HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity of Bozeman Ethics Survey ResultsWhat is Good and What is Right:
Ethics in Montana Municipal
Government
Betsy J. Webb
Associate Director
MSU Local Government Center
February 2012
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2008 City Charter, Bozeman, MT
The city commission shall …establish an
independent board of ethics …(and) provide
annual training and education of city officials,
city boards, and employees regarding the state
and city ethics codes.
Art. VII Sec. 7.01(a)(b) Jan. 1, 2008
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By the close of 2011
Two series of trainings have taken place
–2009 – “Live” in-person trainings to all
employees, elected and appointed officials
–2010/2011 – “On-line” training related to
Bozeman’s specific Code of Ethics and the
Montana State Code of Ethics
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Ethics Handbook
•600 City employees,
elected and appointed
officials (City Council
and Boards)
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Independent Board of Ethics
established
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Has it made any difference?
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Ethics Resource Center
Well-implemented ethics and compliance
programs double reporting and lower the rate of
misconduct
A strong ethical culture also increases reporting
and cuts misconduct in half
When both a well-implemented ethics and
compliance program and a strong ethical culture
are in place, misconduct drops by 60% and
reporting rises by 40%
(ERC, 2008 and 2010)
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Comprehensive Ethics
and Compliance Program
6 components:
Ethics training for all employees
Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics in Place
Evaluation of ethical behavior as part of regular
performance appraisal
Mechanism to report misconduct anonymously
Mechanism to discipline employees
Mechanism to seek advice about ethics-related
matters
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Has it made any difference?
1. Do employees of municipal governments with
ethics and compliance programs observe a
significantly lower rate of misconduct than
municipal governments who do not have such
programs in place?
2. Do employees of municipal governments with
ethics and compliance programs demonstrate a
significantly higher rate of reporting misconduct
than municipal governments who do not have such
programs in place?
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3. Do employees of a municipal government
with an ethics and compliance program in place
perceive the ethics program as effective?
4. Do employees of municipal governments with
ethics and compliance programs perceive a
stronger ethical culture in their work environment
than employees of municipal governments who do
not have a formal ethics program in place?
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Study Significance
•129 cities and towns in Montana; 56 counties
•Informal survey
–75% of municipalities do not give new employees a copy of
the Montana State Code of Ethics upon hire
–93% of municipalities provide no training on ethics to their
employees
(survey conducted by Survey Monkey, October 2011,
emailed by list serve to 129 Montana municipalities, 45
responses or 35%)
•Findings can be incorporated into ethics program
development across Montana and outside Montana
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Methods
Research Design:
Perceptions of Ethical Climate survey
Pelletier & Bligh, 2006
38 scaled questions
Electronic “survey monkey” or paper version
Two First Class cities in Montana (over 10,000 pop)
–Bozeman – 346 employees (75 in random sample)
–Kalispell – 181 employees (57 in random sample)
–Random sample – 132 responded
–The sample size of 132 allows for a 95% confidence level and a
+/-7.4% confidence interval.
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Bozeman: 37,280 population
Annual ethics training for
employees, elected, appointed
officials
Code of Ethics – State and City-
specific
Ethics Handbook
Evaluation of ethical behavior
(city core values) as part of
performance evaluation
Whistle-blower policy defined;
mechanism to report ethical
violations defined
Mechanism to discipline
employees and independent
Board of Ethics established
Ethics resource staff identified
for guidance
Kalispell: 19, 927 population
Periodic training as needed.
Group discussions in work
areas as impacted.
Code of Ethics – State
Ethics covered in personnel
handbook
As part of performance
evaluation if issues are present
Mechanism to discipline
employees
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After 2+ years…
Significant differences between Bozeman and
Kalispell in:
–Ethics Code Awareness (policy guides employees in
decision-making; have read the code; understand the
code; know the city’s ethical expectations; know that
policies exist)
–Ethics Resources (resources are available; easy to get
help; staff are available)
–Ethics Program Effectiveness (program is effective;
confidential manner; increased trust in city; city
concerned about ethical standards)
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Results
•No significant differences between Bozeman and
Kalispell in: Perceptions of Ethical Decision-Making
Process, Perceptions of Ethical Resources Scales for
Time and Money, Perceptions of Informal Ethical
Norms, and Perceptions of Ethical Leadership
•No significant differences between Bozeman and
Kalispell in: Observations of Misconduct, Reporting
Misconduct
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Bozeman 36%
Kalispell 31%
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Results
Noteworthy: Positive
•low concern about retaliation if they did report
misconduct
•Employees in both cities demonstrated support for
their immediate supervisors (discuss ethical issues,
consult with them, good examples of ethical behavior)
•Employees in both cities rated the top leadership as
concerned with ethical practice (above neutral but
below somewhat agree)
•Both sets of employees believe that ethical concerns
are heard in their specific departments
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Results
Other results:
–Employees leaned negative about whether the
city is willing to do the right thing no matter the
financial costs
–They also leaned negative about whether the city
rewards employees for ethical behavior
–Employees from both cities were close to neutral
about personnel decisions (hiring and promotions)
reflecting ethical principles.
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Scale used
7 = Strongly Agree
6 = Agree
5 = Somewhat Agree
4 = Neutral
3 = Somewhat Disagree
2 = Disagree
1 = Strongly Disagree
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Bozeman lower means
•The City rewards employees who exhibit ethical
behavior, BZ mean = 3.23
•The City is willing to do the right thing no matter
the financial costs, BZ mean = 3.84
•Personnel decisions reflect ethical principles, BZ
mean = 4.13
•The Ethics Program is effective, BZ mean = 4.16
•Moral concerns are given top priority by the City’s
top leaders, BZ mean = 4.25
•If I were to have an ethical concern, I know I would
be supported by the City, BZ mean = 4.35
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Conclusions
•Employees need to be provided with appropriate tools
and models to align their behavior with the
organization
•Significant differences were demonstrated between
Bozeman and Kalispell since the Charter was revised in
2008 (and should not be minimized), however, the
differences did not translate to behavior or to the
overall culture
•Look at the important role of leaders in creating and
maintaining ethical culture in municipal governments
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Comments/Questions
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