Human Capital: Efforts to Enhance Diversity and Ensure a Fair and Inclusive Workplace at GAO
Published: 2007-05-22T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: 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.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: 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 Senior Executive Service (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. 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. 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 African-Americans in senior management positions at GAO have increased in the last several years. GAO believes 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. 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. Nonetheless, as an agency that leads by example, additional steps should be taken.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: 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.
subsections: section_title: Role of the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness
paragraphs: 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.
section_title: Efforts to Attract a Diverse Pool of Top Candidates
paragraphs: 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.
section_title: Processes and Safeguards Established to Help Ensure Accountability and Promote Transparency of GAO’s Performance Management Systems
paragraphs: 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.
section_title: Additional Efforts to Enhance Diversity Are Needed and Planned
paragraphs: 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.
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.
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.
section_title: Conclusion
paragraphs: 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.
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