Report: Administrators are embracing workplace diversity, equitable hiring practices

Amid the ongoing retention and resignation crisis, local administrators are increasingly prioritizing workplace diversity and inclusive policies, both to attract and retain talent, and mirror the communities they serve. About 95 percent of more than 350 human resource managers in local government and K-12 public education surveyed in a new workforce report published by MissionSquare Research Institute said increasing diversity, equity and inclusion is a priority.

“These findings are important for helping inform public organizations as they strive to be model employers that effectively develop inclusive work environments, communicate career opportunities to all members of their communities, and ensure robust professional development for all public employees,” said Joshua Franzel, MissionSquare Research Institute’s managing director in a statement.

Polling for the survey, “Managing Workforce Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Local Government,” was conducted between December 2021 and this January by Greenwald Research, on behalf of MissionSquare Research Institute. It’s a follow-up to a 2021 report issued by the research organization, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Public Service Workforce,” which presented employment data including the degree to which women and people of color were represented in a variety of government occupations.

The research documents the public sector’s ongoing push to make public organizations look more like the constituents they serve.

“Beyond strategic goal setting, organizations may have an array of strategies in place to implement their DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) vision, which may range from formally adopted policies, statutes, or ordinances, to informal practices such as the methods by which human resources staff conduct routine outreach,” the latest report notes.

Specifically, of those surveyed for the report, 67 percent of respondents said their organization has some sort of formal or informal program or policy in place related to diversity and inclusion in the workforce.

Among other initiatives, some of those programs include paid family leave or flexibility for daycare (47 percent); considering non-job-related skills when hiring (46 percent); recruiting through diverse channels to maximize diversity in applicants (43 percent); increasing pay transparency or promoting equal pay (42 percent); and redacting criminal history when considering candidates (30 percent).

The report also highlights the primary drivers pushing local governments to evolve: 65 percent reported that equitable practices are being implemented to improve employee recruitment efforts; 59 percent say it’s to improve retention of current employees; and 58 percent said it’s to improve workplace culture overall.

So far, the efforts have been successful, with 70 reporting improved workplace diversity throughout the public sector workforce. Another 65 percent reported a more inclusive environment, and 58 percent said the workforce has become more diverse. Notably, governments are implementing other practices, like hybrid and flexible work opportunities, to make sure positions are filled.

But while steps toward hiring equity and better workplace diversity have been made in recent years, local governments still have a long ways to go. One important piece that’s often lacking in the effort is comprehensive data collection. For example, while 61 percent of respondents said their organizations were tracking diversity in the workforce “to some degree, only 12 percent were tracking this in detail, with another 24 percent tracking it with some limitations, and 24 percent tracking it to a very limited degree,” the report says.

Additionally, there are clear barriers administrators must overcome. First among barriers ranked by respondents was a lack of diverse candidates within the local labor market (87 percent said it’s a barrier, with 66 percent of respondents reporting it’s a significant hurdle). But at the same time, 63 percent of respondents said they didn’t think their organizations mirrored the racial/ethnic makeup of their constituents.

This disparity “would seem to indicate that despite the difficulty of reaching such candidates, the existing diversity of the surrounding community is not as well represented in the workforce as it could be,” the report says.

Other barriers include difficulty attracting or retaining diverse staff (85 percent); challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing Great Resignation, and “difficulty attracting and retaining employees in general (74 percent),” the report says, noting, “The types of employers most likely to have adopted workforce DEI policies or to have systems in place to measure their results are K-12 employers and communities over 25,000 population.”

For more information, visit MissionSquare Research Institute’s website. A webinar reviewing the findings will be held Tuesday, July 12 at 1 p.m. eastern time with the International City/County Management Association.