This is us: all people who work and learn at UMC Utrecht. 16,000 people with the same mission: creating the healthcare of the future. Care in which every person counts.

Everything stands or falls with our behavior. Patients, students, staff members and society must be able to trust our commitment, integrity and goodwill. Together, we create an environment in which we make this happen. A pleasant and safe place where we are honest with each other and bring out the best in each other. But that’s easier said than done.

We look at ourselves

At UMC Utrecht we have agreements on how we treat each other, but even so things still go wrong sometimes. From 2019, extensive research was carried out by various departments into how staff members and students perceive us, at work and during their training. Although most of us consider UMC Utrecht a nice place to work and learn, it also became clear that this is not the case for everyone. Some of us do not see the workplace as open or encouraging, some do not feel free to speak up, or experience undesirable behavior. Nobody wants it to happen, but still it does. Sometimes it is not possible to say anything about it, we (unconsciously) participate in it or we experience it ourselves. We must and can do better. Together we can change this.

What is our objective?

This is us belongs to all of us and is for all of us. To create the healthcare of the future, we must continue to learn, reimagine ourselves and adjust to a changing world. That requires a flexible attitude: we must be open to new ideas, have the courage to try things, continue to ask questions, challenge each other and provide feedback. We can only do this if the environment we create enables us to do this. A place where everyone is valued and feels free to speak up. Together, we are actively working on an open, socially safe, encouraging and inclusive working and learning environment. An environment where everyone feels at ease and safe. We are building a place that is about being honest, clear and attentive so that we can learn from each other and take each other to great heights.

How do we do this?

Together we put important topics on the agenda to discuss with each other and discover what we are proud of and what we want to get better at. We invite everyone to become the best version of themselves, to help each other and to raise issues that we cannot tolerate. By asking each other questions and listening to experiences, wishes and needs, we learn from each other. That will help us make new or different choices. We offer different tools to help you get started.. We have combined these in toolkits. We are not only looking inward at ourselves, but also at other organizations. We look at where knowledge and solutions are lacking, so that we can add these. In addition, we explain in simple steps where you can go to discuss or report inappropriate behavior, where you can go if someone has confided in you and where you can go if you are accused of something. We also tell you who or what can help you.

What can you expect?

One by one we highlight important topics that will show up in the places where we work and learn. Based on a number of statements, we ask everyone to respond, so that we can gain an even better idea of what is going on. In addition, we will enter into an active dialogue with each other. One-on-one, in teams, in a study context or in organized dialogue meetings. This will tell us what people think is important when it comes to working together and learning together, what we already have to offer, what we still have to do and how we can continue to work on this. It helps us create insight in the skills we need and offers opportunities for developing them.

Improving by learning

This is us is belongs to all of us and is for all of us. Together toward a more open, socially safe, encouraging and inclusive working and learning environment. But, unfortunately, things won’t change for the better overnight. We cannot do everything all at once, and the things we will do, might not go right first time around. Big changes start with small steps. Everyone joins in.

Managers, supervisors and lecturers are encouraged and supported to lead by example. We lower the threshold for everyone to make undesirable behavior a subject of discussion. As support staff we offer help where necessary and we continue to proactively collect signals of undesirable behavior in order to be able to take preventive measures.

With the work perception survey and questionnaires among students, we check how people perceive our work and study program: What issues do we encounter? How do we deal with that? What should we, as an organization, do better? How can we best handle that? We will immediately start working on this by expanding the toolkits and developing concrete tools and training courses that offer perspectives for action. Together we will get better all the time.

Contact

This is us is a collaborative effort of the Education Center, Marketing and Communication and Human Resources departments, supported by consultative bodies, advisory bodies and focus groups.

We would appreciate your contributions. Because This is us is of and for us all. Email your questions and suggestions to ditzijnwij@umcutrecht.nl. We will respond as soon as possible, but always within a week.

We are working on This is us