Since its launch in 2020, UofL’s Employee Success Center has played a pivotal role in strengthening and encouraging connection among employees across the university. The center hosts learning cafes, coaching circles, workshops, mentoring programs and more to support employee engagement and growth.
For its dedication to empowering employees across the university, the Employee Success Center was given the HR Innovation Award from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). The award honors transformative thinking in higher education human resources, recognizing a new and innovative HR team, project or program that resulted in significant and ongoing organizational change within an institution.
“Receiving this award is such an honor to the Employee Success Center team,” said Laura McDaniels, interim director of the Employee Success Center. “It highlights our dedication and the thoughtful work that we put into building programs that encourage connection and engagement across campus.”
The Employee Success Center fosters that engaged and growth-oriented culture at UofL with several forward-thinking initiatives, such as a year-long onboarding process designed to help new employees integrate more fully into university life, leadership development, mentoring and career guidance for all employee groups, along with new and innovative recognition programs.
The center also received recognition earlier this year from the Chronicle of Higher Education for its efforts to support and recognize employees through its people-centered initiatives, including new staff awards and CARDGrams, university-themed e-cards designed to make daily employee recognition simple, accessible and meaningful. Over 7,500 e-cards have been sent in recognition of colleagues since CARDGrams launched. Additionally, 95% of employees who participated in career coaching sessions reported a stronger sense of belonging.
“These recognitions and successes inspire us to continue creating experiences that strengthen our university community,” McDaniels said.
