Federal Government Aims to Set Example of How to Build a More Diverse American Workforce
As the nation’s largest employer, the Federal Government has taken on the challenge to provide an example of how it should be a model for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA), where all employees are treated with dignity and respect
In a public statement issued this past summer, the White House shared that “we are at our best when drawing upon all parts of society and our greatest accomplishments are achieved when diverse perspectives are brought to bear to overcome our greatest challenges.”
On June 25, 2021, White House Executive Order 14035 created the DEIA Initiative and directed federal agencies to follow a timeline to execute the federal government’s DEIA mission and vision.
The DEIA Initiative Team - the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (ODEIA) at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM); the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); and the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) - are leading the federal government’s efforts to integrate and prioritize DEIA in the workplace. This interagency team provides agencies with information, resources, and a framework to develop and implement strategic plans that identify actions to advance DEIA.
The team announced that it is implementing a robust set of DEIA Executive Order priorities, including:
• Promoting partnerships and recruitment
• Utilizing data collection and analysis
• Advancing professional development
• Expanding employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals
• Promoting paid internships
• Creating chief diversity officers
• Promoting pay equity
• Providing DEIA training and learning
• Advancing equity for LGBTQI+ employees
• Advancing equity for employees with disabilities
• Ensuring safe workplaces
The DEIA Initiative Team also provided critical guidance and support to federal agencies, including:
• A self-assessment tool and promising practices guidance document.
• A government-wide strategic plan to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the Federal workforce, which provides a roadmap outlining priorities for agencies to consider in their strategic plan development.
• An online professional learning community with templates and resources, and ongoing support with DEIA office hours to develop DEIA strategic plans and remove any potential barriers. Federal agencies created baseline assessments and agency-wide strategic plans, including:
• Conducting assessments to understand their current state of DEIA implementation as informed by a DEIA Maturity Model.
• Creating cross-functional teams to develop DEIA strategic plans and implement activities. The crossfunctional teams varied based on agency structure and included a whole of agency approach.
• Developing mission and vision statements to serve as guiding principles for DEIA efforts.
• Ultimately, federal agencies created strategic plans that identify the agency context, as well as milestones, goals, actions and potential barriers to advance DEIA. Agencies collaborated regularly with the DEIA Initiative Team to discuss implementation across the following timeline:
○ 1 0 0 Days : Agencies submit DEIA self-assessments
○ 50 Days: Initiative Team issues the DEIA government- wide strategic plan
○ 270 Days: Initiative Team collects agency DEIA strategic plans
The DEIA Initiative Team and federal agencies will focus on underserved communities through best practices, including but not limited to:
• Convening an executive level diversity officer council to provide agency chief diversity officers and senior leaders a formal forum to exchange ideas, best practices, and challenges in implementing and assessing progress of the DEIA mission and vision.
• Adopting practices to serve all dimensions of diversity in the federal workforce, including engagement with employee resource groups and federal unions, increased utilization of promotion and retention strategies, promotion of internship and mentorship programs, and expansion of partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
• Utilizing current hiring authorities to encourage employment of veterans, military spouses, individuals with disabilities and early career talent, among others. These hiring authorities are designed to give agencies flexibility to quickly hire top talent for critical positions and remove barriers to employment.
• Increasing the number of internships, especially paid internships across the Federal government.
Serving as a model for the nation, the DEIA Initiative Team is committed to leading the government-wide DEIA strategy to help agencies implement and evaluate their plans to create more diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible workplaces. Together, the interagency team will continue to offer office hours, professional learning opportunities and ongoing technical assistance. For more information, visit OPM.gov.