An Garda Síochána Culture Audit 2022

An Garda Síochána has today published the findings of its second Culture Audit, which was independently conducted by Durham University on behalf of the organisation and responded to by 6,400 Garda personnel.

The ‘Your Voice, Our Future’ audit was undertaken earlier this year and asked personnel of all ranks and grades for their views on a range of matters including wellbeing, job satisfaction, supervision, and openness to organisational change.

The first Garda Culture Audit was undertaken in 2017/2018.

Among the key findings of the Culture Audit 2022:

• Garda personnel are motivated to serve communities and protect people from harm (high pro-social motivation)
• Garda personnel are proud of An Garda Síochána
• Job satisfaction is high among Garda personnel
• Personal values and the values of the Garda Code of Ethics are strongly aligned
• Garda personnel reported a high average level for raising suggestions for improvements and commitment to organisational change
• There has been an increase in trust in senior leadership from the first Culture Audit
• Emotional energy was reported at a moderately low average by Gardaí
• There is a perceived lack of organisational fairness and justice
• Work-related demands that constrain performance are highest at Garda and Sergeant ranks
• Feelings of organisation support – how much the organisation values an individual’s contribution – are below average for Gardaí

Speaking today, Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris said,

"Our first Culture Audit was hugely informative for both Garda management and the Commission on the Future on the Policing in Ireland.   That valuable feedback from Garda personnel helped inform A Policing Service For Our Future initiatives such as the new uniform, the expansion of our world-leading mobility device for the front-line, the Garda wellbeing app, better internal communications, and more transparent promotion processes.   The 2022 Cultural Audit also provides with us great insights that will further improve the service we provide to the public and enhance the working lives of Garda personnel.   I want to thank the more than 6,000 Garda personnel who contributed to the 2022 Culture Audit.   This Culture Audit once again highlights many positives. Garda personnel are highly dedicated, believe the work they do helps others, their values are strongly aligned to our Code of Ethics, and they are proud of An Garda Síochána.   However, it also makes clear that the organisation has more work to do to give our people the support and tools they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively, to ensure people feel they are treated fairly, and they are being supported in their very challenging and pressurised work.

We will now analyse these findings in-depth and conduct focus groups to gain further insights on particular areas. Based on this, we will introduce measures to address the issues raised by Garda personnel in the 2022 Garda Culture Audit.”

Several steps will now be undertaken following publication of the audit’s findings. Further analysis will be undertaken by the Garda Ethics and Culture Bureau. Focus groups will be formed to gather additional qualitative data with a specific focus on organisational support measures and engagement with stakeholders to explore the feasibility of providing supportive leadership workshops for frontline supervisors.

Methodology of Culture Audit

The results are based on 6,404 voluntary and anonymous responses from Garda personnel to a two-part online survey.

The overall response rate of 34.6% is judged by Durham University to be a strong response rate and is comparable to response rates of similar surveys in other police services. The response level was also generally in line with the demographic and rank/grade make-up of the organisation.   The Culture Audit, developed by an independent team at Durham University Business School in conjunction with the Garda Ethics and Culture Bureau, examined the culture within An Garda Síochána and its findings will now form part of the next phase in the organisation’s ongoing process of transformation to further enhance our service.