Section B: Leadership is a critical element in workplace culture

Our vision

• People-focused leadership is a valued, trained and practiced skill across the OPP.
• Leaders are identified and supported to sustain a healthy workplace.
• Leadership skills are given priority in the promotional process.
• Member confidence in the promotional process is increased through the application of transparent best practices.

Leadership impacts wellness

As referenced above, a healthy and resilient workplace requires effective and engaged leadership. In this context, ‘leadership’ must refer to every member of management as well as those senior members of the organization who, regardless of their rank, exert influence over the workplace culture and the experience of their peers. The power of a leader to impact the workplace – both at an individual member level and culturally across the workplace – is not always understood by those who hold the power. Coach officers, senior constables and well-respected team members may play an informal but influential role in the culture of the workplace.

The Panel heard consistent calls for a push to ensure that leaders are capable and engaged in supporting the wellness of members. The role of leaders was cited during roundtables, individual interviews and the survey as a reason that members had a positive experience in managing a wellness-related issue. Unfortunately, more often, leadership was cited as a reason that members had a negative experience with wellness, including an increase in the severity of the issue, an inability to return to work successfully, or an escalation of workplace conflict.

In the survey, members were asked to provide suggestions to improve their local bureau/detachment workplace culture as well as the workplace culture within the OPP organization-wide .The top comments for improving the workplace culture related to 1) more professionalism, accountability, respect, leadership from all and 2) better promotional and hiring processes.^{footnote 1[1]}

Members of the OPP, and indeed within police services across Canada and internationally, are anxious for a leadership model that develops and supports a ‘climate for wellbeing’– a positive team environment where leader role modelling validates early help-seeking behaviour and support becomes a shared function with team members also looking out for one another.^{footnote 2[2]} In other words, members want to move past a top-down style/traditional paramilitary style of leadership when it comes to wellness and resilience. While this represents a significant shift in policing culture, the Panel is confident that the OPP leadership can incorporate this innovative approach.

People-focused leadership

The Panel strongly endorses a focus on leadership that is supportive of a healthy and more resilient workforce. The Panel is encouraged that this form of leadership, while more prevalent outside of the policing sector, is already endorsed in other police organizations.

The Victoria Police Mental Health Review contains an important treatment of the concepts of people-focused leadership and the use of this tool in creating a more engaged and healthier workforce. Their review of leadership best practices describes people-focused leadership as qualities and behaviours including:^{footnote 3[3]}

• integrity (i.e. values-grounded behaviours and congruence between actions and words)
• role modelling expected behaviours and values
• empathy
• effective communication
• self-awareness
• demonstrating understanding of the issues employees face
• respectful interactions e.g. listening well and talking to anyone (regardless of rank or level) in the same way
• transparent decision-making
• building clarity and accountability for results and behaviours
• proactively initiating supportive conversations with at-risk individuals

Both the OPP Mental Health Review^{footnote 4[4]} and the OPP Suicide Review^{footnote 5[5]} make findings and recommendations that support the adoption of people-focused leadership as a means to supporting the mental wellness of members and creating a healthy organizational culture.

The OPP should continue to strengthen its commitment to identifying, developing and supporting new leaders

“[Put] leaders in place who believe, develop and promote their people. We need to emphasize the importance of identifying future leaders who clearly understand a culture of trust and transparency as opposed to managers who are more interested in promoting and looking after themselves and feeding a negative workplace culture.” - OPP member

It is critical that current and future leaders receive the training they require to understand and act on the elements of people-centred leadership. It is insufficient to expect that individuals, regardless of their personality, are able to innately develop all of the skills and tools of an effective leader. The Panel found that training for leaders which focuses on people and empathy is lacking. Leadership training should be regular and recurrent, supporting continuous learning and ongoing maintenance of skills.

However, leadership training is only one tool in the larger toolkit that the OPP should be using to develop and sustain people-centred leadership. In addition to training, the OPP should take an active role in identifying and developing future leaders, as well as supporting new leaders through mentoring and coaching programs. Positive role models, regardless of rank, should be engaged to champion the principles of leadership and model expected behaviours. Expected behaviours should be clearly communicated by the Commissioner and leadership team and should form the basis for performance discussions.

Clear communication and transparency of expectations from leaders creates an opportunity for team members to be aware of management direction and to foster connection and feel valued even when not at work.^{footnote 6[6]}

The Panel strongly encourages the adoption of training, communication of expectations, modelling behaviours and performance management for leaders at all levels that incorporates the values of people-focused leadership.

