Workplace Investigation Dayton’s Bluff Community Council CONFIDENTIAL Authored by: Brenda Beukelman, MBA Workplace Investigation Dayton’s Bluff Community Council Overview A formal complaint of a harassing and hostile work environment was brought by three staff members to the attention of the DBCC Board of Directors meeting on Monday, November 20, 2017. Upon hearing the complaints, the Executive Committee of the Board authorized an investigation into the claims and put the Executive Director on a fourteen-day unpaid leave, effective immediately. The scope of this investigation is contained to the workplace environment, culture, and communication. It does not attempt to determine financial mismanagement. It will look for patterns of behaviors, communication and work relationships. Process Workplace Investigation 12/1/2017 A signed contract was put in place on Friday, November 24. A list of staff names was provided by Crystal Norcross on Monday afternoon and interviews conducted onsite on Tuesday, November 28, 2017. A completed report is due to the Executive Committee of the Board by end of day Friday, December 1. A document and information review included:       Executive Director Job description (2 versions, which were identical) Executive Director Self Review Policies and Procedures for Dayton’s Bluff Community Council By-Laws Employee Handbook The Dayton’s Bluff Community Council web site and Facebook page Consistent themes    Lack of financial data and fiscal controls Lack of defined roles and responsibilities Dysfunctional environment Executive Summary There is widespread miscommunication, strained relationships and high emotions. However, it does not constitute harassment. There is risky financial decision making, however, it is not unethical behavior. I was unable to identify discrimination of anyone based on protected class. There were claims of Deanna being less than patient or dismissive to individuals, but it was not harassment nor discrimination. I am not able to view the financial reports, I do not believe this is a case of embezzlement or activity done for personal gain. It was also not done with intent to harm the organization or individuals. In fact, she felt she was protecting people from knowing just how tight finances were to not worry them. She reports that she deposited $500 of her own money to keep a check from bouncing. Deanna’s actions 1 and intent was to make all accounts whole, but ran out of time and money. She was also removed from the organization so has not been involved in any efforts to remedy the cashflow and payroll situation. Leadership and Management Executive Directors need to be both effective leaders and managers. However, leadership and management require different skills. A leader innovates and a manager administrates. It is possible to have skills in both areas, but usually one or the other comes more naturally. The less organic skills will need more attention to develop a good balance. There isn’t a right or wrong, good or bad leadership style. Which one is right depends upon the environment, staff, and task. Workplace Investigation 12/1/2017 Deanna describes her style as one of a risk taker who can make things happen. She can see opportunities and can bring people together around an idea. She is deeply committed to the East Side and is concerned about the potential impact of this investigation may have on the future of the council and impact to staff and community. She is an entrepreneurial and visionary thinker. She has the creativity and courage to seek out and create new partnerships the community. She has grown the Council from a small grass-roots organization to a community leader with three businesses; the radio station, Enterprise Center, and cultural center. She also has a classic laissez-faire, or “hands-off” leadership style, that gives staff authority and responsibility to resolve problems on their own and freedom to determine how the work gets done. A leader with this type of style will usually not give a lot of direction or feedback. One example of being “hands- off” was having Maryanne and Lupe run staff meetings to give them the opportunity to learn and grow. This leadership style (visionary, entrepreneurial, and laissez-faire) is a good fit for a well-established team that doesn’t want or need much direction to do their jobs. It requires experienced staff with confidence in their own skills. It also requires trusting relationships and communication by all. Unfortunately, this is not the right team for this leadership style. Deanna wrote in her performance review self-evaluation she is not a “micromanager, to a fault”. In her interview, she repeated this, saying staff are hired because they have the skills to do the job and should try to solve problems rather than looking for someone to give them solutions. She believes in giving staff freedom to try new things (a skill she herself values) and to have their back if it fails. Loyalty is important and expected in exchange for the freedom and opportunities provided. “Lots of trust is given and expectations are not always communicated or understood on both sides.” The staff interviews provided a clear and consistent picture of a leader giving freedom and a staff wanting more guidance. 