The RCMP Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow - by Linda Duxbury

An Independent Report concerning Workplace Issues
at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

by Dr. Linda Duxbury

November 2, 2007

Executive Summary

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a national institution. It has served Canada well over its 134 year history. But in 2007, this proud organization finds itself at a cross-road. A multitude of factors have led the Government of Canada to establish an independent Task Force to conduct a thorough review of the RCMP's governance and workplace culture.

The Task Force on Governance and Culture Change in the RCMP will report its findings to Government in mid-December 2007. It would appear that their recommendations will have profound implications for the RCMP.

As part of the related work being conducted by the RCMP, I was commissioned to write an independent report that met the following objectives, namely to:

• Recap the findings and results of Duxbury and Higgins’ 2001-2004 studies into the work environment and culture at the RCMP;
• Identify key gaps that still need to be addressed with respect to the work environment and culture of the RCMP;
• Provide strategic advice on how the RCMP can best move forward to close these gaps and prepare the RCMP for further change.

This report identifies a number of critical human resources issues facing the RCMP. It is my hope that this report will increase the chances that the Task Force’s recommendations will be successfully implemented. To that end, I hope that through my report, key decision makers will gain a deeper understanding of the context within which any changes will have to be implemented, and the critical success factors associated with the renewal of the RCMP.

In my opinion, the RCMP will struggle with bringing about significant reform unless it deals with the systemic underlying issues uncovered in this analysis.

The RCMP has over 28,200 employees, comprising a mix of regular members (62%), civilian members (11%) and public service employees (17%), with the balance consisting of temporary civilian employees (7%) and public service casual employees (3%). The organization provides the full range of policing services in communities large and small across Canada, and has representatives in many countries abroad. Furthermore, it is involved in peacekeeping and other international work. All of this contributes to what is a highly complex organization.

Most of the issues explored in this report are highly inter-connected. Solutions are quite complex and require an in-depth understanding of RCMP processes and structures. Furthermore, the RCMP has a very capable group of employees working within HR and strategic planning who are able to provide the specifics with respect to the issues identified in this report. As such, this executive summary offers high level rather than detailed, recommendations. The report itself offers 75 specific recommendations on how the RCMP can proceed with respect to each of the key issues outlined in this summary.

Key Conclusions

The following overarching conclusions are presented:

• The RCMP is not, by any accepted measure, a change-ready organization. Achieving a state of change readiness will require an alignment of the structures, key infrastructures (including reward systems, communications processes, and agile HR practices), organizational culture and leadership.
• The RCMP will have tremendous difficulty recruiting and retaining “the best” in a tight labour market, as the organization cannot be considered best practice with respect to any of the above human resource practices.
  • The evidence suggests that the majority of RM front line employees, NCOs and CMs, who collectively make up the majority of RCMP employees, would give the organization a failing grade with respect to the following critical HR functions: training, learning and development, the promotion process, performance management, management support, change management, workloads and the provision of a supportive work environment.
  • A significant number do not feel trusted, respected, fairly treated or well led.
  • With the exception of pay and benefits (which are of decreasing importance in a sellers labour market), the majority of the HR processes or practices do not compare favorably to either best practice private sector employers or best practice paramilitary organizations.
• RCMP culture is not one that supports change. Nor is it one that promotes workplace health or provides competitive advantage.
  • Words that describe the general culture include: paramilitary; hierarchical; Pollyannaish, respectful of the position rather than the person; overcommitted; one that declares victory before achievement; over stretched; one that shoots the messenger; risk adverse; defensive; low trust; one of winners and losers; one that gives preference to dealing with issues rather than people; one that under values HR; cash managed; non aligned; siloed; focused on process and face time not common sense and output; change fatigued; exploitive; policy versus practice, hours and presenteeism versus output, playing the game; complex (culture changes with level and COE).
• The RCMP may be a victim of the "success spiral", which occurs when an organization holds on too long to a culture in the belief that what has worked in the past will continue to confer a competitive advantage in the future. This report indicates that the RCMP has failed to realign its organizational culture to take into account new environmental realities. This has resulted in key elements of RCMP culture being liabilities as the organization forward with reforms.
• Changes undertaken in the last couple of decades have resulted in an organization:
  • which is more vulnerable and under intense public scrutiny
  • that lacks expertise, depth and corporate knowledge in key areas
  • that is too stretched with respect to certain key competencies
  • in which employees are change weary, skeptical and cynical about the motivations behind change
  • in which employees wonder who is in charge and who to trust (e.g., management has often over-promised and under-delivered, many managers are not managing and not held accountable, empowerment is misunderstood and misapplied, direction lacking)

