Diversity Hiring Toolkit: Diversity and Inclusion

Recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse employees is critical to our organization’s success. Countless studies have shown that teams of mixed gender, ethnicity, physical ability, age and sexual orientation offer a variety of viewpoints and a wider range of experience, which in turn improves decision-making and problem-solving. In addition, diverse work teams are more representative of our customers and in order to adapt and meet the needs of the communities we serve, we need to ensure we are looking at our services through an equity lens to make sure no one is being left behind.

Organizations that are successful in leveraging the diversity of their workforce are better able to adapt to changes in the external environment. They are more innovative in anticipating and responding to these changes. A yearlong study conducted by McKinsey & Company involving 77 companies and almost 6,000 managers and executives concluded that the most important organizational resource over the next 20 years will be talent: smart, sophisticated people who are technologically literate, astute, and operationally agile. And even as the demand for talent increases, the supply of it will decrease. Not only will organizations have to devise more imaginative hiring practices; they will also have to work harder to keep their best people and this is where inclusion efforts become important. Research shows that employees are less productive when they do not feel respected and when they are unable to be themselves. The end result is that they end up leaving the organization.

Bottom line, not only is supporting diversity and inclusion the right thing to do, but it’s a key strategy in our 5 Year Business Plan. Diversity and inclusion at the County of Marin is an important part of the values and the responsibilities we have as public servants. In our recruitment efforts and work environment, we have the opportunity to illustrate a healthy way of addressing differences through respect, inclusion and equal opportunity.

Diversity – Collection of individual attributes that are valued, respected and heard that together help the County pursue objectives efficiently and effectively.

Attributes of diversity include, but are not limited to: race, national origin, color, ethnicity, disability, gender, age religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, socioeconomic status, veteran status, and family structure.

Inclusion – When the County values, respects, and invites diverse voices into all aspects of the organization, including its decision making, so that all contribute to the success of the County.

Equity – Just and fair inclusion in the County where all can participate, prosper and reach their full potential. Equity efforts seek to rectify historic patterns of exclusion, thus providing all people an opportunity to fully participate in the organization and community.

Racial Equity – Where race is no longer used to predict life outcomes and outcomes for all groups are improved.

Bias – Unconscious (implicit) or conscious (explicit) beliefs that impact decision making or action and result in treating one (or more) groups differently.

Cultural Competence – Educating, increasing awareness, and developing skills to effectively navigate the County’s multi-cultural work environment.

Videos

•  Color Blind or Color Brave? Ted Talk by Melody Hobson
•  Creating a Level Playing Field with Shelley Correl
•  How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them Ted Talk by Verna Myers
•  The Beauty and Diversity of Muslim Life Ted Talk by Bassam Tariq
•  The Danger of a Single Story Ted Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
•  The Opportunity of Adversity Ted Talk by Aimee Mullins
•  What Works for Women at Work with Joan C. Williams
•  50/50 Film by Tiffany Shlain
•  Disability Sensitivity Training Video

Web Publications & Resources

• A Portrait of Marin 2012 - Marin County Human Development Report
• Diversity Central - Seeking to educate and assist people in the development of Cultural Intelligence.
• Job Accommodation Network - Guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues.
• Local and Regional Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) - A national network of government working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all.

County of Marin Resources

• 5-Year Business Plan 2015-2020
• County of Marin Affinity Groups
• Equal Employment
• Disability Access Program

The Equity Dashboard is divided into the following four sections. By checking and unchecking the designated boxes within the dashboard, a user can explore the County’s equal employment data in the following ways:

1. Ethnicity: In this section of the dashboard, a user can explore, for example, the representation of Latinx employees in management throughout the County’s workforce or within a given department (e.g. Probation)
2. Gender: In this section of the dashboard, a user can explore, for example, the representation of Asian women in professional classifications throughout the County’s workforce or within a given department.
3. Age Range: In this section of the dashboard, a user can explore the representation of employees in different age groups (e.g. 18-24) throughout the County.
4. Department: In this section, a user can assess the ethnic makeup of each department within the County.

The County of Marin is committed to achieving diversity, inclusion and racial equity within its workforce.  The County undertakes broad efforts and has set specific goals to recruit and retain employees from protected classes who have been excluded historically from the workforce – whether based on institutional patterns of discrimination, disadvantage, or exclusion.

An overview of the County’s goals to achieve diversity, inclusion and equity in the workforce can be found in its 5-Year Business Plan, Racial Equity Action Plan and in its Equal Employment Opportunity Plan.

The County recognizes that in addition to setting goals a results-oriented approach is required.  Such an approach means using clear and transparent data to promote accountability and to benchmark where the County needs to focus its efforts. Using data also helps the County assess whether its goals need to be adjusted over time to achieve the desired results.

The County therefore created the interactive equity dashboard to use data to help it ensure that it will achieve its stated policy of having a diverse workforce that is reflected across the breadth (functions) and depth (hierarchy) of the organization.

Please note that while the makeup of the County's workforce changes on a regular basis, the data in the dashboard is a snapshot of its workforce as of December 31st of each year between 2013 and 2019.  The dashboard will be revised in the coming months to reflect recent changes in the County’s workforce.

If, upon viewing the data, additional questions arise, please contact the County’s equal employment director, Roger Crawford by email or by phone at (415) 473-2095.