How Can an Agency Fix This?

How Can an Agency Fix This?
By Ivan D. Butts
NAPS National President

In my July column, I talked about the perils of favoritism and ended with that question. An agency can recover from entrenched favoritism and cronyism, but it requires structural change—not just new slogans, leadership speeches or temporary disciplinary actions. Institutions improve when accountability becomes systemic instead of selective.

Here are the most effective ways agencies historically begin reversing long-term institutional decay:

  1. Restore merit-based advancement. The foundation of recovery is rebuilding trust that competence matters again, which means: • Transparent promotion standards • Objective performance measurements • Independent interview panels • Documentation requirements for hiring and advancement decisions • Limiting informal, "hand-picked" appointments Employees need to see that performance, integrity and leadership ability matter more than relationships. Without this step, morale rarely improves.
  2. Reduce concentrated internal power. Cronyism thrives when a small group controls hiring, discipline, budgets and advancement simultaneously. Agencies can counter this by: • Rotating leadership assignments • Creating independent oversight offices • Separating operational authority from personnel authority • Increasing external audits and reviews Strengthening inspector general or ethics functions Healthy organizations distribute accountability instead of centralizing loyalty networks.
  3. Protect honest feedback. Many agencies already know their problems internally; employees are simply afraid to speak. Recovery requires: • Strong whistleblower protections • Anonymous reporting systems • Protection from retaliation • Leadership forums with genuine upward communication • Encouraging dissent during planning processes The goal is creating an environment where truth reaches decision-makers before crises do.
  4. Rebuild frontline trust. Frontline employees usually recognize dysfunction long before executives do. Agencies rebuild credibility when leadership: • Spends time in operational environments • Responds visibly to recurring concerns • Eliminates performative "listening sessions" • Gives employees measurable influence over workplace improvements • Follows through consistently Trust is rebuilt through repeated action, not messaging campaigns.
  5. Simplify bureaucracy. Institutional favoritism often creates layers of management designed more for control than effectiveness. Reform may require: • Eliminating redundant management layers • Clarifying decision authority • Reducing unnecessary reporting requirements • Streamlining processes that encourage gatekeeping • Focusing on mission outcomes instead of presentation metrics Complex bureaucracy can hide incompetence and protect political structures.
  6. Hold leadership accountable—publicly and consistently. Nothing destroys reform efforts faster than selective accountability. If lower-level employees face discipline while executives avoid consequences, cynicism deepens. Effective agencies: • Apply standards consistently • Tie leadership evaluations to operational outcomes • Remove ineffective managers regardless of political alignment • Publish measurable performance benchmarks Visible accountability changes culture faster than speeches.
  7. Develop future leaders differently. Agencies often reproduce dysfunction through leadership pipelines that reward conformity over capability. Long-term recovery requires: • Leadership development based on ethics and competence • Mentorship outside political networks • Training in conflict resolution and operational realities • Encouraging independent thinking • Rewarding leaders who solve problems instead of protecting image Healthy institutions intentionally cultivate courageous leadership.
  8. Align incentives with mission. Organizations eventually become what they reward. If they reward appearance over results, loyalty over honesty and statistics over service, dysfunction becomes rational behavior. Recovery happens when incentives reward: • mission performance • innovation • ethical conduct • operational improvement • employee development • public trust
  9. Accept short-term discomfort. Real reform is disruptive. People benefiting from existing systems often resist: • transparency • accountability • decentralization • merit-based change An agency serious about reform must tolerate: • internal resistance • uncomfortable audits • leadership turnover • temporary instability Avoiding discomfort usually preserves the dysfunction.
  10. Create a culture that values truth over optics. The strongest institutions are not the ones that never fail—they are the ones capable of honestly identifying failure and correcting it quickly. That requires leadership willing to say: • "This policy failed." • "We ignored warnings." • "We need operational input." When image management becomes more important than reality, decline accelerates.

Historically, agencies recover when they reconnect leadership incentives with the organization's actual mission rather than internal political survival. That shift often starts small—a few credible leaders restoring standards consistently, but, over time, it can change the entire institutional culture.

In solidarity...