Finally, I can only conclude that the RCMP must undergo fundamental transformational change in order to re-engage its workforce, improve its state of change readiness and re-establish itself in order to attract the talent it will require in an increasingly complex environment. Changing structures and systems will not suffice however - the changes required go much deeper and will require fundamental shifts to organizational culture.

In my assessment, the change faced by the RCMP can be categorized as ‘re-creation’ – defined by Nadler and Tushman¹ as transformational change prompted by immediate demands. Such a change is very risky as it is typically initiated under conditions of crisis and sharp time constraints.

Re-creational change almost always involves a change in core values and culture which are typically very resistant to change. Re-creations typically trigger substantial individual resistance to change (often from the top) and heightened political behaviour.

On a positive note, successful re-creations usually involve changes in the senior leadership of the organization frequently involving replacement from the outside who are not "blind" to the culture. In most cases, it is easier to convince people of the urgency of the change in a "recreation" situation.

Leaders dealing with recreational change should approach this challenge by:

• Creating the case for change: effectively engaging others in the recognizing the business need for change
• Creating structural change: ensuring that the change is supported with a consistent set of toolsand processes
• Engaging others in the change process and building commitment
• Implementing and sustaining change: developing effective plans and ensuring good monitoring and review processes are developed
• Facilitating and developing capability: ensuring that people are challenged to find their own answers and are supported in doing this.

Two sets of behaviours have been found to be key to the ultimate success of transformational change efforts:

• Framing behaviours
  • Establishing starting points for change
  • Designing and managing the change journey
  • Communicating guiding principles
• Creating Capacity
  • Creating individual and organizational capabilities
  • Communicating and creating connections.

The Way Forward: Advice to the Commissioner

The RCMP has a new leader and renewed clarity around the need for change. In addition, there is alignment in terms of the timing necessary to set the stage for a brighter future. This will be a great challenge however, since the change necessary is very complex, will be lengthy (end to end, it could be in the 5 to 10 years range, if not longer), and is to be implemented in an environment which is as already stated, not ready for change.

The Commissioner can expect a great deal of resistance – largely from employees at all levels who have learned that in most cases they can “out wait” the change. Additionally, the added complexity that public scrutiny will bring further complicates the change. As such, I offer the following specific advice to the Commissioner:

• Proceed with Caution.
  • As the saying goes, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” It is essential in the current environment of the RCMP to make the correct move rather than move quickly. Let employees know that you are gathering information and taking well informed decisions. Actively solicit their help and input on what needs to be done before any large change that affects the work they do.
• Ensure that the Government of Canada will make sure that the critical success factors for change of this nature are provided. Such factors include:
  • Time needed to make these changes (i.e., change cannot be rooted in the good will of any political party or the personality of any leader of the RCMP)
  • Resources to make the change possible (i.e., resources to deal with the workload issues that have been plaguing the RCMP since Program Review and 9/11)
• Persevere.
  • The Force can weather this storm and become a High Performance workplace (one that places equal emphasis on performance and people) with leadership qualities that embody courage, perseverance and long term commitment.
• Assemble a dynamic and capable change team.
  • This is very important in light of the deep changes that lie ahead. The change team should include informal leaders from all categories and levels. Be sure to involve both SRR and union representatives appropriately.
• Decide on your leadership role (charismatic of instrumental) and who best to put in the other leadership role (both types of leaders are essential for the success of this change)
• Connect with your front line and NCOs and involve them in the change process.
• Insist on genuine internal dialogue around key issues at the senior level.
  • The senior leadership team MUST see the need for and actively support the change (in actions as well as words) if the change is to succeed. Dialogue is an effective tool in this regard.
• Continue to develop and refine your vision for the RCMP
  • The vision must be inspiring to those who work for the institution. It should speak to them and answer the question, “what’s in it for me”. A key element for your vision could focus on becoming high performance workplace. Operationally the RCMP is already there. The addition of this people-orientation should be appealing to employees.
• Hold senior managers accountable for newly assigned priorities/issues.
  • Most of the tools (e.g., performance agreements, Balanced Scorecard) are already in place to support this.
• Measure, support, develop, champion, and recognize the right stuff.
  • Right now, employees at all levels will be more interested in what you do than what you say.
• Provide appropriate support to those who cannot or do not want to support the reforms.
  • Offer early buy-outs to those who do not want to contribute or actively support the change.
• I strongly recommend you confront the workload issues within the RCMP.
  • This is huge issue with the front line and middle management. It will show that you are attentive to their needs and increase receptivity to change. One way to deal with workloads is to examine priorities. If it is a priority fund it. If you cannot fund it, get out. Dealing with the workload issue should help the RCMP create the capacity for change in those whose participation is essential.
• I strongly recommend that you conduct a diagnosis of the RCMP’s current culture and its desired culture and collect benchmark data on key outcomes (e.g., trust, respect, stress, etc.)
  • Successful transformational change depends on changing cultures as well as structures.
  • Included in this assessment would be an examination of those elements of senior leadership and middle management cultures that are essential to the future success of the RCMP, while identifying those elements that are no longer relevant or desirable. This will enable the Commissioner and others to make well-informed decisions in terms of both the desired culture and how best to motivate behavioural change.

