Presentation to the 14th Annual Compliance and Ethics Institute

October 2015Ann D. E. Fraser, PhD

Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution DirectorateIntegrity and Redress Secretariat

RDIMS# 6578221

The Ethical Climate Survey: AFirst Timer’s Lessons Learned

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is…

Canada’s largest science-based regulatory federal agency:

Approximately 7000 employees (medium in size)4 Areas + NCR (National Capital Region) (nation

wide)18 regional offices185 field offices485 offices in non govt. establishments13 laboratories

Committed to safeguarding food, animals and plants, which contributes to enhancing the health and well-being of Canada’s people, environment and economy.

Responsible for 13 federal statutes and 38 sets of regulations.

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“Building on past performance, the Agency’s vision is to establish itself as a values-based organization that fosters continued public confidence in its ability to deliver its mandate.”*

* CFIA’s Values and Ethics Strategy: A Framework for Ethical Decision Making (2008, last updated 2015)

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But what is a Values-Based Organization (VBO)?

A VBO is one where the values are conscious, shared and lived; the values are not just a “words on the wall”, they are ‘embodied’ in employee behaviours.

A VBO is one where the values govern all decision making within the organization, they are ‘embedded’.

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Where we are now… Where we are evolving to…

Corporate values

Valuesbased organization

ideals thathelp us setpriorities and guide behaviour asindividuals

touchstones forhow we operateand do businessas an organization

culture and leadershipprinciples as guidelinesfor how we work togetherto serve Canadians

Individual values

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The Benefits of Being a VBO*

• Promotes a strong public image and better relations with stakeholders, partners and others;• Results in better decision making;• Results in a stronger organizational culture;• Helps staff act in a consistent manner in difficult situations;• Keeps morale high during periods of change;• Cultivates strong teamwork and productivity;• Ensures the continuity and sustainability of efforts in

values and ethics;• Increases awareness and understanding of ethical

problems; and,• Ensures that policies and procedures adhere to high moral standards.

*Carter McNamara, “Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for Managers http://www.managementhelp.org/ethics/ethxgde/htm

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10 key initiatives/mechanisms which help create and maintain a VBO

1. Values and Ethics (V&E) Strategy2. Statement of Values and appropriate

Codes/Policies3. V&E Training/Awareness Building4. Ongoing Ethical Dialogue5. Conflict of Interest (COI) Program6. Ethical Wellness Report 7. Ethical Climate Survey 8. Values and Ethics Leadership Team (VELT)9. Ethical Risk Profiles (ERP)10.Process for Internal Disclosure of Wrongdoing

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Some Definitions and Background

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Culture: set of enduring and underlying assumptions and norms that determine how things are actually done in the organization. The classic, “the way we do things around here”.

Ethical Culture/Climate: shared perceptions of what ethically correct behaviour is and how ethical issues should be handled within an organization (eg. Report them? Ignore them? Follow the rules to the T? Bend the rules?).

In other words Ethical Culture…

“…is the extent to which an organization regards its values. Strong ethical cultures make doing what is right a priority. Ethical culture is often the unwritten code by which employees learn what they should think and do”*

*Ethical Culture Building: A Modern Business Imperative, Research Report, ERC

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“Organizations are urged to make improving their ethical cultures a priority because focussing on ethics isn’t just about doing the right thing or being seen to do the right thing. It is a fundamental aspect of good management practices”*

*Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), NSW, Australia

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Step One – Getting the Initial Go-Ahead

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Why Measure CFIA’s Ethical Culture/Climate?

• It’s good business practice

• It’s recognized as important:

Management Accountability FrameworkDepartment and Agency Audit CommitteePublic Servants Disclosure Protection ActFederal Accountability Act

• It’s CFIA’s desire and commitment to create and maintain a values-based organization

• It’s the right thing to do

Why Measure CFIA’s Ethical Culture/Climate?

