Step-by-Step: Ethics Education Planning and Evaluation
This page features resources for planning ethics education and conducting evaluations.
Start early and plan ahead. OGE recommends planning out how your agency will meet its ethics training requirements for the calendar year. To get started, you can use the Ethics Education Planning Worksheet (Word).
Understand the requirements. As you plan, it is helpful to review the Legal Advisory (LA) “New Job Aid: Overview of Education Requirements under the Revised 5 C.F.R. Part 2638, Subpart C,” LA-16-09 (PDF), and familiarize yourself with what is required of your agency’s ethics education program. The LA's attached job aid has a table that sets forth the specific requirements, including the required format, contact, deadline, and tracking details for each.
Reduce risks. The Program Advisory (PA) “Ethics Education: Using the Regulation to Maximize Effectiveness,” PA-19-05 (PDF), provides additional OGE recommendations on how to use the Government Ethics Education regulations at 5 C.F.R. part 2638, subpart C to reduce risks by maximizing ethics education program effectiveness. These recommendations include (1) assessing ethics risks and education needs; (2) identifying appropriate content, format, and timing; and (3) regularly evaluating the overall efficacy of ethics programs.
To assess ethics risks at your agency, you can do the following:
- Review advice logs for common issues;
- Reference your agency’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) resources or consider participating on your agency’s ERM team;
- Discuss upcoming work and agency priorities with senior staff;
- Talk to program managers about risks inherent in their work;
- Conduct surveys to identify common and emerging ethics risks; and
- Talk to employees about the ethics concerns they encounter in the workplace.
If you would like to conduct a survey, here is a sample Agency Ethics Risk Assessment Questionnaire (Word).
As you plan and prepare for your ethics trainings and related communications, think about your audience(s). Certain employees are required to receive ethics trainings, but Designated Agency Ethics Officials (DAEOs) may establish additional requirements for the agency's ethics education program to help employees with increased or acute risks of facing ethics challenges to better manage those risks. See 5 C.F.R. § 2638.309.
Use the results of your risks and needs assessment to identify and appropriately tailor ethics content for different audiences. Let these results influence your delivery methods, styles, and timing of ethics education and related communications, as well. For example, employees in positions with elevated ethics risks may benefit from in-person briefings and more regular communications.
Review the following worksheet as you prepare for your ethics trainings and communications: Developing and Delivering Effective Ethics Education and Communications (PDF).
It is important to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your ethics education program. To assess whether ethics education and communications are successfully managing ethics risks at your agency, you can do the following:
- Conduct self-assessments to ensure that required employees are receiving training;
- Administer post-training evaluations to assess participants’ perceptions of the training;
- Review advice logs for increased activity after training presentations and communications; and
- Hold discussions with agency leaders and employees to evaluate whether the training and communications they received have supported them in managing ethics risks.
Administer post-training evaluations. OGE has created the
Ethics Education Short Evaluation Form (Word) and the Ethics Education Long Evaluation Form (Word) to assist with administering post-training evaluations.
Think about your overall ethics education program. When reviewing your overall ethics education program, consider where your agency performs on the Ethics Education Maturity Model (Word).
Additional Resource: To better understand the content of PA-19-05 and how to use the resources shared here for education planning and evaluation, watch this training: Ethics Education: Using the Regulation to Maximize Effectiveness.