2008 Ethics Culture Survey Invitation

A message to employees from Jo Anne SawyerKnoll, Deputy Chief

Two years ago, the Office of Ethics and Integrity, or "OEI," invited all employees to take the Ethics Culture Survey, which gave employees an opportunity to provide their views of City ethics standards and behaviors. The survey results revealed several areas of concern, which OEI has worked to address through a number of efforts to strengthen the City's ethical climate at all levels.

This year, OEI will once again be partnering with the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) to survey employees. The 2008 Ethics Culture survey will be anonymous, voluntary, and multiple choice, and will be available online and in a pen and paper version. The 2008 Ethics Culture Survey will launch on October 20 and go through November 7, 2008.

To ensure that OEI is a valuable support for employees, we want and need input from as many people as possible. That's why in the next few weeks, we will be inviting all employees to take a survey that will provide their views of City ethics standards and behaviors. OEI expects the survey will show what employees think about the City's ethical culture/climate; what ethics issues are important to employees; how comfortable employees feel about their understanding of ethics policies, procedures and regulations; the level of observation of misconduct (if any); and to what extent employees feel supported when/if they bring up ethical concerns.

In order to get an unbiased assessment of employees' views of the City of San Diego's ethical climate, ERC will administer and analyze the survey. Survey results will aid OEI in designing and focusing other initiatives, such as ethics training development and delivery.

By taking the survey, you can help OEI understand what ethics issues are important to City employees. We will use this information to refine the training required for all City employees and to design other initiatives that reflect your ethics priorities and concerns. The survey will also serve to assess the progress the City has made over the last two years in the maintenance of a highly ethical culture among City of San Diego employees.

With your help, we can create meaningful initiatives and build on the City's strengths, which will make the City a better place to work for everyone.