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Info re Bidding for a Large Dallas Ethics Training Contract
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
Robert Wechsler
Today, I received a copy of the Dallas
City Council agenda addendum for its August 22 meeting.
This addendum contains (pp. 11-17) extensive information about a
large ($434,495) contract for "the assessment of the City’s current ethics
guidelines and the development of an ethics training program." City
Ethics was a partner in the losing bid of the Josephson Institute of
Ethics.
The report on the bidding on this project shows how empty the field of government ethics is of experienced consultants. As far as I can tell, only two of the bidders had any expertise in government ethics training: the Josephson Institute (with a character-oriented approach) and the ICMA (with an administrative ethics focus). The other bidders are either management consultants, corporate ethics and compliance trainers, or corporate trainers without an ethics or compliance specialty.
The job consists of the training of 13,000 city employees. The three-year term starts with an assessment of the current ethics program and employee attitudes about government ethics, followed by the development of a training program based on what is found. The training is to consist of a two-hour instructor-led course, with one hour general background, the other hour focused on the specific group being trained (a good idea). However, there does not appear to be any small-group discussions of scenarios, which is especially valuable. Nor does there appear to be more extensive training for higher-level offiicals. In fact, the addendum mentions only employees and staff, not officials.
In the second and third year, the vendor is to assess the effectiveness of the training program, and develop ways to sustain it beyond the end of the contract, including videos, e-mail messages, and a train-the-trainer program for 25 human resources employees.
The contract was won by Navagant Consulting, a management consulting company that, on its website, does not state any expertise in government ethics or training. It does, however, have an expertise in consulting to governments on a variety of issues.
The other bidders were as follows:
International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the big surprise for me, since it is a professional association. However, it does do extensive administrative ethics training of local government officials and employees
Josephson Institute of Ethics, whose expertise is in ethics training (with City Ethics to assess the city's ethics program)
Littler Mendelson, a Dallas employment and labor law specialist that has a subspeciality in corporate compliance and risk assessment, including training in corporate codes of conduct
Dr. Michael Palmer dba Ethics by Design, whose expertise is in ethics and compliance training
Clear Message Communication dba Ignite It Group, a Dallas firm that specializes in "strategic learning programs," but does not list ethics among its programs
Afful Consulting, a firm that specializes in "human capital management," including corporate training, but not in ethics, according to its website
NaSmith Consulting, a Dallas-area firm about which I could find next to nothing
The bids were evaluated by a committee consisting of officials from the following city departments:
City Controller
Street Services
Human Resources
Police
Fire Rescue
City Manager’s Office
Business Development and Procurement Services
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
The report on the bidding on this project shows how empty the field of government ethics is of experienced consultants. As far as I can tell, only two of the bidders had any expertise in government ethics training: the Josephson Institute (with a character-oriented approach) and the ICMA (with an administrative ethics focus). The other bidders are either management consultants, corporate ethics and compliance trainers, or corporate trainers without an ethics or compliance specialty.
The job consists of the training of 13,000 city employees. The three-year term starts with an assessment of the current ethics program and employee attitudes about government ethics, followed by the development of a training program based on what is found. The training is to consist of a two-hour instructor-led course, with one hour general background, the other hour focused on the specific group being trained (a good idea). However, there does not appear to be any small-group discussions of scenarios, which is especially valuable. Nor does there appear to be more extensive training for higher-level offiicals. In fact, the addendum mentions only employees and staff, not officials.
In the second and third year, the vendor is to assess the effectiveness of the training program, and develop ways to sustain it beyond the end of the contract, including videos, e-mail messages, and a train-the-trainer program for 25 human resources employees.
The contract was won by Navagant Consulting, a management consulting company that, on its website, does not state any expertise in government ethics or training. It does, however, have an expertise in consulting to governments on a variety of issues.
The other bidders were as follows:
International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the big surprise for me, since it is a professional association. However, it does do extensive administrative ethics training of local government officials and employees
Josephson Institute of Ethics, whose expertise is in ethics training (with City Ethics to assess the city's ethics program)
Littler Mendelson, a Dallas employment and labor law specialist that has a subspeciality in corporate compliance and risk assessment, including training in corporate codes of conduct
Dr. Michael Palmer dba Ethics by Design, whose expertise is in ethics and compliance training
Clear Message Communication dba Ignite It Group, a Dallas firm that specializes in "strategic learning programs," but does not list ethics among its programs
Afful Consulting, a firm that specializes in "human capital management," including corporate training, but not in ethics, according to its website
NaSmith Consulting, a Dallas-area firm about which I could find next to nothing
The bids were evaluated by a committee consisting of officials from the following city departments:
City Controller
Street Services
Human Resources
Police
Fire Rescue
City Manager’s Office
Business Development and Procurement Services
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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