10 at the Take Care Health Fair | 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. | Sumers Rec Center, 330 N. Big Bend Blvd
- Friday, Nov. 3 | 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. | EPNEC - Great Rooms A & B, 320 S. Euclid Ave.
- Thursday, Nov. 16 | 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. | Danforth University Center (DUC), Room 276, 6475 Forsyth Blvd.
Download Physician Form: If you have an upcoming appointment with your physician, you can download this form and have your doctor complete the form then fax it back to the vendor. Please allow up to two weeks from the time your physician submits your form for your results to be posted on the Health Advocate portal. Your physician form must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2023 to count towards this calendar year and to earn the 2023 incentive.
Find a LabCorp Location: Use this option to locate and schedule an appointment at a LabCorp location most convenient for you. LabCorp will complete your screening and send the results to Health Advocate
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| HR WELL-BEING TEAM SPOTLIGHT
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Meet Ellen Levine, senior consultant of organization DevelopmentEllen has over 30 years of leadership experience in public and private corporations, higher education, and organizational consulting. She has led efforts in leadership and organization development, executive coaching, design and delivery of training solutions, strategic planning, change management, team building, employee engagement, equity, inclusion, and diversity (EID) initiatives, and human resource functions.
Ellen uses a variety of assessment tools to provide individuals and groups insight for growth. These include the Myer Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)-qualified, Profilor 360, CliftonStrengths, the Leadership Effectiveness Assessment, Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. She holds a Master of Education with an emphasis in counseling psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology.
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HR Well-being is an employee health initiative that, in partnership with Washington University experts, offers opportunities for employees to improve their physical and emotional well-being. This initiative focuses on developing evidence-based programs and making personal connections to provide employees with valuable and fun experiences that improve their health. We aim to foster a culture that prioritizes employee health and well-being as integral to the mission of teaching, research, and patient care, and create an environment where the healthier choice is the easiest choice; where employees are empowered to choose wellness.
WashU Wellness Champions help us understand the needs within different work environments, promote the importance of personal health, and encourage their coworkers to engage in wellness program offerings.
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