Informal Conflict Management System Evaluation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Informal Conflict Management System

In 2006, the Department of Justice (Department) implemented the Informal Conflict Management System (ICMS) program, which is designed to prevent and resolve workplace conflict. The mission of ICMS is to achieve a workplace culture in which all staff, in all roles and at all levels, have the commitment, the skills and the resources to work collaboratively to seek early resolution of conflicts in a constructive and creative manner. ICMS focuses on both addressing systemic causes of conflict as well as individual instances of workplace conflict. This mission is facilitated by the core activities of the ICMS, including: information sessions, conflict management training, service delivery, communications, and networking and partnering. In the intermediate term, it is expected that these activities will increase accessibility and use of conflict management services and better enable managers and employees to apply a range of alternative methods to successfully manage conflict as it arises. Over the longer term, it is expected that the ICMS will facilitate a shifting towards a collaborative workplace culture that is more open to and effective in resolving conflict.

2. Purpose and Structure of the Evaluation

The purpose of this evaluation is to conduct a national evaluation of the ICMS in the Department that focuses on the shorter-term results of the ICMS. The evaluation methodology included a survey of 276 Justice employees, interviews with key informants including senior management overseeing the program and 10 ICMS partners from a cross-section of units within the Department, a document review, a literature review, and interviews with seven representatives of similar ICMS programs in other federal government departments.

3. Relevance

There is a strong need for the ICMS and it fulfills a legitimate and necessary role for the government.

Addressing workplace conflict is in public interest to the extent that it reduces the direct costs associated with conflict and formal conflict resolution (such as replacement costs for employees, or salary costs for employees on paid leave while in conflict), and the indirect costs such as time wasted in conflict and the reduced quality of decisions made by people in conflict.

The employees and ICMS partners recognized the need 1) for a confidential and neutral place to resolve conflicts; 2) for training opportunities designed to increase knowledge of informal ways of managing conflict; and 3) to equip employees with better tools to improve their skills and abilities in conflict resolution.

The program represents a legitimate and necessary role for the government given the potential impact on operations and its consistency with departmental strategic outcomes as well as federal government priorities and commitments to resolving matters in the workplace fairly, credibly and efficiently.

4. Achievement of Expected Outcomes

While some progress has been made, overall awareness and use of the ICMS services and activities within the Department remain relatively low and ICMS partners have not been fully engaged.

Moderate progress has been made in enhancing awareness, accessibility and usage of conflict management services. Those employees who did participate in ICMS activities reported that the information they received from ICMS had somewhat of an impact in educating them regarding where to go for assistance when facing a conflict and enhancing their knowledge and awareness of alternative ways to manage conflict. In turn, the employees are better prepared to manage or resolve conflicts in the workplace. The impact is greater for clients who have used conflict management services or participated in training sessions than for those who simply attended an information session.

Even amongst ICMS partners who are very familiar with the program, most reported that their involvement with the departmental program had been very limited. The partners who were interviewed tended to be very familiar with the program (most commonly as a result of their past involvement in the Joint Advisory Group). However, while most had interacted with the Office for Integrity and Conflict Management in the Workplace (OICMW) staff, promoted the programs to others and/or referred people to the ICMS services at some time in the past, they also noted that the level of interaction and their role in promoting the program was very minor.

One of the factors affecting the involvement and dedication of these partners is that, while most saw a strong need for the program, they also reported that it had been moderately successful to date in meeting that need. They pointed to the relatively small size and limited resources associated with the program, with some indicating that they had hoped it would have a higher profile and be able to provide more hands-on services and training than has been delivered to date.

It is unreasonable to have expected that a significant shift towards a collaborative workplace culture that is more open and effective in resolving conflict to have occurred given the size of the Department and the comparatively small size and scope of the program.

Some progress has been made towards achieving the ultimate outcome of the program, i.e., a collaborative workplace culture that is more open and effective in resolving conflict. The results of the evaluation indicate that, amongst those respondents surveyed, almost one in four has participated in ICMS services and most of them have reported at least some change in terms of increasing their awareness and knowledge with respect to conflict management.

However, given the size of the Department and the comparatively small size and scope of the program, it is unreasonable to have expected that a significant shift would have occurred. Achieving real cultural change is a long-term process. The ICMS has a budget of about $300,000 and the equivalent of approximately 1.1 full-time staff, including the Director who works part-time on the program in addition to her other responsibilities in the OICMW. These individuals, in effect, serve approximately 4,500 employees across Canada. In comparison to similar programs in other federal government departments, the Department’s ICMS is smaller and the most recently established.

Key informants stated that in their view, it is likely that some further progress will be made by ICMS to facilitate the shift toward collaborative workplace culture. However, in order to achieve greater impact in changing the culture of the workplace and the way employees deal with conflict, enhancements to the program would need to be made. In particular, more funding would be required to increase capacity and extend the services delivered.

5. Efficiency and Economy

The ICMS program is a relatively inexpensive program that can represent a very cost-effective strategy. The evaluation has identified potential opportunities to further enhance the efficiency and economy of the ICMS.

To the extent that it contributes to significant time and costs savings associated with conflict, an ICMS program can be a very cost-effective strategy for an organization. The findings from the literature review conducted as part of this evaluation indicate that using alternate forms of informal conflict management services can result in savings with respect to time and costs and be more cost effective than formal conflict management mechanisms.

Factors that contribute to the cost effectiveness of the ICMS include opportunities for sharing resources, the well-structured nature of the program, and the extent to which it complements rather than duplicates other conflict resolution mechanisms. The restructuring of ICMS into the OICMW resulted in some economies of scale with respect to sharing of resources, overheads and messaging; it has also enhanced communication between the various functions. As an alternate process that can be more impartial, less rigid, timelier and more oriented toward conversation and compromise, the ICMS complements rather than duplicates other conflict resolution mechanisms.

The major concerns expressed by key informants with respect to cost effectiveness relate more to the need to increase the overall budget than to how the budget is being utilized. There is a common view that not enough resources are allocated to training, promotion of the program and outreach activities in the regions. In addition, the program could benefit from having conflict resolution practitioners on staff and investing more resources in developing relationships with key partners from management, labour relations and the bargaining units.

Nine factors were identified as key to the success of an ICMS program. These include having strong support from senior management, a clearly defined role for the ICMS, strong relationships with others involved in conflict resolution, being seen by employees as a neutral body, enjoying a high level of awareness, providing easy access, delivering quality services, incorporating a strong training component, and being well integrated into the organization.

There is some room for improvement with respect to each of these factors. More specifically, there is a need to raise the program’s profile and improve employee perceptions regarding the ICMS relationships with partners, including other conflict management groups in the Department, improve accessibility particularly for employees outside of the National Capital Region, further improve the services provided to clients, expand the resources dedicated to training, and better signal support of the program by senior management. One important issue to be considered is whether conflict resolution practitioners are placed within the ICMS Office. Currently, external professionals are hired on an as-needed basis; however, in-house practitioners are common in the ICMS of other federal departments and there are advantages and disadvantages associated with each approach which the ICMS can consider.

Given that the ICMS is designed to complement rather than replace other conflict management mechanisms, there are no real alternatives to it. The ICMS satisfies the requirement introduced in section 207 of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, which requires each Deputy Head to establish an ICMS, in consultation with bargaining agents.