Finally, I think it is important to re-state that RCMP employees be invited to participate in the change process. What is critical in a workforce such as the RCMP is to “re-engage the heart.” To do this one has to ask people for input, listen and provide feedback. This information should prove invaluable to the creation of the vision of change that will take the RCMP forward.

Other Conclusions

The following conclusions are provided with respect to each of the specific issues examined herein.

The Positives

The data paint a very consistent picture: RCMP employees - regardless of category - find their work personally fulfilling, appreciate the esprit de corps that comes from working here, understand their work role (i.e., have high role clarity) and are committed and loyal to the RCMP as an institution. The RCMP’s greatest asset remains its workforce. Employees are proud of the institution and enjoy both the work they do and the people they work with. They work hard to make the RCMP succeed and have “kept the faith” despite the stresses of the past several years.

HR Issues

There have been five reviews of HR within the RCMP within the past several years. A review of this documentation and interviews with key individuals supports the following conclusions:

In a seller’s labour market, best practice organizations view the HR function as a strategic partner. Right now, however, HR within the RCMP has assumed the role of “HR police” (police with no power unfortunately).

• The RCMP is not doing a good job of the following high important HR functions: staffing, recruiting, performance management, performance evaluations, staffing, learning and development, succession planning.
• There is no consistency across the Force with respect to how HR programs are delivered.
• The RCMP is currently unable to get the key HR data they need to manage the performance of organization as a whole.
• There is little evidence of alignment or good governance of HR across the organization.
• HR capacity (i.e., policy and analytical depth) was cut badly in the 1990s during Program Review and has not yet recovered. Funds need to be invested in modernizing the HR plant.
• HR itself has a lot of unaligned silos which devote time to their individual strategies and agendas versus a more integrated approach. HR also appears to have too many priorities.
• There is only one high importance HR area where the RCMP is currently meeting expectations: the area of pay and benefits.
• The RCMP cannot be considered “best practice” with respect to training, learning, career development or performance management.

Learning and development

In today’s employment market, employees expect that their employer will pay for all training costs and deliver required courses on company time. Career development, on the other hand, provides employers with a tool with which to attract, retain and engage talent and is something that younger employees are looking for from their employer.

Given the requirement for excellence in this area the question becomes, can the RCMP be considered best practice with respect to opportunities for learning and career development? The conclusion from this study is no. Specifically:

