The second time’s a charm for Dalhousie Information Technology Services (ITS), winner of the 2014 Healthy Workplace Award.
The department becomes the first to win the award twice, having previously been recognized in 2012.
Dwight Fischer, assistant vice-president of ITS, gets to display a healthy grin. “I love this award,” says Fischer. “ITS staff work hard in a lot of areas and often under significant stress. But we also know how to play and balance the work with healthy lifestyles and activities. It’s part of ITS culture.”
From ITS’ boot camps and decathlons, Walktober participants and their 30-year tradition of holding a ring toss tournament, the breadth of activity across the selection criteria is impressive. Fischer, a year-round cyclist and commuter, leads by example and the department has numerous champions who take on leadership roles to organize activities that speak to their individual passions.
The Healthy Workplace Collaborative selects the winner of this award each year and was impressed by the commitment to workplace health across the five departments nominated.
Janice MacInnis, manager of organizational health, says her favourite meeting of the year is the selection of the winner of this award.
“It recognizes the many facets of wellness — the intricacy of issues that contribute to well-being — and highlights the influence that the workplace has on both employee health and the health of our organization,” she explains.
“There is an increasingly clear connection between ‘well-being’ and ‘performance.’ This is not ‘nice to do’ work; it is core to the way we need to work together to create a place where people can do their best and be their best.”
Also nominated were: Facilities Management (co-winner 2013), Schulich School of Law, University Libraries (co-winner 2013), and the University Secretariat. Watch Today@Dal in the coming weeks for more on how these areas of Dalhousie have stepped up to enhance the health and workplace experience of their colleagues.
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