Human Capital: Efforts to Enhance Diversity and Ensure a Fair and
Inclusive Workplace at GAO (22-MAY-07, GAO-07-901T).
Vigorous enforcement of anti-discrimination laws remains an
essential responsibility of government. Moreover, diversity in
the federal government can be a key component for executing
agency missions and achieving results. Not only is it the right
thing to do, but an inclusive work environment can improve
retention, reduce turnover, increase our ability to recruit, and
improve overall organizational effectiveness. In 2001, the
Comptroller General changed the name of the Office of Civil
Rights to the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness and gave
the office responsibility for creating a fair and inclusive work
environment by incorporating diversity principles in GAO's
strategic plan and throughout our human capital policies. Along
with this new strategic mission, the Comptroller General changed
organizational alignment of the Office of Opportunity and
Inclusiveness (O&I) by having the office report directly to him.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-07-901T
ACCNO: A69827
TITLE: Human Capital: Efforts to Enhance Diversity and Ensure a
Fair and Inclusive Workplace at GAO
DATE: 05/22/2007
SUBJECT: Accountability
Comparative analysis
Diversity management
Employees
Federal agencies
Human capital
Minorities
Performance management
Women
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GAO-07-901T
* [1]Role of the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness
* [2]Efforts to Attract a Diverse Pool of Top Candidates
* [3]Processes and Safeguards Established to Help Ensure Accounta
* [4]Additional Efforts to Enhance Diversity Are Needed and Plann
* [5]Conclusion
* [6]GAO's Mission
* [7]Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony
* [8]Order by Mail or Phone
* [9]To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs
* [10]Congressional Relations
* [11]Public Affairs
Testimony before Congressional Subcommittees
United States Government Accountability Office
GAO
For Release on Delivery
Expected at 10:00 a.m. EST
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
HUMAN CAPITAL
Efforts to Enhance Diversity and Ensure a Fair and Inclusive Workplace at
GAO
Statement of Ronald A. Stroman, Managing Director
Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness
GAO-07-901T
Chairman Davis, Chairman Akaka, and Members of the Subcommittees:
Good Morning. I am Ron Stroman, the Managing Director of the Office of
Opportunity and Inclusiveness at the United States Government
Accountability Office (GAO). I am pleased to be here today to discuss some
of the steps we have taken to help enhance diversity and create a fair and
inclusive workplace at GAO. In these efforts, we are all affected by the
world we live in. Discrimination and intolerance are an unfortunate and
continuing reality in our country. Overcoming these barriers is more than
a professional responsibility for me. I have stood outside the Rayburn
House Office building wearing a suit and a tie during the middle of the
day trying to hail a cab only to have that cab driver pass me by in order
to pick up a white person standing less than five feet behind where I
stood. My son has been stopped by the police repeatedly while driving
because he was driving through a community that the police didn't think he
belonged in. Race, gender, ethnicity, disability, age, and sexual
orientation do matter.
Vigorous enforcement of anti-discrimination laws remains an essential
responsibility of government. Moreover, diversity in the federal
government can be a key component for executing agency missions and
achieving results. Not only is it the right thing to do, but an inclusive
work environment can improve retention, reduce turnover, increase our
ability to recruit, and improve overall organizational effectiveness.
Role of the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness
The Comptroller General recognized that he needed to shift the emphasis of
the then Office of Civil Rights from a reactive, complaint processing
focus to a more proactive, integrated approach. He wanted to create a work
environment where differences are valued and all employees are offered the
opportunity to reach their full potential and maximize their contributions
to the agency's mission. In 2001, the Comptroller General changed the name
of the Office of Civil Rights to the Office of Opportunity and
Inclusiveness and gave the office responsibility for creating a fair and
inclusive work environment by incorporating diversity principles in GAO's
strategic plan and throughout our human capital policies. Along with this
new strategic mission, the Comptroller General changed organizational
alignment of the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness by having the
office report directly to him. Also, in 2001, I was selected as the first
Managing Director of the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness.
The Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness (O&I) is the principal adviser
to the Comptroller General on diversity and equal opportunity matters. The
office manages GAO's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program, including
informal precomplaint counseling, and GAO's formal discrimination
complaint process. We also operate the agency's early resolution and
mediation program by helping managers and employees resolve workplace
disputes and EEO concerns without resorting to the formal process. In
addition, O&I monitors the implementation of GAO's disability policy and
oversees the management of GAO's interpreting service for our deaf and
hard-of-hearing employees. But effective efforts to create a diverse,
fair, and inclusive work place require much more.
In furtherance of a more proactive approach, O&I monitors, evaluates, and
recommends changes to GAO's major human capital policies and processes
including those related to recruiting, hiring, performance management,
promotion, awards, and training. These reviews are generally conducted
before final decisions are made in an effort to provide reasonable
assurance that GAO's human capital processes and practices promote
fairness and support a diverse workforce.