• Very few employees working in NCO, front line, CM or PS positions perceive that the RCMP concretely supports learning and development.
• The RCMP is not aligned in terms of learning and development (the function, not the Branch) and there are no shared criteria for deciding on how training dollars should be distributed across.
• Regions and Divisions dedicate different levels of resources to training. This means that training here depends on where you are and who your Senior Manager is. There is no equity.
• There is no linkage between training, development and strategic planning (i.e., competencies to carry out the strategies are not evaluated in any systematic manner). Nor are there any links between the strategic priorities and the funding of training.
• The RCMP is not able to calculate the ROI of much of the training it does. Information that is presently not available includes a detailed inventory of existing training data, training data needs, gaps identified, data architecture requirements, related systems and how much is being spent on training.
• A number of training tools have been developed that are recognized internationally (e.g., blended learning, e-learning program, the Investigator’s Tool Box Kit, Bridging the Gap. None of these tools have, as yet, received A-Base funding. By not providing development programs such as BTG, SDP and MDP with stable A-Base funding, employees are being sent the message that their development is not important.
• Employees do a high percentage of their professional development in unpaid off-duty hours. This is an unrealistic expectation for essential training.
• Unscheduled pressures from national policy centers impact Learning and Development Branch priorities and “bump” other training.
• There are no structured measures to assess the overall satisfaction of members with the training that is being provided.
• Support for career development declines with rank.
• There is a need to separate career development and selection for promotion processes.

Performance Management

• The RCMP does not do a good job of managing performance at the individual level.
• A significant proportion of NCOs, front line RMs, CM and PS employees within the RCMP do not receive timely or constructive feedback.
• Performance appraisals are key to getting into supervisory and officer development programs (SDP and MDP). Unfortunately, the vast majority does not get regular performance appraisals, and there is no accountability in this regard.
• The view that poor performers are not dealt with effectively in the RCMP is, with one exception, (those at the executive level) widely held in the RCMP.
• NCOs are less likely than other RM groups to receive appropriate performance feedback. Furthermore, the situation for NCOs appears to have deteriorated over time. This decline is all the more striking when one considers that the situation for those in other groups has either remained stable or improved over time.

Promotion Process

• The widespread perception is that the promotion process is still, despite the recent repairs, “broken.” There is, at a minimum, a communications problem as to how the process works.

Workload

Persistent work-role overload has a negative impact on employees, employers, families and the bottom line. The following conclusions with respect to workloads at the RCMP are supported by the data reviewed in this study:

• Workloads in the RCMP have increased substantially over time. The RCMP has not addressed the workload issues observed in 2001, 2002 and 2004.
• Workloads at the RCMP are unrealistically high (especially in senior positions within the RCMP).
• Dissatisfaction with understaffing and workloads is systemic within the RCMP.
• High workloads can be attributed to any or all of the following factors: the RCMP is chronically overcommitted and/or persistently understaffed and does not have the resources to support its work requirements and priorities; lack of relevant and/or appropriate training; inability to access information needed to perform the role, information technology; material resources are deployed ineffectively, human resources are deployed ineffectively, and people do not have the tools and equipment to do their work effectively and efficiently
• Workload problems are systematic within the RM group.
  • Workloads increase with rank with virtually all of the executive (86%) and the majority of officers and NCOs (70%) indicating that they cannot complete their assigned work during regular hours. Just over half (56%) of the Cst/Cpl group also indicated that they cannot complete their work loads in the allotted time.
• Many employees cannot complete their work during regular hours. This suggests that many are still getting their work done by “donating” their personal time (i.e., evenings and weekends) to work.
• RMs have higher workloads than CM and PS in the RCMP.
• RCMP officers and executives do not have the time to manage their people appropriately.
• The heavy workloads of those in the CM group may make it more difficult for the RCMP to recruit and retain these professionals in a tight labour market.
• The RCMP could not fulfill its mandate if its staff (and their managers) did not donate a high number of hours of unpaid overtime per month to the RCMP.

Respect, trust, intent to turnover

The need to benchmark organizational outcomes against competitors, both within and outside the country, has increased dramatically as Canada, and the rest of the industrialized world, enters a “sellers” market for workers in general and skilled labour in particular. This report looked at the following key outcomes: intent to turnover, respect and trust. The following conclusions are supported by the data:

• If the RCMP does not make significant changes to how it manages its people, it will experience a significant turnover issue. Of particular concern is the high number of employees who plan on retiring early (i.e., at a reduced pension/before they reach 24 years of service) and working elsewhere. These people can be considered to be “fleeing” the RCMP.
• The number of those who will take early retirement can be decreased by addressing the promotion process, reward and recognition, respect, trust and work-life balance.
• The RCMP is not providing appropriate reward and recognition for a substantive number of NCO and front line RM.
• A disturbingly high number (particularly those in NCO, Cst, Cpl and CM positions) do not feel respected or trusted by their employer and, in turn, do not trust the organization.
• Almost half of those working in front line, NCO and CM positions do not feel the organization makes an effort to ensure their safety (surely a betrayal of trust in a police organization), is concerned with their health, safety and wellbeing, treats them fairly, with respect and trust, and will deal with the issues identified in the Employee Opinion Survey.

