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Beginning April 11, the Institute will once again deploy the ɫ���� Culture Survey to allow faculty and staff to share their experiences, and will use the results to gather comparative insights about whether, and how, Tech’s culture has changed during the past year. The survey will take no more than 10 to 15 minutes, and all responses will remain anonymous. It will be accessible until the close of business on Friday, April 28.

“I encourage all faculty and staff to complete the survey to ensure that their voices are heard. The results of the survey will be used to shape our actions and priorities for the 2023-2024 academic year,” said Frank Neville, senior vice president for Strategic Initiatives and chief of staff.

Results from last year’s survey were used to identify priority actions for Tech’s cultural strengthening initiative, also known as L.O.V.E. GT, which seeks to ensure that are at the heart of our organizational culture and are reflected in how we deliver on our mission, pursue our vision, and achieve our goals.

L.O.V.E. GT operates in three dimensions: leadership, engagement, and systems. The leadership component seeks to train and equip leaders to “lead by example” in living our values every day. The engagement effort is focused on communication and connecting values to the fabric of our daily work. The systems dimension works to ensure that internal policies, practices, and procedures reflect ɫ����’s values.

Progress Across the Institute

Actions taken over the past year include:

Leadership

1. Leadership 360 Feedback and Development — We have rolled out a 360 assessment for Institute leaders to receive feedback from institutional peers, direct reports, supervisors, and others while also completing a self-evaluation to understand what leadership practices are working well and potential areas of growth.

2. Internal Coaching Cadre — We have expanded access to coaching services by building capacity through training ɫ���� staff and contracting with external vendors.

3. Leadership Competency Model — We have defined the competencies expected of leaders as we rely on them to model our values and practice them consistently.

4. Workshops — More than 100 leaders engaged in workshops (Psychological Safety and Leading Congruently) that provided tools and strategies to align their own practices and behaviors with the Institute’s values.  

Engagement 

1. ɫ���� Culture Survey and Action Planning - We assessed the experience of students, faculty, and staff through the inaugural survey and actively engaged several units in action planning efforts to improve culture.

2. Culture Councils — Five Staff Culture Advisory Councils were created across the administrative, research, and academic units in order to promote healthy and productive cultures.

3. GT Cares Week — We launched the first-ever “L.O.V.E. GT Day” during the inaugural GT Cares Week, engaging more than 600 faculty, staff, and students in celebration of our values.  

4. Employer Branding — A new social media campaign has been launched, featuring testimonials and videos to amplify ɫ����’s brand as an employer of choice.  

Systems  

1. Performance Management — We have revised the performance management process to make the values a prominent part of every step: self-assessments, performance feedback, and goal setting. 

2. Onboarding — We have embedded the new leadership competency model into the recruiting and orientation processes for leadership roles.

3. President’s Goals — The President’s FY23 goals include 11 items specific to improving our culture.

4. Recognition — We have begun to integrate the Institute values into recognition and awards.

What Is Next?

In addition to the ɫ���� Culture Survey, here are a few of the key actions planned for L.O.V.E. GT in the coming months:

1. Incorporate the newly developed ɫ���� leadership competencies into next year’s performance management cycle.

2. Continue to celebrate and recognize our community through the annual staff and faculty awards, peer-to-peer recognition, and GT Cares Week.

3. Deploy a toolkit to equip the community with resources to understand, recognize, and identify how ɫ����’s values can be implemented into daily practices and behaviors.

More broadly, faculty and staff are actively working to improve their culture in numerous efforts. To nurture community well-being, some leaders are participating in, and encouraging employees to attend, campus wellness events, workshops, and programs to improve holistic well-being. Some teams are working to improve employee well-being by increasing internal communication and fostering team development.

“Our culture is what we make of it. Through the strategic planning process as a community we identified the values that we embraced and to which we aspired. It’s now up to all of us to be active participants in shaping our culture by striving to Live Our Values Every Day,” said Neville.

To learn more or become involved in L.O.V.E. GT, contact Byron Fitch (byron.fitch@consulting.gatech.edu) or Kendra Lewis-Strickland (klewis-strickland@consulting.gatech.edu).