Diversity in the Workforce

Designing and Implementing a Diversity Program

When an agency is positioned for success, it can proceed to design and implement its diversity program to include those specific elements that will serve to build and maintain its diverse, high-quality workforce. In particular, the various assessments of the workforce profile, the agency's environment, and future workforce needs should have identified strengths, weaknesses, and targets of opportunity. Those will be important to factor into the specific activities that comprise the diversity program itself.

In general, an agency's diversity program must include elements that build diversity, through recruitment, outreach and hiring, and elements that maintain diversity, through the agency's use of learning and development, rewards and recognition, and a supportive work environment. A successful diversity program needs close, continuing partnerships between human resources and EEO/civil rights and special emphasis staff. In other words, each agency should have in place a comprehensive process to build and maintain a diverse, high-quality workforce.

Building a Diverse, High-Quality Workforce

Based on the results of assessing the current situation and the environment and conducting workforce planning, an agency will have identified the type and number of positions to be filled as well as any targeted needs. The agency is then ready to design a strategy to find and hire the diverse, high-quality workforce to achieve the agency's mission. To build a diverse workforce, agencies should incorporate tailored approaches to recruit and hire these individuals into their overall strategies. The first step is to find the candidates.

Recruitment

The purpose of effective recruiting is to attract strong candidates who are prepared both to meet the agency's strategic goals and priorities and to work in the agency's environment. Suggestions for effective recruitment techniques include:

Ensure that recruiters and selection officials work closely with human resources and EEO/civil rights/special emphasis staff during the recruiting process. Maintaining close relationships with the experts will facilitate a smooth and easy recruiting process.

Know the competition and their recruiting needs. Issuing one vacancy announcement is no longer an effective method of finding candidates. Learn where the candidates go to find jobs and information about finding jobs -- make sure the agency's message can be found. Consider using a variety of common job search locations, such as:

college placement centers,

minority student associations,

college organizations of students with disabilities,

high schools,

Internet websites,

newspapers and magazines,

community newsletters,

radio announcements,

community centers,

professional organizations,

minority organizations,

libraries, and

grocery stores.

In addition, employees can provide recommendations regarding good sources of diverse candidates (their alma maters, professional organizations, etc.).

Candidates must feel there is a match between their personal goals and the agency's goals. To create and foster a positive image, state the agency's mission and goals clearly and include an inspiring vision. Develop a theme for the recruiting message and craft it to fit each audience.

When developing a recruitment plan, consider campus visits, job fairs, brochures, displays, and website use.

Design a long-term recruitment plan with input from managers, supervisors, and employees, as well as from specialists in the areas of human resources management and EEO/civil rights/special emphasis. Be creative.

Develop and maintain long-term partnerships with academia and professional associations for the purpose of recruiting high-quality candidates. The goal of partnering is to start the recruitment process ahead of the actual recruitment schedule.  Relationships with these sources, which are often best formalized through memoranda of understanding or formal agreements, can afford both sides opportunities for increased awareness and opportunities.

Examples of partnering activities include:

making regular presentations to faculty, students, and the community about issues of interest to both the agency and the school or community

making visits to high schools, using video tapes and CD-ROMs to describe the agency's work

hosting field trips to the agency

sponsoring agency employee volunteer activities such as mentoring and tutoring

offering presentations at meetings and conferences of professional associations

Consider partnering with OPM to help spread information about Federal job opportunities by supporting the installation of touchscreen computers in academic institutions with high enrollments of minorities.

To help educate the Federal workforce of the future, work closely with minority academic institutions, school systems with significant minority representation, and minority-serving organizations throughout the Nation.

Design activities to support Executive orders⁽²¹⁾ to strengthen the capabilities of minority academic institutions. This will enhance the institutions' ability to provide minorities with the skills and competencies that Federal agencies need.

Widely publicize job opportunities inside and outside the Federal Government. Agencies now have the ability to develop their own vacancy announcements and instantly post them on USAJOBS network of information systems (Website, telephone, and kiosks) where they can be seen worldwide, 24 hours a day. Agencies should explore ways to recruit from all sources when filling positions, including those in the Senior Executive Service and managerial and supervisory positions at grades GS-13 to GS-15, in order to attract diverse candidates.

Make sure vacancy announcements provide a realistic preview of the jobs and that they highlight points of interest. Think about what would make an exceptional person want to work for the agency.

Select a diverse cadre of recruiters that includes representatives from program areas as well as staff areas such as human resources and EEO/civil rights/special emphasis. They should have the ability to deliver the recruiting message effectively. This is an essential step in achieving quality results in recruiting for diversity.

Ensure that senior managers are directly involved in planning and conducting recruitment activities. As leaders who are familiar with their agency's cultures and needs, as managers who understand skills needs, and as selecting officials, they are an important part of the agency's recruitment activities.

