GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01495R000400080021-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 20, 2005
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: January 24, 1973
• Content Type: MEMO

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24 January 1973
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Grievance Procedure
FROM : The Junior Officers' Study Group*
1. After several months of study, during which we interviewed
over 100 CIA personnel, we have concluded that CIA grievance pro-
cedures need to be substantially improved. The problem is not so
much the willingness of Agency management to accommodate legitimate
grievances as the inhibitions created by the Agency's structure and
traditions. In our annex, we have included the results of our in-
formal study, including some of the more provocative individual
comments. The purpose of this memorandum is to discuss some of our
findings and to make positive suggestions for improvement.
2. CIA management tends to assume that, since few individual
grievances are brought to its attention, very few exist. This is
not so. Most of the people we interviewed believe that it would be
damaging to take grievances beyond their normal chain of command.
The assumption is widespread that complaining inhibits one's career,
and few employees wish to. be known as malcontents.
3. An Agency-wide grievance procedure should be responsive to
problems that cannot be solved by an office hierarchy. For example,
an employee who complains about his supervisor seldom receives much
satisfaction within his office. Moreover, employees often need in-
dependent advisors to talk with before deciding whether or not to
file a formal complaint. Unfortunately, the Office of Personnel and
the Office of the Inspector General are widely regarded as represen-
tatives of management rather than of the employees.
4. In our survey, we asked many questions about the role of
the IG in investigating and settling grievances. We found that few
employees are aware of the IG's function, and that those who are
have little confidence in its ability to resolve their concerns.
Employees seem ambivalent toward the periodic surveys of CIA components
An informal group of junior officers from various components who meet
to discuss problems of general concern. Those who put together this
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-- pleased that they are carried out, often disappointed in their
inability to get at fundamental management or morale problems, and
annoyed at the inaccessibility of the finished reports. Many feel
that all employees of an office should see the IG's entire report.
5. We believe that CIA management should encourage employees
to air their grievances as a positive move designed to improve
management and morale. It would require a selling job, because most
employees seem to be suspicious about the juridical neutrality and
the effectiveness of those who now are responsible for listening to
such grievances.
6. The following are some specific'suggestions aimed at solving
at least a few of these problems:
a) Consider the IG office as a. representative of Agency
employees, not just of management.
b) Help the IG office to improve its rapport with younger
-
people by adding some officers under the rank of GS-15.
c) Empower the IG to take a more active role in seeking
.out and dealing with personnel issues.
d) Grant the IG responsibility to expedite individual
reassignments from one career service to another.
e) Make more of an effort to examine the morale of em-
ployees in the offices that are surveyed, and publish the
findings whenever possible.
f) Publish a pamphlet or Agency bulletin discussing
the role of the IG, the results of some previous grievances,
and the various people qualified to give advice to employees
about such problems.
g) Consider establishing a special grievance board --
made up of all ages, grades, and components -- to listen to
grievances and to make binding recommendations.
h) Take a look at the Macomber Report-in the State Depart-
ment as an example of how other government agencies are handling
grievance procedure.
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ANNEX
RESULTS OF THE IG QUESTIONAIRE
(including some of the more provocative comments)
Total number of respondants: 100 (Not all respondants answered all
questions.)
1. What is your impression of the Office of the Inspector General?
Good knowledge or.. impression: _(15)
"Appears to be a group of efficiency experts interested in
the function of the various components rather than in individual
-problems."
"They are serious in their approach to their responsibilities."
"Useful as a crying towel."
No knowledge or vague impression: (56)
"A last resort . . . Not very effective."
"Well meaning but largely ineffective."
"The place where one is supposed to take. grievances but
where nothing ever happens." '
"Inspectors take lots of trips and do component surveys."
"Too remote in the minds of most personnel."
Bad impression: (29)
"Tool of management."
"Cannot think of anything it has done.."
"Mace up of high level men they don't know what to do with."
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2. If you had a-serious grievance, where would you take it? (91 replies)
Up the chain of command (usually beginning with immediate super-
visor, although some said they would
by-pass their supervisor and go higher
initially): (86)
Don't .Know: (5)
3. If you received no satisfaction there, what would you do? (90 replies)
Go to the next highest officer: (17)
Go to the IG: (33) (Many said they would go to the IG only as
a last resort.)
"Except in a dire situation I would not cone-iplate going to
the IG."
Forget the grievance., give up: (20)
Quit the agency: (10)
Other: (12)
4.a. If you took a grievance to the IG, do you think it would affect
your career adversely? (85 replies)
Yes: (54)
No: (13)
Maybe or probably (18)
"I expect that a supervisor and/or other management officials
who sit on promotion boards would find it hard to remain
objective if they knew you had been to the IG."
"The IG is supposed to keep complaints in confidence, although
it doesn't always do so."
