The NWU is like no other university and our culture should reflect that uniqueness and the values we share.

 

 

FOCUS ON

In this way,
we will all benefit

People and Culture has joined forces with Student Life to establish what the current culture of the NWU is so that we can start working towards a shared organisational culture.

This is the purpose of The NWU Way project, which will use 60 focus groups to engage staff and students across the three campuses on how they perceive the current NWU culture.

 

To find out what The NWU Way is and why it is important for staff and students to participate in the focus groups, eish! spoke to Reitumetse Machaba, senior organisational development specialist and project manager for The NWU Way.

 

Q: What is The NWU Way project all about?

A: As you know, our dream is to be an internationally recognised university in Africa, distinguished for engaged scholarship, social responsiveness and an ethic of care. To realise this dream, we are working hard on actualising our strategy, which aims to transform and position the NWU as a unitary institution of superior academic excellence, with a commitment to social justice.

 

As part of this journey, we need to create a shared organisational culture that will support our strategy. The NWU Way is a staff and student culture review that seeks to align both the staff and student culture to the university strategy.

 

Q: Who are the focus groups aimed at?

A: This project is aimed at all employees, comprising 70% permanent staff and 30% fixed-term and contract employees, and students across the university in residences and off campus.

 

Q: What do you want to accomplish with this project?

A: There are a number of things we would like to achieve, but the most important is to accurately determine and understand the prevailing NWU culture.

 

We aim to facilitate deep conversations around the desirability and undesirability of specific elements of the culture and subcultures.

 

Q: Why should staff and students participate?

A: If we are to create a shared culture, we need to ensure that everyone in the NWU community has the opportunity to have their voices heard.

 

Ultimately, every staff member and student should be aligned behind a set of values, norms and everyday behaviours. This will help us to all collectively live The NWU Way and ensure that the culture supports the university’s strategy. Please make your voice heard by giving your input and sharing your experiences of the NWU.

 

Reitumetse Machaba from People and Culture is the project manager for The NWU Way.