4R3 Leadership Results

• Summary results of measures (include tables and figures when possible)
• Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarks
• Interpretation of results and insights gained

Summary Results of Measures AND Comparison of Results with Internal Targets and External Benchmarks AND Insight Gained

Overall, leadership is about clear, positive communication and direction that will move the Institute toward fulfilling its mission.

Communication: Effectively communicating and listening within an Institute provides the necessary dialogue for continuous improvement; therefore, building a solid foundation of shared communication is important.  It starts with the clear communication of job responsibilities (Table 4R3.1). In 2016, Southeast Tech reached its target level of 3.75, an increase of +.20 from 2014.  While meeting the national mean is significant, continuing that level will indicate a sustainable change.

An effective leader will listen to others and use their ideas for improvement.  Therefore, it is important for supervisors to pay attention to employee ideas and concerns.  Southeast Tech has made strides in this area, moving up +.51 from 2014 to 2016 and just shy of the Institute’s target.

Responses regarding effective lines of communication levels varies according to those involved in the communications - Department to Department, Faculty to Administration, Staff to Administration (Table 4R3.3).  Southeast Tech has made gains in all these levels, even moving from below 90% of target to within 90% of target for department to department communications. In fact, the Institute is within +.09 and +.08 of reaching the target level for faculty and staff, respectively.

Communication within departments must be maintained at regular intervals to assure that the planning and coordinating of duties occurs and is effective.  Therefore, it is the responsibility of leadership to assure that department meetings are held frequently.  Table 4R3.4 shows Institutional growth in this area, moving from 3.65 to 4.01 (2014 to 2016). More importantly, the Institute is now at its target. 

To assure that all employees are moving in the same direction and toward a common goal, administrators must share information regularly with employees (Table 4R3.5). In 2014, Southeast Tech scored 2.92, which was -.22 below target. Southeast Tech closed that gap to within -.12 in 2016.   

Communication Insights Gained: While the movement in communication scores from 2014 to 2016 have been positive in all the surveyed areas, Southeast Tech recognizes that it is still below its target level. The Institute also recognizes that recent changes at the state level (new state-level governance under a separate Technical Institute Board beginning July 1, 2017) and local level (removal of all negotiated agreements as required by the state beginning July 1, 2017) presents new challenges for the Institute.  Because these changes are significant and have a huge impact on the Institution, it is imperative that the Institute assure that positive, frequent and informational communications continue and increase. 

Direction: Having a clear sense of direction that will lead the Institute forward is critical.  Therefore, gauging employee perceptions regarding leadership direction can help the Institute assure that all employees are also moving in a similar direction.  While communication levels have improved from 2014 to 2016, Institutional leadership’s clear sense of purpose score fell from 3.01 (2014) to 2.76 (2016), a reduction of -.25. With both measures below 90% of the target, this indicates an area that Southeast Tech can clearly identify for improvement.

Direction Insights Gained: Southeast Tech recognized after the 2014 measurement that the Institute needed to establish a clearer Institute direction. The initial response was to establish new priority goals and stronger direct measures for the priorities, and then begin the process of developing a new Strategic Plan that incorporated the ideas of all Institutional stakeholder groups. The Institute believes that with the new Strategic Plan, this measure will improve.