Every new employee should feel excited, welcomed, and connected to our university. Enter Ready, Set, Connect! a new onboarding program reserved for new employees who have been with the university for approximately two to eight months.
Ready, Set, Connect! took place on Tuesday, June 28 in the Student Union. The event was focused on letting new employees connect with Human Resources, connect with campus partners, connect with colleagues from across campus, and reconnect to our Values, Mission, and Strategic Vision. The day was full of fun and learning how to truly live out “Vol is a Verb.”
Ready, Set, Connect! was strategically designed to be interactive, letting attendees get to know one another through an ice-breaker activity, “Questions from a Lunchbox.” The day also consisted of an inspirational welcome from Tyvi Small, Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Engagement, group activities, and a campus partner fair.
“The feedback that we had gotten from past events was the attendees wanted more interaction with each other” said Darrell Easley, Director, Human Resources. From this feedback, the planning committee created three table topics around civility/community initiatives, “Empower, Advance, Commit”, and the Vol Goals from our Strategic Vision. A question prompt was provided for each topic and an opportunity for table groups to reflect and discuss each topic. After each topic, attendees stood up and moved to a different table where they met new colleagues and discussed the question prompt for the next topic.
After the table topics, attendees were invited to participate in a campus partner fair where attendees got to learn from and connect with approximately 20 different campus partners. This was a great time to see how to get involved or learn what the Office of Ombuds Services is all about! And there was plenty of swag to go around!
Interested in learning more about Ready, Set, Connect!? Reach out to hr@utk.edu.