To know and to understand what employees believe about the ethics of the organization

To develop appropriate measures and programs to address what you learn and understand

To monitor the effectiveness of these measures and programs

To guarantee (enhance?) compliance To satisfy stakeholders and to comply with

laws and regulations

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“Measuring integrity will provide you with insight on the employees’ perception to what extent undesirable behaviour takes place, what their attitude to such behavior is and what leads employees into behaving desirably or undesirably in the negative alternative.”*

*Measuring Ethical Climate with the KPMG Integrity Thermometer, KPMG,

2015

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Ways of Measuring Ethical Culture/Climate

Surveys • Ethical Climate Survey (ECS)• Pulse Survey• Public Service Employee Survey• Focus Groups

Reporting• Ethical Wellness Report• Integrated Dashboard• HR Trends Report

Performance Agreements• Employee Performance Feedback Review• Employee Independent Learning Plans• Performance Management Program

Training• Encouraging participation at all-levels within the

Agency (mini focus groups)• Feedback and follow-up with employees on training

program

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“…surveys clearly show they are the most important indicators of business performance.  In other words, surveys are not an option, they are critical business intelligence tools.“*

*Kyle Lagunas (Article: “Employee Engagement: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and Why It Matters”)

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Surveys: Pulse & Ethical Climate

Pulse Surveys are surveys conducted every four or six months to a year to allow managers to track trends in the way staff view the organisation.

They are commonly used to focus on single, or a smaller number of statistics and/or issues that are indicative of the current health of an organization; they may be targeted to a specific group of employees or randomly selected employees.

Ethical Climate Surveys are conducted annually or every two years and are used to measure the internal ethical climate, or general feel of how people view their work, their co-workers, supervisors, senior leaders, and the organization.

They are commonly more expansive including all employees; they are a useful tool for providing Management with a snapshot of the overall ethical well-being of the organization.

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Ethical Climate Survey (Purpose)

The ECS aims to obtain information from all CFIA employees about the following factors which have been found to affect the ethical culture of organizations:

• Job satisfaction and commitment to the organization• Attitudes about the perceived values and behaviours

of senior management• Attitudes about perceived values and behaviour of

colleagues and direct supervisor/management• The perceived emphasis that the organization places

on ethical behaviour• Trust and respect for supervisors, colleagues, senior

management• Perceptions about the relationship between

personal and organizational values

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The Ethical Climate Survey….

• is a survey of CFIA employee perceptions of how their workplace functions

• is a survey about how employees feel and what employees think about their organization and about exploring areas in which it can improve

• is a direct measure of employee engagement

• is key to understanding the drivers of proper ethical conduct in our Agency’s business practices

• is the right thing to do!!

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Step Two – What to ask, What to ask?

Two Pronged Approach to Determine Questions

1. Drew on the excellent work of others (eg. DND, Corrections Canada, HRSDC, Health Canada).

2. Asked the employees themselves:

► Town hall sessions (during V&E training) with employees at all levels conducted across all Areas. ► 500+ employees participated in round one, the purpose of which was to collect raw data on the issues affecting them in order to formulate questions that mattered to them.► 300+ employees participated in round two, the purpose of which was to validate the formulated questions – were they what the employees cared about?

Employees recognized, and strongly supported, the need for an ethical climate survey to be carried out.

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Our SurveyComprised of five sections:

1.Statements related to the employee

2.Employee’s perceptions of their supervisor/manager

3.Employee’s perceptions of their senior management (defined) and the organization overall

4.Ranking of ongoing ethical issues employees felt needed to be addressed (identified in Town Halls)

5.Limited demographic data (but obviously not limited enough even though voluntary)

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Our Survey, cont’d

► Missing questions – employee’s perceptions of their peers

► First 4 sections followed by opportunity for written comments

► Tested/piloted during Town Halls and with our Values and Ethics Leadership team and questions adjusted accordingly

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Step Three – Getting the Final Go-Ahead

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Consult with Values and Ethics Leadership Team (VELT)

► for their final input► so they could spread the word/sensitise management and employees

Present for Senior Management Committee approval

►requested reduction in number of questions►requested increased focus on the ethics of managers and senior leadership

Step Four – Implement/Launch

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Develop appropriate survey tool (ie: Fluid Survey) for CFIA based on Agency best practices and other information available within CFIA.