Throughout the year, O&I actively promotes diversity throughout GAO. For
example, last year we met with the summer interns to discuss their
experiences and to provide guidance on steps that interns can take to
enhance their chances for successful conversion to permanent employment at
GAO. We also took steps to increase retention of our entry-level staff by
counseling our Professional Development Program advisers on the importance
of consistent and appropriate training opportunities and job assignments
that afford all staff the opportunity to demonstrate all of GAO's
competencies. I also made several presentations that reinforced the
agency's strategic commitment to diversity, including a panel discussion
on diversity in the workforce, a presentation to new Band II analysts on
the importance of promoting an environment that is fair and unbiased and
that values opportunity and inclusiveness for all staff, and a
presentation to Senior Executive Service (SES) managers on leading
practices for maintaining diversity, focusing on top leadership commitment
and ways that managers can communicate that commitment and hold staff
accountable for results.
This proactive and integrated approach to promoting inclusiveness and
addressing diversity issues differs from my experience as Director of the
Office of Civil Rights at a major executive branch agency. As Director of
that office, a position I held immediately before coming to GAO, I had
little direct authority to affect human capital decisions before they were
implemented, even though those decisions could adversely affect protected
groups within the agency. For the most part, my role was to focus on the
required barrier analysis and planning process. The problem with this
approach is that agencies generally make just enough of an effort to meet
the minimal requirements of the plan developed by this process. In
addition to these plans, diversity principles should be built into every
major human capital initiative, along with effective monitoring and
oversight functions.
Efforts to Attract a Diverse Pool of Top Candidates
The war for talent, especially given increasing competition with the
private sector, has made it more competitive for GAO and other federal
agencies to attract and retain top talent. Graduates of color from our
nation's top colleges and universities have an ever increasing array of
career options. In response to this challenge, GAO has taken a variety of
steps to attract a diverse pool of top candidates. We have identified a
group of colleges and universities that have demonstrated overall superior
academic quality, and either have a particular program or a high
concentration of minority students. They include several Historically
Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and
institutions with a significant portion of Asian-American students. In
addition, GAO has established partnerships with professional organizations
and associations with members from groups that traditionally have been
underrepresented in the federal workforce, such as the American
Association of Hispanic CPAs, the National Association of Black
Accountants, the Federal Asian Pacific American Council, the Association
of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, and the American
Association of Women Accountants. GAO's recruiting materials reflect the
diversity of our workforce, and we annually train our campus recruiters on
the best practices for identifying a broad spectrum of diverse candidates.
GAO's student intern program serves as a critically important pipeline for
attracting high-quality candidates to GAO. In order to maximize the
diversity of our summer interns, O&I reviews all preliminary student
intern offers to ensure that the intern hiring is consistent with the
agency's strategic commitment to maintaining a diverse workforce. O&I also
meets with a significant percentage of our interns in order to get their
perspectives on the fairness of GAO's work environment. Moreover, our
office recently analyzed the operation of the summer intern program and
the conversion process and identified areas for improvement. GAO is
implementing changes to address these areas, including taking steps to
better ensure consistency in the interns' experiences and to improve the
processes for evaluating their performance and making decisions about
permanent job offers.
Processes and Safeguards Established to Help Ensure Accountability and Promote
Transparency of GAO's Performance Management Systems
Competency-based performance management systems are extremely complex. It
is important to implement safeguards to monitor implementation of such
systems. As a way to ensure accountability and promote transparency, the
Comptroller General made an unprecedented decision to disseminate
performance rating and promotion data. Over some objections, the
Comptroller General agreed to place appraisal and promotion data by race,
gender, age, disability, veteran status, location, and pay band on the GAO
intranet and made this information available to all GAO staff. This
approach allows all managers and staff to monitor the implementation of
our competency-based performance management systems and serves as an
important safeguard in relation to the processes. As far as I am aware, no
other federal agency has ever done this, nor am I aware of any major
corporation in America that has taken such an action. The Comptroller
General rejected the argument that an increased litigation risk should
drive the agency away from disseminating this information. Instead he
stood by his position that the principles of accountability and
transparency dictated that we should make this data available to all GAO
employees.
In addition to making this data available to all GAO staff, O&I and the
Human Capital Office conduct separate and independent reviews of each
performance appraisal and promotion cycle before ratings and promotions
are final. In conducting its review of performance appraisals, O&I uses a
two-part approach; we review statistical data on performance ratings by
demographic group within each unit, and where appropriate, we conduct
assessments of individual ratings. In conducting the individual
assessments we (a) examine each individual rating within the specific
protected group; (b) review the adequacy of any written justification; (c)
determine whether GAO's guidance on applying the standards for each of the
performance competencies has been consistently followed, to the extent
possible; and (d) compare the rating with the self-assessment to identify
the extent to which there are differences. I meet with team managing
directors to resolve any concerns we have after our review. In some
instances ratings are changed, and in other cases we obtain additional
information that addresses our concerns.
Our promotion process review entails analyzing all recommended
best-qualified (BQ) lists. We review each applicant's performance ratings
for the last three years. In addition, we also review each applicant's
supervisory experience. I discuss concerns about an applicant's placement
with the relevant panel chair. I then meet with the Chief Operating
Officer and the Chief Administrative Officer to discuss any continuing
concerns. A similar process is used regarding managing director's
selection decisions.
