United States Government Accountability Office

GAO Testimony before Congressional 

Subcommittees

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 

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 10:00 a.m. EST 

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

 

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. 

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. 

Role 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. 

Page 1 GAO-07-901T 
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 entrylevel 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 

Page 2 GAO-07-901T 
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. 

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. 

Efforts to Attract a 

Diverse Pool of Top 

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. 

Page 3 GAO-07-901T 
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. 

Processes and 

Safeguards 

Established to Help

Ensure Accountability 

and Promote 

Transparency of 

GAO’s Performance 

Management Systems 

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 bestqualified (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.

Page 4 GAO-07-901T 
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. 

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 AfricanAmericans 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 AfricanAmericans 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. 

Additional Efforts to 

Enhance Diversity 

Are Needed and 

Planned 

While we continue to have a major challenge regarding the average

performance ratings of African-Americans, the percentages of AfricanAmericans 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. 

Page 5 GAO-07-901T 
Table 1: Percentages of GAO’s SES/SL and Band III Staff That Are AfricanAmericans, Fiscal Years 2000 to 2007. 

Fiscal years 

Percentage of SES/SL level staff 

that are African-American 

Percentage of Band III level staff 

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 AfricanAmerican 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 

staff at the SES/SL level 

Percentage of African-American 

staff at the Band III/GS-15 level 

GAO Governmentwide GAO Governmentwide

October 1, 2000 7.0 8.4 7.3 6.2

September 2006a11.6 8.6 10.8 7.3

Source: GAO and GAO’s analysis of the Office of Personnel Management data. 

a

The 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 

Page 6 GAO-07-901T 
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. 

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. 

Conclusion 

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. 

Page 7 GAO-07-901T (992067) 
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