Employee Wellbeing

Modern organizations must be in the business of employee wellbeing. Changing demographics means that employers are increasingly dealing with workforces that are seeking greater purpose and growth through their work and increasing choices in where to work. Success can be a shortlived phenomenon in such an environment. A wealth of research data is accumulating that demonstrates that when employee wellbeing is overlooked, high performance cannot be sustained and recruitment and retention become problematic.

How is the RCMP doing with respect to the issue of employee wellbeing? Again, the conclusion drawn from this study is “not that well.” The following conclusions are drawn with respect to employee wellbeing within the RCMP:

• For many RM and CM of the RCMP, “their job is making them sick.”
• The data indicates that compared to the Canadian public, employees of the RCMP report
  higher levels of job stress, overall stress, depressed mood, burnout, role overload and work interferes with family. They have high levels of work-life conflict and make significant use of Canada’s health care system. Many cope by have a drink or two to deal with the stress and coming to work when sick.
• RCMP executives appear to be at higher risk of physical and mental health problems than are other executive within the Government of Canada.

Management and Leadership

• Many RMs (especially those at the Sgt-S/Sgt level) are dissatisfied with the behavior of their immediate manager and the behavior of RCMP top management.
• There appears to be a lot of inequity within the RCMP based on who you report to and what section you work in.
• While many (42% of the sample) report to a supportive manager, the majority of the employees in this sample (and by extrapolation the RCMP as a whole) do not. This is unfortunate as management support is a key predictor of important organizational outcomes.
• RCMP managers need to devote more time and effort to the following activities: career development, soliciting employee participation in decision making (this would include sharing information with subordinates and listening to their feedback), giving more recognition for good work, making expectations clearer, providing more constructive feedback, more effective planning processes with respect to the work to be done, having more realistic expectations with respect to workloads, and focussing on output not hours of work. In other words, managers should focus on their communication skills, reward and recognition, career development and workloads.
• Those in senior leadership positions can make it easier for employees to do their work and their managers to manage, by: minimizing micromanagement, helping their subordinates cut through the bureaucracy of the RCMP, supporting employee decisions, making sure that their employees have the resources (time, training, equipment, information) they need to do their job, and being open to new ideas.
• Many perceive that the senior leadership cadre does not work as a team, and that SEC has divided loyalties and divided priorities.
• Not all senior executives understand that the job of an individual holding a senior leadership within the RCMP should be more strategic than operational in nature.
• A substantive proportion of employees do not feel that they are consulted appropriately on decisions and actions that have an impact on their work.
• Very few employees agree that the RCMP does a good job of preparing managers for their managerial roles.
• Very few employees agree that the RCMP develops capable senior leaders with the right competencies.

Culture

• There are at least three different cultures within the RM group of the RCMP: top, middle and front line. These cultures have developed because experiences vary dramatically depending on level within the organization.
• Another significant layer of cultural complexity lies in the fact that the RCMP has three distinct categories of employee – the sworn police officers (RM), civilian members (CM) and public service employees (PS).

Change Readiness

Both internal and external factors are increasing the need for transformational change at the RCMP. The data support the following conclusions with respect to this issue:

• The RCMP is in a very low state of Change Readiness. The organization has undertaken a number of changes in the past several decades and the way that these changes have been managed and led have resulted in culture that is change adverse and a workforce who is change fatigued and cynical.
• The RCMP has experienced problems implementing change because it has done a poor job of communicating around the change, it has implemented change without consulting staff, it has not provided those affected by the changes with an implementation strategy or with guidelines on how the change is to be implemented, it has done a poor job of managing the dynamics of expectations, it has not adequately resourced the changes, and it has not done a good job of managing the human face of change.

¹ Nadler, D., Tushman, M. (1995). Types of Organizational Change: From Incremental Improvements to Discontinuous Transformation, in D. Nadler, R. Shaw et al, Discontinuous Change. Jossey-Bass. 14-33