In addition to these independent reviews, GAO provides employees with
several avenues to raise specific concerns regarding their individual
performance ratings. The agency has an administrative grievance process
that permits employees to receive expedited reviews of performance
appraisal matters. Moreover, employees have access to early resolution
efforts and a formal complaint process with O&I and at the Personnel
Appeals Board.
Additional Efforts to Enhance Diversity Are Needed and Planned
Despite our continuing efforts to ensure a level playing field at GAO,
more needs to be done. The data show that for 2002 to 2005 the most
significant differences in average appraisal ratings were among
African-Americans at all bands for most years compared with Caucasian
analysts. Furthermore, the rating data for entry level staff show a
difference in ratings for African-Americans in comparison to Caucasian
staff at the entry-level from the first rating, with the gap widening in
subsequent ratings. These differences are inconsistent with the concerted
effort to hire analysts with very similar qualifications, educational
backgrounds, and skill sets. In June 2006, we held an SES off-site meeting
specifically focusing on concerns regarding the performance ratings of our
African-American staff. Shortly thereafter, the Comptroller General
decided that in view of the importance of this issue, GAO should undertake
an independent, objective, third-party assessment of the factors
influencing the average rating differences between African-Americans and
Caucasians. I agree with this decision. We should approach our concern
about appraisal ratings for African-Americans with the same analytical
rigor and independence that we use when approaching any engagement. We
must also be prepared to implement recommendations coming out of this
review.
While we continue to have a major challenge regarding the average
performance ratings of African-Americans, the percentages of
African-Americans in senior management positions at GAO have increased in
the last several years. I believe that the O&I monitoring reviews, direct
access to top GAO management, and the other safeguards have played a
significant role in these improvements. Specifically, from fiscal year
2000 to fiscal year 2007, the percentage of African-American staff in the
SES/Senior Level (SL) increased from 7.1 percent to 11.6 percent, and at
the Band III level the percentages increased from 6.7 percent to 10.8
percent. The following table shows the change in representation of
African-American staff at the SES/SL and Band III levels for each year.
Table 1: Percentages of GAO's SES/SL and Band III Staff That Are
African-Americans, Fiscal Years 2000 to 2007.
Percentage of SES/SL level
staff that are Percentage of Band III level staff
Fiscal years African-American that are African-American
2000 7.1 6.7
2001 7.0 7.3
2002 8.3 8.1
2003 9.0 8.9
2004 9.1 9.1
2005 9.0 10.5
2006 11.0 10.9
2007 11.6 10.8
Source: GAO.
Note: Data reflect the percentages at the start of the fiscal year.
Furthermore, the percentages of African-Americans in senior management
positions at GAO compare favorably to the governmentwide percentages.
While the percentage of African-Americans at the SES/SL level at GAO was
lower than the governmentwide percentage in 2000, by September 2006, the
GAO percentage had increased and exceeded the governmentwide percentage.
At the Band III/GS-15 level, the percentage of African-American staff at
GAO exceeded the governmentwide percentage in 2000 as well as in 2006.
Table 2 lists the GAO and governmentwide percentages.
Table 2: African-Americans as a Percentage of SES/SL and Band III/GS-15
Staff, GAO and Governmentwide
Percentage of African-American
Percentage of African-American staff at the Band III/GS-15
staff at the SES/SL level level
GAO Governmentwide GAO Governmentwide
October 1, 7.0 8.4 7.3 6.2
2000
September 11.6 8.6 10.8 7.3
2006^a
Source: GAO and GAO's analysis of the Office of Personnel Management data.
aThe GAO percentages are as of October 2006.
Nonetheless, as an agency that leads by example, additional steps should
be taken. We must continue to improve our expectation-setting and feedback
process so that it is more timely and specific. We need additional
individualized training for designated staff, and we need to provide
training for all supervisors on having candid conversations about
performance. We also need to improve transparency in assigning supervisory
roles, ensure that all staff have similar opportunities to perform key
competencies, and hold managers accountable for results. Finally, we will
implement an agencywide mentoring program this summer. We expect that this
program will help all participants enhance job performance and career
development opportunities. Overall, GAO is making progress toward
improving its processes and implementing various program changes that will
help address important issues.
Conclusion
I believe there are two compelling diversity challenges confronting GAO
and the federal government. First, is the continuing challenge of
implementing sufficiently specific merit-based policies, safeguards, and
training in order to minimize the ability of individual biases to
adversely affect the outcome of those policies. Second, is the challenge
of having managers that can communicate with diverse groups of staff,
respecting their differences and effectively using their creativity to
develop a more dynamic and productive work environment.
For many people, the workplace is the most diverse place they encounter
during the course of their day. We owe it to our employees and to the
future of our country to improve our understanding of our differences, and
to work toward a fairer and more inclusive workplace.
Chairman Akaka, Chairman Davis, and members of the subcommittees, this
concludes my prepared statement. At this time I would be pleased to answer
any questions that you or other members of the subcommittees may have.
(992067)
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