BHA Workplace Culture Survey_06_27_2024

BHA Workplace Culture Survey
**Privacy Act Statement**
Please see the Privacy Act Statement in its entirety in the ensuing section.
Introduction:
As a part of the transformation of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and Food For
Peace (FFP) into BHA in 2020, we enlisted the support of USAID Staff Care organizational
consultants to both assess the cultures* of FFP and OFDA, and then engage staff in the design of
a BHA culture that melds the best of both offices. To that end, BHA conducted a cultural
assessment survey in March/April 2020, which has informed Staff Care’s culture work with BHA
offices and senior management. This culminated in a July 2021 workshop where office
representatives integrated all the office-level work on culture into a BHA-wide culture document.
In 2021 BHA conducted a second culture survey. This survey was implemented and analyzed by
the Training Resources Group, Inc. (TRG) to ensure confidentiality of responses. TRG analyzed the
data and shared results from the survey with BHA leadership and staff in early 2022.
Subsequently, BHA Offices held meetings to focus on individual office results and action planning
discussions.
The 2021 survey provides baseline data for our 2023 survey. This year's survey will allow us to
gauge the process to date on developing a BHA culture.
Your participation is critical, so please note this survey is confidential. While we will be requesting
demographic information so that we can analyze survey responses in a variety of ways, this
information will not be attached to individuals who respond, and TRG consultants will be the only
ones with access to the raw data.
(*Culture for the purposes of this survey means BHA’s values, norms and behaviors that guide and
inform BHA staff and how we work together.)
(*Culture for the purposes of this survey means BHA’s values, norms and behaviors that guide and inform BHA staff
and how we work together.)

Unit defined as: The immediate BHA team/office/group that you work closest with.
Bureau leadership defined as: BHA Front Office, Office directors based in Washington DC

Privacy Act Statement

In accordance with EO 14035: Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in
the Federal Workforce, we are collecting information relating to the culture of BHA and to the
morale of all of our employees to help inform efforts to improve workplace culture.
BHA intends to use the voluntarily-given basic demographic information along with responses
gauging morale and workplace culture at an aggregate level to examine where pain points in
BHA’s approach to work may be. With information about how employees of different genders,
sexual identities, hiring mechanisms, disability statuses, and racial or ethnic groups feel about
their unit and BHA’s culture, office and bureau leadership will be better informed about how to
focus and prioritize efforts related to culture change. Identifying how staff feel about their
workplace culture and what factors are affecting their morale will allow leaders at all levels in
the bureau to create a better culture and improve conditions for groups where needed. The
survey will be sent to staff at their USAID email address, the survey will indicate that staff will be
asked for their consent to share demographic data, which they may decline to provide at their
discretion. Staff will be notified about the purpose of the collection, what will be done with the
information provided, and how the information will be retained and protected.
We will use this information to inform office and bureau-level follow up actions. Additionally,
leaders at different levels in the bureau will be able to use the disaggregated data to inform their
office culture improvement action plans. We plan to conduct annual cultural surveys to continue
to track and invest in BHA culture change over time. Information will not be shared with any
other entity or source and will not be used for any other purpose beyond what is specified here.
In order to isolate the data from anyone who would have the ability to identify participants, our
consultant partner, the Training Resources Group, Inc. (TRG), will execute, house, and
disaggregate the data from this survey, protecting this information with the utmost integrity in
accordance with their corporate privacy policies. No PII will be collected or shared. Two
individuals in TRG will have access to the raw data only through two-factor authentication.
Further, raw data will be deleted after one year after which a new culture survey will be
disseminated to BHA staff.

Proposed questions:
Demographics:
1. For which part of BHA do you work?
a. Office of Field and Response Operations (FARO)
b. Office of Humanitarian Business and Management Operations (HBMO)
c. Office of Technical and Program Quality (TPQ)
d. Office of Global Policy, Partnerships, Programs, and Communications
(G3PC)
e. Office of Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean (ALAC)

