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STRATEGIES

Lane County has made progress in increasing representation of people of color, women, and people with disabilities over the past ten years. To continue this progress, strategies have been developed to address workforce diversity. The strategies below follow from the areas indicating under-representation of minorities and women and the goals outlined above, and reflect a variety of approaches in addressing workforce diversity. They may be revised and updated as progress is evaluated.

1.  Further develop and expand recruitment strategies for all job positions, to include:

• Working in conjunction with local educational institutions and organizations within communities of color to develop internship and mentorship/apprenticeship programs that allow for minority individuals to gain work skills and experience specific to county employment areas;
• Advertising and distributing announcements through targeted professional associations;
• Distributing job announcements to local and non-local educational institutions and organizations within communities of color;
• Expanding outreach efforts through personal contacts to communities of color to enhance relationships and information sharing about county employment;
• Continuing outreach to people of color and women through tabling at community cultural events and career fairs;
• Developing relationships and presenting information on employment opportunities and job requirements to students involved in multi-cultural groups at local high schools;
• Continuing internal efforts to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all people.

2.  Refine screening, interviewing, and selection procedures, to include:

• Establishing the "essential functions" criteria (outlined in the Diversity Implementation Plan) in evaluating all job classifications, and screening, interviewing, and selecting applicants; give preference for bi-lingual skills;
• Incorporating one or more diversity-related questions on all supplemental questionnaires and as part of interviews;
• Giving credit in screening applicants for language skills and multi-cultural experience when relevant to position;
• Ensuring that interview panels include diverse evaluators;
• Ensuring a consistent approach in screening and interviewing applicants within the same job category.

1. Complete the updating and developing of the computerized personnel system to provide for better applicant and employee tracking, and analysis of trends and patterns related to personnel actions.
2. Ensure that exit interviews are conducted to help in improving the retention of minorities and women.
3. Further develop the County’s training program in diversity and related topics.
4. Complete the revision of the County’s sexual harassment policy to an expanded discrimination and harassment policy. Conduct training for management on the revised policy.
5. Complete the re-establishment of a countywide diversity team to devise creative strategies for increasing workforce diversity.
6. Complete the incorporation of the diversity factor into the performance evaluation for directors, managers, and supervisors, to evaluate what they do to contribute to an environment that is respectful, supportive, and productive for all employees. Work on establishing a diversity-related performance evaluation factor for all county employees.
7. Examine methods of developing a promotional growth opportunity program that provides the support and assistance necessary to move employees up through a promotional track.
8. Expand information sharing with county employees in the areas of discrimination laws, diversity-related topics, and multi-cultural community events through articles and announcements in county and departmental publications.