This month, the Chronicle of Higher Education released a study called “Great Colleges to Work For.”
Guess what?
GW didn’t make the list.
Employee satisfaction should be a top priority. For a university to succeed to its full potential, it has to be a place where senior leaders communicate their long term visions and where faculty and administrators feel . though they can grow.
GW should also be a place where employees love to work.
The data, taken from 294 institutions of higher learning, gathered almost 47,000 responses nationwide from faculty and administrators according to the Chronicle’s website. It focused largely on “individuals’ evaluations of their institutions,” allowing employees to rate their respective institutions across 12 categories, including job satisfaction, confidence in senior leadership, teaching environment and professional/career-development programs.
It directly poses the question – do you like where you work?
Of the 103 colleges and universities that made the list of top schools, several were institutions similar to GW, such as George Mason University, the University of Southern California, the University of Notre Dame, Duke University and the University of Michigan – all excellent research universities.
In July, The Hatchet reported that three top undergraduate administrators from within the GW School of Business stepped down. These departures suggest that employee turnover might be something the University has to take more seriously.
It’s no secret GW is undergoing major changes, with construction engulfing campus.
But greatness is hard to achieve when employees and faculty don’t have total confidence in University leaders and aren’t fully satisfied with their jobs. GW needs its administrators and faculty to believe in its vision, feel appreciated and see the school as a place where they can build their careers.
Last spring, a faculty survey revealed the lack of confidence professors had in Columbian College of Arts and Sciences Dean Peg Barratt. She will step down from her position in May 2013. They noted frustration with the dean’s lack of vision and leadership for the University’s largest school. I can’t help but think that the fact GW did not make the Chronicle’s list coincides with the discontent that faculty expressed last spring with the CCAS dean. Leaders and managers must have a clear vision for the future and the ability to communicate it to others.
When asked what the University would be doing to improve its employee relations, Vice President of Human Resources Sabrina Ellis said GW hopes to make the list in the future.
“I think that our challenge is going to be to…help our new employees recognize why the people who are here love GW so much. That really is one of the keys things I think we’re going to be working on as time goes forward,” she said.
But if employees love working here so much, then why didn’t GW rank higher in the survey? I don’t doubt there are people at GW who truly love their jobs, but if the University wants to be known as a worthwhile employer, it must make its employees a top priority. This is one survey GW cannot afford to ignore.
Patrick Rochelle, a senior majoring in english, is The Hatchet’s opinions editor.
