Earlier this week, ATF special agents were sent email notifications about the need for "feedback on ATF Senior Leadership." The email read in part:
Within the next few days, the Office of Human Resources and Professional Development (HRPD) will be issuing a survey to all employees concerning ATF's senior leadership. Late last year, ATF received the results of the 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (EVS). A key area in which ATF fell short was leadership. Most troubling were responses to the question -"My senior leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity." The honesty and integrity of senior leadership is fundamental to the success of any organization. Given recent changes to ATF senior leadership, we want to reassess views on this issue and gather information on the specific behaviors which influence both positive and negative responses to this question. Responses will be anonymous, but will be shared with the ATF Executive Staff and field leadership. The Executive Staff is committed to using the feedback from this survey to determine what actions should be taken to address this critical issue.]
The request for further survey of agents came as a result of poor marks for leadership in the 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. According to the Department of Justice, the survey is used to help "listen to our employees and focus on employee perceptions that drive job satisfaction, commitment, engagement, and ultimately contribute to the accomplishment of our mission. In particular, the survey helps us identify and expose problem areas which, while at times uncomfortable, are essential to improving our operations." Looking at the leadership results from the 2011 survey, they aren't pretty:
2011 also proved to be worse than previous years:
After months of ATF special agent whistleblowers being smeared, called "disgruntled" employees and retaliated against by leadership within ATF and the Department of Justice, these results are vindicating. Between Operation Fast and Furious and the Jay Dobyn's case, leadership within ATF is clearly corrupt, dishonest and lacks integrity to say the least. Unfortunately, based on the retaliatory behavior of ATF leadership in the past, ATF employees taking the survey cannot depend on their responses to remain anonymous.
ATF Special Agent Vince Cefalu, seen in the video below, explains more about ATF's management style:
Click here for more on ATF's lack of integrity in leadership.