April 1, 2015 | SharkAdmin Recently Alamo Colleges received the results of the Personnel Assessment of the College Environment or PACE survey – an instrument designed and nationally normed to measure the employee climate by examining satisfaction and productivity as compared to peer-sized community colleges. The goal every year is to continually improve in an effort to become a more collaborative system of leadership, also referred to as System 4. The creators of PACE say this is the ideal climate because it produces better institutional results in terms of productivity, job satisfaction, communication, and overall organizational effectiveness. I’m encouraged with our most recent outcomes which noted that NVC was just four-tenths of a points from reaching that System 4 status with an overall score of 3.96. Our sister college to the south, Palo Alto, was the only college in the district to reach a 4.0. To see the full report, click on the link: [file 1]. On the PACE scale, if a college achieves a comprehensive score between 3.0 to 3.9, it is categorized as having a consultative leadership style. A comprehensive score between 4.0 to 5.0 places a college in a collaborative leadership style range. The last time NVC achieved a comprehensive score of 4.0, was in 2012. The other two leadership systems or style categories are competitive and coercive (a score of 2.9 and below). NVC scored above a 4.0 in three out of the four climate factors that help determine the overall score. Those areas were teamwork, supervisory relationships and being student focus. The only category NVC was under 4.0 was in institutional structure, with a score of 3.68. For example, some questions asked in the student focus category included: Do you feel your job is relevant to the college’s mission? And the extent in which student needs are central to what we do. Under institutional structure, some of the questions focused on the extent to which you feel you have advancement in the organization; and how well the organization promotes diversity in the workplace. Looking ahead, our goal is to continue to improve our college climate and achieve a comprehensive scoreabove a 4.0. How do we do this? By being collaborative which means involving employees in the decision-making process, improving communication, setting goals (WIGS), improving methods and assessing progress toward goals. While the PACE report may not give us all the answers to improve the employee climate, it’s a good benchmark to help us in planning for the future.