"The CIA structure is not particularly interested in people
rocking the boat."
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"I' think a visit to the IG would leave you a marked man,
even if you prevailed in every respect."
"Most people are not going to risk screwing up a career
in an effort which will probably be futile anyway."
"There is a strong chance that it would influence my
career in a negative manner. I have seen one example
of this in a previous office."
4.b. Would you anticipate any meaningful follow-up? (72 replies)
Yes: (34) '
"The IG might attempt to follow it up, but the local
management might obstruct any recommendations by the IG."
No: (27)
"'Sympathy' perhaps; results, no."
"Since even the most flagrant cases of mismanagement are
ignored, one can have little hope of justice."
"They are the Director's representatives, not ours."
"I would expect a series of referrals to regulations."
Maybe: (11)
5.a. Have -you ever had a rievance that you wanted to take outside
of the normal chain-of-command? 85 replies
Yes: (22)
No: (63)
5.b. Did you ever do so? (22 "yes" replies to above)
Yes: (7)
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"Yes, and received a stern warning from a senior supervisor."
"One grievance, but I had to change offices, my job title,
and go through another chain-of-command.
No: (15)
"The problems that might arise are not worth it."
6.a. Is the IG an a ro riate channel for hearing and actin on
---- - gri evances? 75 replies
Yes: (37)
"It should be, but I know of few cases where an IG survey
actually corrected a situation."
"Yes, it is the appropriate channel, but you really do try
to avoid this channel because, once it is known you have
seen the IG, things may become difficult on your job.
"Yes, but the system seems haphazardly conceived. Most
employees are unaware of procedures and are reluctant due
to possible consequences vis-a-vis career."
"The normal management chain should take care of and
satisfy legitimate grievances. For those cases which are not
solved, the IG is appropriate."
No: (28)
"So long as many people don't even know of the existence
of a grievance system and, more importantly, that those who do
are afraid to use it for fear of being branded a trouble-maker,
it is not an appropriate channel."
"No, because it lacks power to enforce its decisions upon
the component at fault."
"No, because most clerrical ofuthe systemedandth
proper management and
management is nil in this Agency."
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(Question' 6.a. continued)
"There are no definitions of what items they might deem
of enough importance to listen to."
Don't know: (10)
6.b. Can grievance procedures be improved? (selected suggestions
were as follows :
"The IG should be more available and accessible."
"Grievances should be placed before an informal group
composed of non-establishment types, able to cut across
red tape and act anonymously."
"People should feel freer to go to the IG."
"Perhaps by setting up an independent grievance board
made up of outsiders."
"It needs a leader and officials with rank and clout."
"Get rid of unspoken rule that one doesn't make waves."
"There ought to be a channel closer to the officer,
perhaps one board for each directorate."
"Publicize IG activities."
"I would prefer a grievance board composed at least
partially of my peers. Bureaucrats who have played
the game for years are likely to be out of touch with
problems and grievance of the troops."
"It is useful to top echelons as a means of siphoning
off employee dissatisfactions, but has no use to employee
complaintants."
"Action in this outfit remains highly personalistic -- 'Who
you know' is critical. I think there is some profit in
lookirg to an accessible ombudsman as bridging the gap
between the personalized and bureaucratized treatment of
grievances."
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(Question 6.b. continued)
"How about an ombudsman?"
7: If your component has been surveyed by the IG staff durin the
last few years, can you comment on that process? 54 replies)
Never heard results: (14)
Waste of time, made no difference: (10)
"Only the branch chief was interviewed."
"Analysts would relay their problems and suggestions and
would never get any results."
"I got the impression the interviewer was more interested
in hearing about what was right in the office rather than
what was wrong; his questions certainly weren't incisive.
I never saw the final report; I have no idea what-it sug-
gested; I have seen no changes around this office that
were attributed to the IG survey."
"Overall impression was good . . . some change since the
IG survey."
"No interest in or intention of listening to complaints
or comments on personnel management procedures."
"In both cases the surveys were conducted by officers in
their 50's at the GS-15 level. If most of the inspectors
are in this category, I wonder how responsive they are to
complaints and/or suggestions made by the 20 and 30 year
old employees . . ."
"They ask good questions but lack clout."
"I am not sure that they. received candid opinions from
all hands, but I believe that any major problems would
have surfaced."
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(Question 7 continued)
was an exercise in futility."
"When the final report was published, it turns out that
things are generally good, no real problems, etc. We
in fact had some real problems at the time, and I'm not
convinced that they were ever addressed."
"They seemed to have a closed mind to the problems faced
by women in the Agency, especially in the DDP. No sug-
gestions were given regarding future developments or
changes which might help one develop a meaningful career
within the system."
"Results of the survey brought about obvious changes --
which were, for the most part, favorable.",..
"The review is mechanical and is shown only to the
upper management."
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