Survey says Chicago city workers less likely to blow whistle on misconduct Todd Lighty
Chicago city workers are less likely to report job-related misconduct than their counterparts elsewhere, largely because they don't believe the problem will be fixed and they fear retaliation from bosses, a new survey by Mayor Richard Daley's hiring compliance office reveals.
The snapshot into City Hall work culture found that Chicago employees report only one out of every two instances of misconduct that they witness. Workers for other local governments, however, were more likely to disclose on-the-job wrongdoing, reporting two out of every three instances of misconduct.
Anthony Boswell, the executive director of the mayor's Office of Compliance, said he is going to create new initiatives, including training programs, to address Chicago workers' concerns about being retaliated against.
"If people think nothing will happen when they report misconduct or if people believe they will be retaliated against, then they are likely to say nothing," Boswell said. "We are going to work on that."
Boswell said city workers need to be encouraged to report even mistakes that may not amount to misconduct and be assured they won't be punished.
The survey also found that a paltry 17 percent of Chicago's workers believed they will be rewarded for following compliance and ethical standards.
Boswell ordered the survey, which cost approximately $40,000. The survey took the pulse of more than 1,800 workers and was conducted in August and September by the Ethics Resource Center, a private, nonprofit organization. The survey's error margin is 2.2 percentage points.
You can read the survey here. Other highlights include:
* Eighty-one percent of Chicago's workers said the primary reason they don't bother reporting misconduct is because they believe nothing will be done about it. Of those who reported misconduct, 26 percent said they were retaliated against.
* Only 62 percent of Chicago's workers believe City Hall has a strong culture of compliance and integrity. That's far below that of workers for other local governments from around the nation, where, overall, 80 percent believed they have a strong, ethical work culture.
* The most likely misconduct witnessed by Chicago workers involved abusive behavior, 27 percent; lying to employees, 21 percent; discrimination, 20 percent; hiring violations, 15 percent; and conflicts of interest, 15 percent.
* Chicago's workers were less likely to report hiring violations, sexual harassment, and on-the-job abuse of email and the Internet.
* The survey found that 93 percent of city workers were aware of the Office of Compliance, which Daley created in 2007 to promote ethical conduct. But workers surveyed said they were less likely to seek guidance from that office than from other city resources.