2 Deanna’s relationship with the Board could also be described as hands-off. She views her role as being responsible to get her job done and updates the board on the big picture and on a needs-to know basis. She is often self-reliant and carries the responsibility for the success of the DBCC. Unfortunately, there is a lack of trust and communication among the staff, board, and ED. Therefore, I find this is not a good style for some of the current staff who are new to their roles. It also is not a good fit for leaders who cannot or do not give frequent feedback. Management style Workplace Investigation 12/1/2017 Deanna is a much stronger leader than she is manager. She is not as interested in creating operational structure and systems, which compromises her strengths as a leader. Good management requires more attention to detail, is more repetitive, and needs consistent communication. While she may be capable of being a good manager, it isn’t in her natural skill set and the needs of the current team are not a good match. There is an obvious need for improved financial tracking and shared appreciation for and knowledge of how the money comes in and is paid out, especially in terms of the role that DBCC plays as a fiscal agent for other organizations. Staff development for new or less experienced staff requires well defined job duties and expectations. Maryanne, Lupe, and Melinna are all relatively new and not very experienced in their roles. This is not a bad thing, per se, but they need more direction, feedback and oversight. Also, there needs to be clear expectations for results to be held accountable. This is not a natural management style for Deanna. According to Deanna, Lupe was hired to lead a new organization within the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council focused on Economic Development. This plan was approved by the Board. Lupe was to work beside Deanna until March and to help raise money. She would not be Deanna’s successor over the Council, but be focused on Economic Development. Deanna was motivated to hire her as she stated she had fundraising experience in her past position as Director of Development at the Little Earth United Tribes. To date, Deanna is not aware of any money that has come in through fundraising. Communication As example of how Deanna’s leadership and management style conflicts with the some of the current staff is in budgeting. Currently, there is a “chicken or the egg” scenario with program budgets. Staff ask for a budget and the ED responds with how much do you need. Both parties are frustrated with the lack of action or response from the other, without realizing how each are contributing to the situation. As a manager, Deanna is expecting her staff to develop a needs-based budget, inclusive of what and how much they believe is needed to achieve the 3 goals. Not an unreasonable expectation on its own. On the other hand, staff are asking for a dollar amount or limit that they can spend without developing a plan. “It’s not like an allowance, so you know how much you can spend. Tell me what you plan to do and how much you need,” Deanna told staff. However, the staff didn’t know how and where to begin and a stalemate was created. No progress was made. It should be noted there are staff and Board members that do not have an issue with Deanna or her communication style. They ask for and receive feedback and are assertive to get her attention when needed. Those individuals do not take comments personally and focused on the content of the message or task at hand. They also had a greater sense of what was expected of them and what was needed to do their job. Deanna’s intention of mentoring backfired as Maryanne takes in feedback as personal failures. Workplace Investigation 12/1/2017 The work environment for some staff became uncomfortable and awkward. Attempts at humor failed, and staff were offended because they didn’t know how else to take it. Confusion led to assumptions being made about Deanna’s intent. When a void exists, it is human nature to try to guess why. This became very evident in the interviews. There were two completely different views of the same event or situation yet the facts of the stories were the same. There is a great deal of secondhand information and assumptions made. Nearly every interview included references to things they had heard or situations they did not experience firsthand. The phrase “someone said…” was used to support their opinion. However, when asked directly if they ever experienced harassment or threats, the answer was no. There is a general sense of suspicion and assumption of ill intent on both sides. When asked point blank if staff asked the ED why or followed up on missing information or conflicting communication, nearly every person said they did not. Same goes for Deanna. Deanna described herself as direct and can be perceived as intimidating. She is aware of that and said she uses humor, makes herself available daily to staff and keeps an “open door” to help soften that perception. However, her use of humor and attempts at being more personable are not received as positive. An example is Deanna sharing her opinions about a staff member being taken advantage of by others and advising her to stand up for herself was meant to be supportive and encouraging. Yet, the staff person said it made her feel humiliated and embarrassed. Growing Isolation and Financial Pressure The biggest communication issue is of omission. There are too many people who do not have all the information. This can be dangerous when information and control are not shared. As the financial situation worsened, Deanna became more isolated. She kept much of the knowledge and activities to herself because she felt she could handle everything and didn’t have anyone skilled and ready to hand it off to or partner with. 4 Deanna admits to moving money around to cover expenses. Risk taking, delays in grant monies, and the lack of anticipated fundraising results from Lupe contributed to the current cash flow issue. Spending did not adjust to the decreased revenue. The fixed costs, including staffing, could not be quickly reduced or modified. Cancelation of 7th Street Live caused pressure to refund money that had been used to cover something else. Collapse of the LEDC, which sought financial help from