A majority of employees at Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality were satisfied with their jobs and felt their direct managers had respect and integrity, but staffers had far less favorable views of the agency’s top leadership, a new state workplace audit has found.

The report and its survey findings from the state’s Legislative Auditor provided a mixed picture within the agency amid claims that DEQ Secretary Aurelia S. Giacometto has harshly treated staff and imposed restrictive operational rules.

Giacometto has pushed the agency to be more efficient and marry its environmental protection goals more closely with economic development, as has been sought by Gov. Jeff Landry. But several departures from her handpicked administrative staff have helped fuel criticism. One resignation letter harshly condemned Giacometto’s management style, while another exit survey did the same.

More than three-fourths of DEQ employees believed morale had worsened in the first six months of 2024 and near majorities didn’t believe the agency’s top leadership valued what they did or respected them, according to a survey conducted for the state audit.

Employees told surveyors that to improve DEQ leadership, agency brass should “improve the way they treat employees, obtain more knowledge about DEQ processes and trust employees.”

According to the report, the audit and survey were conducted to respond to a legislative request “to review the culture and concerns within LDEQ.”

“The legislative request referenced concerns about issues within the agency’s work environment and their potential impact on the agency’s ability to effectively carry out its essential functions,” the audit says.

The employee workplace survey, which was conducted in July, drew responses from 52.9% of the department’s 712 employees.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office made the report public Friday afternoon, just days before Fat Tuesday and as many residents prepared for a weekend of big Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and other parts of the state starting Friday night.

Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack declined to comment on the audit Friday.

Giacometto provided a statement in response that questioned the auditors’ methods, saying they didn’t follow governmental auditing standards and had data that wasn’t relevant to DEQ’s operations.

Though those criticisms led her to question the validity of the audit survey data, she did highlight, what she said, was one of its findings, that nearly 90% of employees enjoyed working at DEQ and were satisfied with their jobs.

“We believe this result speaks for itself,” she wrote. “The current administration has implemented rapid changes to make LDEQ more efficient and responsive, and this speaks volumes as to the talent and resiliency of the great majority of employees at LDEQ.”

The cited statistic takes a generous view of the actual survey results.

According to the survey, nearly 47% said they enjoyed working at DEQ “a great deal” or “a lot” and nearly 56% said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied.”

With those who said they enjoyed working at DEQ a “moderate amount,” the response reaches nearly 82%. Adding in those who responded they enjoyed working at DEQ “a little” brings the figure into the nineties, at 95%.

Auditors found a complicated picture of DEQ staff’s feelings about where they worked, their departments and immediate co-workers and bosses, but less favorable views of the agency’s top leadership.

Nearly 46% disputed that the agency had a “toxic work environment” and nearly 60% said they never or rarely experienced or witnessed unprofessional behavior in the first half of 2024.

More than 58% agreed or strongly agreed that their opinions are valued when they speak up, the survey found. 

Nearly 81% also said they felt no pressure to do “something against the law, LDEQ policy, or civil service rules” in the first half of 2024.

But 46.3% also disagreed or strongly disagreed with the idea that the agency’s executive leadership “values the contribution” that their division or office provides to DEQ’s mission. Another 31% had no opinion one way or the other. Nearly 23% agreed or strongly agreed with that idea.

About 22% agreed or strongly agreed that executive leadership “treats them with respect and appreciates them.” Nearly 47% “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with that notion.

At the same time, more than 76% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that their supervisor, manager or administrator offers them respect and appreciation, the survey found.

While 73% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their division, office or group communicated effectively with them, just 15% felt the same about communication from DEQ’s executive leadership.

Though a strong majority said they felt no pressure to do something against rules or laws, a small percentage, 13.6%, said they did feel those pressures and aired a variety of concerns that led to those feelings.

They included “pressure to not follow agency policies related to closing sites and completing inspections” and “noncompliance with grant requirements and rules for contracts.”

The small minority also had concerns about “Human Resources and Department of State Civil Service policies related to compensatory time and leave.”

Other employees in that small minority aired concerns “about a temporary directive to not communicate with outside entities, which according to survey respondents, impacted their ability to do their jobs.”

In a separate question, some employees told auditors that various “barriers affect their ability to do their job, or do it as well as they would like.”

Those barriers included “inadequate staffing levels, a lack of independence and authority, and inadequate technology and training.”

Drawing the most responses among all the barriers listed was “inadequate staffing” at more than 43%.