Report criticizes hostile atmosphere at Ag Department

The Department of Personnel on Wednesday presented a report sharply critical of the work environment within the state Department of Agriculture.

The survey of department workers was requested by Agriculture Director Tony Lesperance and presented to the state Board of Agriculture. But when completed, the employees surveyed leveled most of their harshest criticism on him and his management style.

"The workplace climate in NDOA is fractured," according to the report.

"Employees are allowed to exhibit bad behavior in the workplace, i.e. temper tantrums, bullying, gossip and maligning other employees, verbal abuse," was one comment from a worker.

About 50 of the employees were interviewed for the survey. The department employs about 80 people, along with about 80 part-time brand inspectors. Its budget for the current two-year cycle is $26.4 million, mostly in fees generated by its different divisions.

Although 84 percent of Agriculture workers surveyed said they like their job and feel a sense of accomplishment, fully half said they wouldn't recommend the department as a good place to work.

"We have a very divided staff at this point in time which is tearing this place apart," said one worker.

But from the report, it was obvious Lesperance isn't the only problem. Among the comments were that none of the three directors the department has had in the past five years was qualified for the job.

"These comments reveal that the department's current environment is not unique to the current director," the report states.

Lesperance agreed and said fixing the problems at Agriculture will require a change in attitude and conduct at all levels.

"I'm the one who asked for it and I'm going to live by it and I'm going to make it work," he said. "I'm committed to cleaning this mess up. If I can't get it done, nobody can get it done."

While about two-thirds of those surveyed had positive comments about their immediate supervisors, they had a lower view of division administrators.

And when it came to Lesperance, less than half those surveyed gave a positive response.

"There were 17 comments suggesting that the director should resign or be replaced," the report says.

Among the comments in the anonymous survey were charges of Lesperance "flying into rages," creating "a toxic and hostile environment" and an "atmosphere of fear and mistrust."

Others surveyed charged that communication with the director's office was "practically non-existent" and that department staff meetings were a waste of time. There were charges that employees aren't held accountable for their work and are allowed to "sleep on the job, be incompetent and waste time with no repercussions."

They also said many fear speaking out because they will be labeled trouble-

makers.

"Administration bickers among themselves," said one worker. "There is a lack of team spirit; they talk behind each other's backs and not to each other."

Lesperance said he intends to "work positively, approach things differently than I have in the past."

For the others in the department, he said, "there'll be some pressure applied."

"There's got to be. That's the only way it's going to get cured," he said. "If I don't get it fixed, the next director is going to get wiped out as surely as the last two."