Information Collection Review Request for OMB Approval: Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Workplace Culture Survey, 8396-8398 [2024-02463]

Agencies

• Agency for International Development

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8396-8398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02463]


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2024 / 
Notices

[[Page 8396]]



AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT


Information Collection Review Request for OMB Approval: Bureau 
for Humanitarian Assistance Workplace Culture Survey

AGENCY: U.S. Agency for International Development.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) 
proposes to survey all members of its workforce to assess and gauge its 
processes for developing and improving a more cohesive BHA culture. 
This survey is also sent to institutional support contractors (ISCs), 
which are part of the USAID workforce but are members of the public for 
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). USAID/BHA 
invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this 
opportunity to comment on the following new information collection as 
it relates to ISCs, as required by the PRA. The purpose of this notice 
is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the 
collection to OMB.

DATES: Please submit comments no later than April 1, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments (titled `BHA Workforce Culture Survey 
Comments') by any of the following methods:
     Email: Kathryn Oberholzer at [email protected].
     Mail: Kathryn Oberholzer at Bureau for Humanitarian 
Assistance, 555 12th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathryn Oberholzer, (571) 212-9899, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Type of Information Collection: BHA Workplace Culture Survey.
    Type of Request: Notice for public comment.
    Originating Office: USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs.
    Respondents: BHA personnel, including ISCs that are not federal 
employees for PRA purposes.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary.
    Estimated number of respondents: 400.
    Average time per response: 15 minutes for survey respondents.
    Frequency of response: Approximately once per year.
    Total estimated burden: 100 hours.
    Total estimated burden cost: None.
    We are soliciting public comments to permit USAID/BHA to include 
ISCs in its workforce survey to assess and gauge its processes for 
developing and improving a more cohesive BHA culture.

Danielle Mutone Smith,
Managing Director, Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.

BHA Culture Survey Questions

**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 E.O. 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

[[Page 8397]]

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. With which racial and ethnic group(s) do you identify? Please mark 
all that apply.
    a. Native American or Alaska Native
    b. East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian
    c. North African/Middle Eastern
    d. African
    e. Black or African American
    f. Hispanix or Latinx
    g. White
    h. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
    i. Other
    j. Prefer Not to Respond
5. Do you identify as a gender or sexual minority?
    a. Yes, I identify as a gender or sexual minority.
    b. No, I do not identify as a gender or sexual minority.
    c. Prefer Not to Respond
6. 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.
7. Do you lead, manage or supervise other members of the BHA workforce?
    a. Yes
    b. No

Workplace culture (Values/Norms/Behaviors):

8. 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)
9. I feel that my teammates trust me.
10. I trust my teammates.
11. I feel valued by those in my unit.
12. I value my unit members.
13. (OPTIONAL) My US/Field counterpart respects my input and opinions.
    a. Optional, if applicable
14. I feel I can disclose a suspected misconduct, violation of any law, 
rule or regulation without fear of reprisal.
15. What do you most value about BHA culture? (500 characters)

Leadership

16. Unit leadership listens to and respects me/my work.
17. I feel that a workforce of all cultures and backgrounds are made to 
feel included and valued in BHA.
18. Bureau leadership and/or regional office leads create opportunities 
for all voices and perspectives to be heard and valued in an 
environment of trust.
19. I feel Bureau and unit leadership clearly communicate their 
decisions.
20. I feel unit leadership advances DEIA and other efforts to improve 
culture.

Morale

21. My work morale is:
    a. Very Low, Low, Somewhat Low, Neutral, Somewhat High, Very High
22. The morale of my unit is:
    a. Very Low, Low, Somewhat Low, Neutral, Somewhat High, Very High
23. The morale of BHA is:
    a. Very Low, Low, Somewhat Low, Neutral, Somewhat High, Very High
24. 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.
25. 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)
26. If you selected ``Other'' to the previous question, please provide 
your description here.

Final comments

1. Where should leadership focus its attention over the next year to

[[Page 8398]]

continue to build culture? (500 characters)

[FR Doc. 2024-02463 Filed 2-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6116-01-P