Unit climate assessments provide confidential, influential feedback

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jamie L. Coggan
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Could your unit use a morale boost? Would you like to see some improvements in your workplace? Your opinion can be heard.

Unit Climate Assessments are voluntary surveys offered by the 355th Fighter Wing Military Equal Opportunity office here. They're used to provide feedback to the commander on issues that may impact the unit's human relations and general effectiveness. The survey is confidential so respondents can be honestly critical without fear of retribution.

"It is like an additional management tool to assess how thing are going," said Tech. Sgt. Regina Harris of MEO.

Sergeant Harris said MEO usually recommends UCAs be conducted about six months after a change of command and every two years thereafter.

The feedback, which covers six broad areas of workplace issues, is gathered in the form of an online survey sent to unit members' work e-mail accounts.

The survey is a series of specific statements about the workcenter; the respondent is asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with each statement. They can answer on a 1-through-7 rating scale, ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree." There's also a space for a personal comment after each categorized section.

Forty of the survey's statements are generated at the Air Force's Major Command headquarters; unit commanders are able to add up to 10 additional statements tailored to the squadron's specific needs.

The first section covers "Cohesion and Pride," which analyzes acceptance in the local community, pride in the work environment, working relationship between military and civilian members and comfort in participating in unit activities.

The next section is titled "Motivation and Morale," and it features statements like "I am recognized for doing a good job." Responses in this area address work-related stress, overall morale in the unit, influence of senior leadership on unit members, fairness in administering punishment, favoritism and individual recognition.

The "Supervisory Support" part of the survey evaluates how Airmen feel about communication between themselves and their supervisors, adequacy of training to perform assigned tasks and timeliness of feedback and mentoring.

Any gender- or race-based favoritism issues are covered in the "Perceived Discrimination" section. The next block of questions is titled "Overt Discriminatory Behaviors," and it seeks feedback regarding actual instances sexual harassment, in addition to inappropriate racial, sexual and religious comments within the duty section.

The "Command Equal Opportunity" policy section, addresses the clarity of the unit commander's policy on sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination without fear of reprisal.

The MEO office is the releasing authority of the UCA report, and the unit commander retains the original copy. Once the surveys are evaluated, the MEO staff makes recommendations to the commander on what needs to be changed or improved upon based on a review of the results.

The final report is an internal For Official Use Only management document and is not released to anyone without a demonstrated need to know.

Master Sgt. Ricky Collins, an MEO advisor here, said UCAs can be a catalyst for positive change in a workplace. "Commanders take it seriously and are inclined to act on our feedback," he said.