► data collected on Fluid Survey’s secured server ensured that no response could be associated with an individual respondent (anonymity is key)► survey could be completed over several sittings► participation voluntary

Determine best time (day of the week and time of the day) to launch survey (based on best practice) to ensure the best possible response rate.

► Thursday or Friday first thing in the morning (we chose Friday morning)

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Communicate, communicate, communicate

► development of survey communicated informally through various Town Hall consultations with employees and through the VELT► formal communication began as soon as survey was approved● President’s message to all employees encouraging participation on day survey launched● Branch Heads sent out messages to their employees encouraging participation● Info Bulletins from me periodically to remind employees to participate► thank you sent to all employees when survey closed► update on status of analysis also sent to employees ensuring they knew it was being worked on

Step Five – The Analysis (OMG!!)

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66% response rate from the Agency’s active population; response rates from individual Branches all statistically significant – very good considering it was the first time and totally voluntary.

1904 written comments were received (Section 1, 637; Section 2, 530; Section 3, 433; and, Section 4, 304) filling over 200 pages – many comments were more than a few lines!!

the nature of the comments implied a real trust in us

Survey questions were separated into seven (7) themes established using statistically viable indicators to measure ethical climate.

Survey Themes

1. Overall ethical climate

2. Awareness of values

3. Awareness of recourse mechanisms

4. Confidence in recourse mechanisms

5. Fear of reprisal (supervisor/manager)

6. Ethicality of supervisory leadership

7. Ethicality of senior leadership

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Observations

> Awareness of values (very high) did not necessarily correlate with the perception of the overall ethical climate (not bad but need for improvement)

> Awareness of certain recourse/employee support mechanisms surprisingly low despite ongoing efforts to publicize them but confidence in all mechanisms lower – likely due, in part, to lack of awareness but also due to perception that issues would not be addressed anyways

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Observations

> 2012 ERC study showed that one of top ten reasons employees do not report wrongdoing is fear of reprisal from management (and colleagues) – for us this did not appear to be an issue.

> The ethicality of supervisory, and more senior management, spoke mostly to employee perceptions as to how staffing was carried out, as to how ethical breaches were addressed (or not) and how effectively information was communicated. There was also a perception that senior leadership did not have to follow the rules.

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Step Six – The Action Plan

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!! Don’t bother doing an ethical climate survey if you are not committed to addressing the issues it identifies through well

considered action plans!!

► Branch specific and Agency focussed ( latter part of a broader action plan)

► Agency action plan centered on:

1. creative and innovative ways to raise awareness on recourse and employee support mechanisms2. staffing3. leadership (awareness of responsibilities/addressing of ethical breaches)

Lessons Learned

1. Timing is everything so be prepared for when the time is right and be as flexible as possible

2. Be prepared for the unforeseen (eg. changes in leadership)

3. Patience is a virtue

4. Do your homework – it is not as straightforward as simply asking questions

5. Know the questions to ask and be prepared for the answers

6. It will not be possible to ask all the questions necessary but ask enough

7. Involve employees in the creation of the survey

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Lessons Learned, cont’d

8. Anonymity is important – assurances need to be provided

9. Some demographic questions are needed to focus solutions but demographic questions can ‘spook’ employees (i.e. they question anonymity)

10. Written comments good but be prepared to analyse (lots of extremely useful information!) – suggestions made for opportunity to comment after each question

11. Define leadership well and even supervisors and managers

12. Think of other ways to administer than simply on-line – think of persons with disabilities

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