Trust lacking among city staff in Vaughan, audit finds
Many fear reprisals from their managers if they raise difficult issues or unpleasant news.
thestar.com
April 13, 2015
By Noor Javed
An internal audit has found that one in three of Vaughan’s city employees feel they can’t raise issues with their superiors without fear of reprisal, and just as many managers feel the city hasn’t done enough to establish trust among its workers.
“The whole issue of trust of governance and accountability and transparency is extremely important in this administration and something we pride ourselves in, but there is always room for improvements,” Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said after hearing of the results.
Some 622 individuals, nearly half of the city’s employees, completed the survey. One of its goals was to assess “what is working well and what may not be working well” within the organization, Paul Wallis, director of the internal audit, told councillors during a presentation Monday morning.
The report comes a few days after a scathing integrity commissioner’s report found that Deputy Mayor Michael Di Biase interfered with tendering processes and was verbally abusive to staff who refused to provide him with confidential information during the procurement phase of a project. Di Biase’s lawyer, Morris Manning, responded to the report Monday, saying his client was not given sufficient time and information to respond to the allegations.
The audit touched on many of the issues ethics commissioner Suzanne Craig identified.
A similar audit survey was conducted in 2013, and the results show some overall improvement, said Wallis. However, there was little improvement in the area of trust building - among both managers and non-managers.
“Building trust takes time; it’s not going to change overnight,” said Wallis, adding that few municipalities have conducted such internal assessments.
The survey also found that:
- 31 per cent of all respondents don’t believe they can trust senior management to keep promises and commitments;
- 33 per cent of staff and 35 per cent of managers do not believe the city has established a level of trust to support the open flow of information and effective performance;
- 35 per cent of respondents do not believe they can raise concerns to management without fear of reprisal;
- 33 per cent of respondents don’t believe they can raise any bad news or mistakes to those who need to know, without the fear of reprisal.
The survey also found that staff felt more clarity was needed on the role and responsibilities of management versus those of city council.
Many staff also said growth would be difficult to sustain, given the current resources. They cited absence of technology solutions, working in silos and the volume of paperwork as concerns.
According to the report, the results were shared with senior management, who will work to develop trust-building initiatives and mechanisms that will help staff to communicate sensitive issues without fear of consequences to themselves.