Design a training program for recruiters that includes information about internal hiring procedures, personnel flexibilities, effective interview techniques, affirmative employment goals, and appropriate questions and behavior.

Follow up with candidates. Send follow up letters or make phone calls to candidates who were met on the recruitment trips. It is important to make sure that candidates have access to someone knowledgeable after the recruiting contact is over.

Hiring

After finding high-quality candidates, the agency must now hire them. When implementing a diversity program, several aspects of hiring are important to consider:

Review internal human resources policies, processes, and operations. Often, if agencies are unable to make quick job offers, good candidates are lost to competitors who are able to move quickly. Many flexibilities are available to agencies and reviewing internal staffing procedures may identify new ways to streamline hiring.

Take full advantage of customizing the competitive process by using the many staffing flexibilities and hiring authorities available. Take full advantage of technology by using USAJOBS and accepting online applications.

Consider using a variety of available hiring authorities. The best method to fill jobs will differ depending on the situation. Commonly used appointing authorities include:

Student Employment Program. The program has two components: Student Temporary Employment and Student Career Experience. Both programs offer valuable, paid work experience to all students -- high school, vocational and technical, associate degree, undergraduate and graduate. Students may be employed year-round and receive a flexible schedule of work assignments.

Presidential Management Program (PMI) Program. This two-year internship program is designed to attract to the Federal service outstanding graduate students (Master's and Doctoral-level) from a wide variety of academic disciplines who have an interest in, and commitment to, a career in the analysis and management of public policies and programs. Upon successful completion of the internship, PMIs are eligible for conversion to a permanent Government positions and further promotional opportunities

Selective Placement Opportunities. These include special appointing authorities for people with disabilities. The use of these authorities provides a unique opportunity for appointees to demonstrate their potential to successfully perform the essential duties of a position.

Use the Outstanding Scholar and Bilingual/Bicultural hiring authorities as a supplement to competitive examinations to recruit at the GS-5 and GS-7 levels for positions covered by the Luevano consent decree, as appropriate.

Hire for part-time, intermittent, and seasonal work, or use temporary and term appointments where appropriate. This may attract a group of candidates who are not currently interested in full time or permanent jobs.

Consider using the authority to pay recruitment and relocation bonuses to increase the agency's ability to compete with other employers.

Maintaining a Diverse, High-Quality Workforce

Achieving a diverse, high-quality workforce by successfully attracting and hiring the desired employee mix is only the first step. Having made investments to recruit and hire high-quality employees, the agency risks wasting those efforts absent a strong retention strategy. The agency's next objective is to ensure that their valuable employees stay with the agency. That goal is the focus of the second major set of elements to be included in the design and implementation of the agency's diversity program.

These elements can be described as part of a broad model of rewards, which sustain employee commitment. These rewards include support for:

a flexible and supportive work environment, including the quality of the supervision and leadership employees receive

an emphasis on learning and development

effective rewards and recognition systems

These aspects of work and working conditions are clearly becoming at least as important to employees' decisions to stay with an organization as their direct pay and benefits levels. An agency that commits to cultivating these broader rewards will be far better positioned to retain the diverse workforce it builds.

A Supportive Work Environment

A supportive work environment is one that provides employees with the direction and tools they need to perform the work of the organization to the very best of their ability. As an employer, the Federal Government offers many governmentwide programs to support employees; other aspects of a supportive work environment are in the hands of individual agencies. Actions to support employees include:

Ensure that supervisors and managers are provided leadership and diversity training. Their understanding of the benefits and rewards of a diverse workforce helps create a supportive work environment that enhances the potential of all employees.

Emphasize existing quality of worklife initiatives as effective policies that advance the interests of a diverse workforce. These initiatives include programs such as:

Alternative Work Schedules

Family-Friendly Leave Programs

Part-time Employment and Job Sharing

Telecommuting

Dependent Care Support Programs

Employee Assistance Programs

Develop a process to provide reasonable accommodation to job applicants and employees with disabilities. Agencies are required to make reasonable accommodations to the physical and mental limitations of an applicant or employee who is a qualified person with a disability, unless the accommodation would impose undue hardship on the agency. In addition, competitive service agencies shall include reasonable accommodation language in job announcements to inform applicants with disabilities that Federal agencies will consider reasonable accommodation requests.

Ensure that agency facilities offer a safe and productive work environment. Employees spend a significant portion of their lives in agency surroundings. Keeping them pleasant conveys a sense of pride and respect that helps keep employees on board.

Foster a community spirit and a sense of belonging by offering employees a vehicle for becoming involved outside the formal workplace in a variety of recreational and volunteer activities.