PAPA 6324 Personnel Processes and their Policy Implications

Summer 2013

Workforce Diversity in Todays Public Sector

Diversity Trends and Challenges Todays workplace is a rapidly changing environment. It was only fifty years ago that legislation such as the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Pay Act were passed to support a diverse and equitable workforce. It was just thirty years ago that the vast majority of civil servants were white men. Now, people of color make up one-third of the workforce and nearly half are women (Burns, 2012). In our current workplace, diversity isnt just seen in racial, ethnic, and gender related terms but also in areas of sexual orientation and religion. The Williams Institute

estimated that in 2011, there were more than 1 million gay or transgender individuals working in the public sector as well. The future workforce will have even more variation. People of color

account for three of every four new Virginia residents since 2000 and one in every 10 residents is foreign born (US Census, 2010). Further, by 2050, new immigrants and their children will account for 83 percent of the growth in working-age population (Burns, 2012). The generation gap poses an additional challenge for organizations. For the first time in American history, there are four generations in the same workplace. Generational differences affect many routine functions in the workplace. Each generation has distinct attitudes, behaviors, expectations, and motivational buttons. Teamwork and interpersonal relationships are often challenged by intergenerational misunderstanding. Moving forward, the number of Boomers leaving the workforce and the smaller number of Gen X and Ys entering will challenge the capacity of agencies to meet their goals.

Factors Driving the Workforce Diversity Imperative in the Public Sector

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PAPA 6324 Personnel Processes and their Policy Implications

Summer 2013

Comprehensive diversity goals include the idea that organizations are not just hiring for racial and ethnic diversity, but they are hiring to build a workforce that has a diversity of thought, an ability to work across cultures, an understanding of how to mitigate cross cultural conflict, and how to use difference as a vehicle for innovation. A diverse workforce helps to ensure that an agencys programs and products are effective and equitable, can interact with diverse stakeholders, and inform practices that create public support of initiatives and outcomes. Growing diversity is driving changes in policies, practices, procedures, and organizational cultures. HR has an extensive role to play in this effort. In the area of recruitment, HR is recognizing the need to dedicate resources to grow diversity efforts. For example,

Arlington recently hired a Diversity and Inclusion Specialist to do comprehensive diversity recruitment, create a career development program, and support county agencies to analyze and evaluate diversity efforts. Additionally, more public agencies are looking for informal networks, community coalitions, minority professional organizations, and minority media outlets where they can recruit. HR staffs see that they can no longer wait for a skilled diverse applicant to come to them. For example, Chesterfield County Community Services Board had been recruiting for a Spanish bilingual mental health clinician for 18 months with no success. When they revised their recruiting process to include posting on Latino oriented Facebook pages and with Hispanic mental health associations, they had several qualified candidates within 2 months (C Hurd-Burke. Personal communication, 2012). In the area of hiring, organizations have a legal requirement to ensure a fair recruiting and selection process, but are now recognizing that supervisors do not always understand how their own bias and stereotypes play into the selection of a new employee. At the Virginia Department

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PAPA 6324 Personnel Processes and their Policy Implications

Summer 2013

of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, HR staff are developing tools to help managers ask the right questions that will evaluate candidates cross cultural competencies and cultural self-awareness. They are also training on how bias and stereotypes impact employee evaluations and opportunities for growth. Worker friendly and work-life balance programs are also impacted by diversity shifts. Agencies are looking to offer cafeteria style benefits where workers can pick and choose the benefits that are important to them (US Dept. of Commerce, 1999). This is driven by the understanding that different workers find some benefits more valuable than others. As

traditional gender roles become a thing of the past, organizations are creating ways for women to have a better work-life balance. Options such as telecommuting and on-site childcare are often used to attract and retain working mothers. Another example is extending health benefits to same-sex couples. By 2000, approximately 21 percent of companies with more than 5,000 employees were offering partner benefits (Kiger, 2004). Organizations are also recognizing that younger workers are motivated by benefits such as flexible hours and flexible management styles. Diversity is also driving workforce planning initiatives. In the past, diversity initiatives were often poorly conceptualized and lacked measurable outcomes. One report states that successful workforce diversity programs define diversity broadly and are encompassing a wide range of initiatives that meet the changing needs of workers (US Dept. of Commerce, 1999). However, there are a number of factors that play into an agencys ability to create a diverse workforce. Some are systemic, i.e. career pipelines and educational opportunities for diverse

and minority populations. Some are institutional, such as limited leadership opportunities. And some are behavioral such as bias by hiring staff. Without comprehensive approaches to address all of these barriers, the future public workforce will not be reflective of our population in 2030.

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PAPA 6324 Personnel Processes and their Policy Implications

Summer 2013

References Berman, E, Bowman, J, West, J, Van Wart, M. (2010). Human Resource Management in Public Service. California. Sage Publications. Pg. 186-187; 214-215. Burns, Crosby, et. al. (2012). The State of Diversity in Todays Workforce. Center for American Progress. Retrieved at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/report/2012/07/12/11938/the-state-ofdiversity-in-todays-workforce/ Hamill, Greg. (2005). Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees. FDU Magazine Online. FDU Center for Resource Management Studies. Retrieved at http://www.fdu.edu/newspubs/magazine/05ws/generations.htm. U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). State Quickfacts: Virginia. Retrieved August 4, 2013 from http://quickfacts.census.gov. U.S. Department of Commerce. (1999). Best Practices in Achieving Workforce Diversity. National Partnership for Reinventing Government Benchmarking Study. Washington, DC. Retrieved at http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/workforce-diversity.pdf

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