by CUPA-HR | April 14, 2025
Editor’s Note: This is the conclusion of a three-part series by Maureen De Armond, chief human resources officer at Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, on adapting during changing times. The series begins with Adapting for Survival and Adapting With Purpose.
In Robert Pirsig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” the concept the main character — a professor — struggled with was identifying the essence of quality. Why did brilliant students sometimes turn in average work? How could average students sometimes produce brilliant work? He grappled with this riddle to the point of a breakdown, eventually concluding that the essence of quality is caring.
If you want something to be good, you must do it with care. This is a similar answer to the question, “Why did grandma’s cookies taste so good?” The answer is because she made them with love.
While caring is difficult to quantify, measure or predict, we know it when we see it, feel it and are on the receiving end of it. The employees we serve experience the same thing. As the saying goes, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
There is no state or federal law, no executive order, no external action that can regulate — let alone limit — our ability to care about the work we do and the people we support. At the local level, on our campuses, in our offices and during face-to-face interactions, we are still fully empowered to serve with compassion, empathy and care. People will notice.
Begin With Listening
There are likely many employee engagement and retention efforts that can be explored or revived that can help offset some of the workplace angst, increase HR’s visibility, and help the HR team feel like they are contributing in a meaningful way.
While below is a high-level list of ideas, HR teams should start by consulting with campus stakeholders. What would they love to see HR spend time and energy on? How can HR support them during these times of change and uncertainty?
Institutional branches of shared governance may have ideas. Include student affairs, academic affairs, affinity groups, deans and department heads, and others. With summer approaching, a pulse survey or a few focus groups may be helpful tools to collect the voice of campus customers and let their responses inform HR’s plan for the fall.
Some ideas to ponder:
- Expand your emphasis on well-being and mental health. Offer more trainings, partner with campus experts, summarize and package benefits, and dig into your EAP provider’s resources to maximize that benefit.
- Renew campus partnerships and collaborations in organizing employee events, such as bite-size topics for casual lunch and learns, book clubs, wellness events, and events that are just for fun and community-building (bingo, puzzles, drawing, afternoon walks, friendship bracelets, adult recess, etc.).
- Consider offering more soft-skill trainings, with input from your campus stakeholders on topics. These can include emotional intelligence, navigating change, stress management and mindfulness.
- Make a special effort to seek out ways to provide service to the institution, including attending student events, supporting student career services, and volunteering to be guest speakers in classes or student clubs.
- Get to some of those “nice to have” ideas. It may be time to finally prioritize them: create a mentoring program, assign buddies for new hires, update onboarding materials, reimagine new employee orientation.
- Tap into your campus experts who may also be hungry to contribute through informal brown bag lunch conversations, passion projects or hobbies. Pulling campus experts in engages them, acknowledges their talents and expertise, and demonstrates respect. These events also build community.
- Offer community service leave, or explore community service projects employees can participate in. If you already offer this benefit, promote it.
These ideas aren’t new or revolutionary, and they won’t solve all your problems or undo damage. But HR can make a difference when we are visible, caring and thoughtful in trying to engage all members of campus. Make a collaborative effort to contribute in a positive way — it matters.
Make Time to Rest
“When you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” – Banksy
Helpers often tend to everyone else first and themselves last. Take care of yourself. Take inventory of what you need to rest and recharge. Make time to do the following:
- Work with your team as soon as possible to hammer out rest days throughout the next year. Everyone can have days blocked off for intentional self-care.
- Check on your team’s leave balances and usage if you are in a leadership position. You likely have people who do not take nearly enough time off. They may benefit from some encouragement to do so.
- Lean into the HR community when you need the extra support, as many of us did during the pandemic. A community of helpers is a powerful force. CUPA-HR is an excellent place to connect with higher ed HR colleagues.
Even though we are in boats of differing sizes, equipped with varying resources, a common storm binds us. I choose to find solace in Maya Angelou’s timeless wisdom. “Every storm runs out of rain,” she once said. We can make it through.
Related CUPA-HR Resources
Managing Stress and Self-Care: “No” Is a Complete Sentence — This highly rated webinar shows how and why setting boundaries is critical to thriving.
Mental Health Toolkit — This HR toolkit includes resources on sustaining mental health programs on campus and addressing problems like burnout.
Trauma-Informed Leadership for Higher Education — This webinar explores how to develop a supportive leadership style and how to create a culture where team members can depend on each other for support during times of hardship.