f. Office of Africa (OA)
g. Office of Middle East, North Africa, and Europe (MENAE)
h. Regional/country based
i. Prefer Not to Respond
2. What is your hiring mechanism?
a. U.S. Personal Services Contracts (USPSC)
b. USPSC-Support Relief Group (USPSC-SRG)
c. Third Country National Personal Services Contract (TCNPSC)
d. Local Personal Services Contractor (Local PSC)
e. Foreign Service National (FSN)
f. Political Appointee
g. Civil Service (CS)
h. Foreign Service (FS)
i. Foreign Service Limited (FSL)
j. Civil Service Excepted (CSE)
k. Participating Agency Service Agreement (PASA)
l. Participating Agency Service Agreement Detailer (PASA Detailer)
m. Institutional Contractor
n. Fellow
o. Intern
p. Other
q. Prefer Not to Respond
3. How long have you been with BHA (including OFDA/FFP time)?
a. 0-1 year
b. 1-3 years
c. 4-7 years
d. 8-15 years
e. 15+ years
4. What is your race and/or ethnicity. Select all that apply.
a. American Indian or Alaska Native. For example, Navajo Native, Blackfeet
Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, Native Village of
Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec,
Maya, etc.
b. Asian. For example, Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean,
Japanese, etc.
c. Black of African American. For example, African American, Jamaican,
Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Somali, etc.
d. Hispanic or Latino. For example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran,
Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, etc.
e. Middle Eastern or North African. For example, Lebanese, Iranian,
Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, Israeli, etc.
f. Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. For example, Native Hawaiian,
Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, Marshallese, etc.
g. White. For examples, English, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Scottish, etc.

5.

6.

7.

8.

h. Other
i. Prefer not to identify
Which gender best describes you?
a. Female
b. Male
c. Transgender, non-binary, or other gender
d. Prefer not to respond.
Which of the following best represents how you think of yourself?
a. Lesbian or gay
b. Straight (that is, not gay or bisexual)
c. Bisexual
d. Something else
e. Not sure about my sexual orientation
f. Prefer not to respond
How do you describe your disability/ability status? Please mark all that apply.
a. Yes, I have a disability for which I have sought a reasonable
accommodation.
b. Yes, I have a disability for which I have NOT sought a reasonable
accommodation.
c. No, I do not have a disability.
d. I prefer not to respond.
Do you lead, manage or supervise other members of the BHA workforce?
a. Yes
b. No

Workplace culture (Values/Norms/Behaviors):
9. I feel my workplace values are aligned with BHA values.
a. Totally Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Neutral, Somewhat Agree, Totally
Agree, No opinion (same scale for 10-20)
10. I feel that my teammates trust me.
11. I trust my teammates.
12. I feel valued by those in my unit.
13. I value my unit members.
14. (OPTIONAL) My US/Field counterpart respects my input and opinions.
a. Optional, if applicable
15. I feel I can disclose a suspected misconduct, violation of any law, rule or
regulation without fear of reprisal.
16. What do you most value about BHA culture? (500 characters)

Leadership
17. Unit leadership listens to and respects me/my work.
18. I feel that a workforce of all cultures and backgrounds are made to feel included
and valued in BHA.

19. Bureau leadership and/or regional office leads create opportunities for all voices
and perspectives to be heard and valued in an environment of trust.
20. I feel Bureau and unit leadership clearly communicate their decisions.
21. I feel unit leadership advances DEIA and other efforts to improve culture.

Morale

22. My work morale is:
a. Very Low, Low, Somewhat Low, Neutral, Somewhat High, Very High
23. The morale of my unit is:
a. Very Low, Low, Somewhat Low, Neutral, Somewhat High, Very High
24. The morale of BHA is:
a. Very Low, Low, Somewhat Low, Neutral, Somewhat High, Very High
25. I am comfortable (check all that apply):
a. Using workplace flexible options if available to you.
b. Signing off at a regular hour.
c. Taking time off from work.
d. Not responding to emails during off hours, unless urgent.
26. What four factors impact your morale the most (check all that apply)?
a. USAID plans for returning to the office
b. Prioritization of work
c. Amount of work
d. Issues around DEIA
e. Issues around Harassment, Sexual Harassment, and Bullying
f. Management Issues (transparency, accessibility, changes in)
g. Interpersonal relationships with my colleagues
h. Issues around systems/processes
i. Ability to fully express my ideas and thoughts about work
j. Support and empowerment in advancing my career
k. Personal Issues
l. Other (50 characters)
27. If you selected “Other” to the previous question, please provide your description
here.

Final comments
28. Where should leadership focus its attention over the next year to continue to
build culture? (500 characters)