Recommendation 3: Culture change requires prioritization of leadership skills throughout the organization

1. The development of curriculum and culture change activities related to leadership skills should extend beyond the current training and requirements. New approaches that support a change in mindset and behaviour must be introduced.
2. Leadership skills, including ‘people’ skills, empathy, interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, communication, and resiliency should be prioritized as essential skills for promotions at every level.
3. Mentoring and training programs for current, new and future leaders should focus on people including resilience and leadership skills.
4. Leaders at every level should take part in regular and ongoing leadership skills training that is people-centred and includes empathy, interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, decision-making and guiding a team, coaching, resiliency and supporting staff.
5. Leadership training should include specific training on supporting employees with mental health challenges and building and maintaining a psychologically healthy organizational culture, including self-care and support for managers.
6. Management performance plans should include expectations that align with the leadership responsibilities outlined in this Report.
7. The organizational expectations for all staff with respect to leadership should be modelled and regularly communicated by the Commissioner and his leadership team.

The promotional process does not have member confidence

The Panel heard repeated, vehement skepticism with respect to the OPP’s promotional process. It was clear to us that this process plays a major role in perpetuating a credibility issue with leadership, a culture of silence and stigma, and a reduction in access of wellness services and supports.

“Nepotism in promotion has caused a huge credibility and experience gap leading to ineffective supervision, poor decision making.” - OPP member

“I would hope the OPP would identify leaders within our organization and attempt to put them into leadership positions. The current system of promotion has facilitated the situation the OPP is in.” - OPP member

The Panel heard about common incidents of nepotism and cronyism in management hiring that sustained the ‘old boys’ network’. The Panel heard about both real and perceived bias in the process, including avoidance of the talent pool process, questions that promote negative management styles, and a quid pro quo concept preferred the promotion of people who have ‘done favours’ for each other over a merit-based selection.

Many good leaders have been promoted in the OPP and are active and effective supporters of their staff. However, the process is highly flawed and understandably suspect. These issues have very real consequences for the wellness of members and for the resilience of the workforce.

[P]romotional processes that support strong leadership skills and provide supervisors with the tools and strategies to support their employees, as well as identify and address the causes of organizational dissatisfaction can help to improve the employees’ chances of recovery and return to work.^{footnote 7[7]}

The promotional process must be credible and trusted, and a response should be an immediate priority for the OPP.

The solution is readily available

While the Panel is concerned about the failings of the promotional process, it is equally confident that the course can be reversed. There is no shortage of literature, study and best practices on transparent, accountable and merit-based selection processes, including many elements of the OPP’s current policy.^{footnote 8[8]} The requirements of a proper promotional process are obvious and the Panel encourages the OPP to focus on increased accountability for decision-making, strengthening the merit-based nature of the process and prioritizing leadership qualities as desirable skills. The principles are sound but the process needs oversight and accountability.

It is evident to the Panel that the current process is susceptible to cronyism and nepotism in hiring selection. Increased accountability for decision-making based on merit could include the participation of a ‘neutral’ member of management in the hiring process, seeking some input from the candidate’s colleagues and supervisors, and the more rigorous use of tools such as existing talent pools. The definition of merit should be clarified to align with the organizational expectations of leadership. Leadership skills should be valued at least as much as demonstration of competency at policing and length of time in the organization.

“Recommendation 19: Review the OPP promotional process to ensure that it is transparent, equitable and fair for all members. Transparent, equitable and fair processes support morale and decrease mistrust in leadership. Assess methods used to evaluate and determine leadership suitability.” - OPP Suicide Review, page 50

The Panel also urges a review of the criteria for promotion, including the questions asked of prospective candidates. These criteria and questions should be aligned with the organization’s values on wellness and designed to understand the candidate’s suitability as a people-focused leader. For example, the Panel understands that there is currently a promotional question that asks when and how the candidate has held someone ‘accountable’ for their actions. The Panel is advised by members and accepts that this question is not commonly interpreted to support people-focused leadership and has a negative effect on candidates’ behaviour with other members pending a competition.

Both the Mental Health Review^{footnote 9[9]} and the OPP Suicide Review^{footnote 10[10]} provide excellent guidance for ensuring that the promotional process supports the wellness of members and the resilience of the organization. The Panel views the promotional process as a key element in ensuring the development and sustainability of a resilient organization in which members can manage wellness and conflict issues.

Recommendation 4: The promotional process should be transparent and support people-focused leadership

1. To ensure real and perceived fairness, the promotional process should include:
   • participation in promotional decisions by neutral members of management such as those stationed outside the local area
   • seeking the input of members into key promotional decisions through the use of tools such as an appropriate 360 assessment
   • clear and transparent decision-making with feedback for those not chosen
2. A review of the promotional policies and process should be conducted with insight from members across the province to ensure that the process is aligned with the organizational expectations of leadership and supports choosing individuals who demonstrate leadership capacity.