Deanna, added more debt to DBCC. Board of Directors The relationships between the Board of Directors and Deanna is tenuous. It was described as Deanna having a wall around herself for protection as well as to get things done without too much interference. It is a normal tension between an ED who wants autonomy in decision making and a Board who wants more involvement. What is missing here is clarity. Workplace Investigation 12/1/2017 For example; what is and isn’t necessary communication. Some board members would like to have more details than necessary, and want to get into the day to day decisions. Others want to know more about organizational relationships and potential partners. The Policies and Procedures for Dayton’s Bluff Community Council states “The Executive Director is responsible for updating the board on all Council activity in its entirety.” As written, that is an unrealistic and impossible expectation. Bottom line is more communication is needed, but what is valuable and necessary, rather than nice to know, needs to be determined. Board members need to understand that the role of governance is high level strategic direction and broad fiscal oversight. The role of a board member is not the day to day management of an organization. This is a common struggle for board members to maintain this level of oversight and leadership. The function of the Board needs to be reviewed and recommitted, especially with so much turnover. Is it an operating or governance board? Not everyone understands what an ED can or should share with a board. For example, personnel issues such as the reasons for terminating employment of a staff member. It is typical for the board to be informed, but the reason and details behind the termination not commonly shared to a due to confidentiality. Work Environment and Harassment The work environment was reported to have gone from “pleasant” to “uncomfortable and awkward” in the past couple of months. Deanna admits she was frazzled and didn’t have a lot of patience. Two instances of staff embarrassment were reported, both involving individuals outside of the council. One was a criticism of the quality of the staffs’ work at an event and the other involved an off-hand comment about “feeding the staff member’s family” due to employing the staff member. There is no law that says a supervisor must be kind and nurturing. Communication that is perceived as rude or ineffective is not harassment. However, 5 an organization has the right to establish performance expectations that define conduct and communication to shape the culture. Every person interviewed was asked if they had felt harassed or threatened. A threat being a statement or action that is intended to inflict harm or loss through intimidation, violence, or other disruptive behavior. All those interviewed said no. There were no reports of being threatened to be fired. However, a few said they felt it was threatening when she raised her voice, swore, or talked about staff cuts. They were fearful of losing their jobs or not getting paid, which is understandably very stressful. Recommendations      Bring Deanna back to transition her knowledge of the financial dealings. Have her share her knowledge, files, reports, names of contacts, etc. with the Chair of the Board, Jeanelle Foster, to stabilize the situation. Add Jeanelle and Holly Windingstad as authorized users for all accounts, if not already done. Hire an outside, experienced interim ED. Do not hire anyone with personal ties to the current staff or someone who lacks the leadership and management experience necessary. Verify Lupe’s previous work experience at the Little Earth United Tribes as the Director of Development for the year and half prior to beginning at DBCC. A formal hiring process was not followed, including a lack of a verification of employment and a professional reference from a previous supervisor. Maryanne has multiple conflicts of interest, making the emotional part of this situation even more challenging. She and her husband are the founders of Indigenous Roots, which is a tenant in the Cultural Arts Center. There is a question in about the payment of expenses. Deanna said Maryanne and her husband have put a lot of money into it without consulting her, yet she doesn’t know if it is DBCC money or is coming out of Indigenous Roots, or Maryanne and her spouse’s personal pocket. Bills, not sure how many and for what amounts, are paid by DBCC. There may be absolutely no impropriety involved. However, there is a lack of clear guidelines for operating and procedures for decision making that define the responsibilities of DBCC and Indigenous Roots. Also, Maryanne and her husband are undergoing mandated mediation with a neighbor who has made numerous calls to the police to complain about activity at the Cultural Center. Similarly, define guidelines for operations and decision making for the radio station and any future ventures that require DBCC funding. Implement mandatory board training that includes an explanation of the boards role, function, and how meetings work. Not everyone understands Roberts Rules or how Boards do their work. There is a perception that the better informed and educated people are dominating meetings. Race has been mentioned more than once as a factor. The organization has done tremendous work to recruit a board that is reflective of the community, but Workplace Investigation 12/1/2017  6 Workplace Investigation 12/1/2017  7 this work does not go far enough if board members do not have an adequate understanding of their role as board members. Remove Tabitha DeRango from the Board of Directors for obvious conflict of interest. Anyone that has brought a claim against or sued the organization or the Executive Director should not be seated as a board member.