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WORKFORCE DIVERSITY STRATEGIES

Introduction:
Effective diversity and equal employment opportunity programs necessitate a positive and planned approach to recruiting, hiring, promoting, and retaining qualified ethnic minorities, women, and people with disabilities. Lane County endeavors to employ individuals in all protected classes such that its workforce is proportionately representative of the community it serves. One of the most important factors in achieving workforce diversity is a balanced and representative applicant pool. The County will continue to put forth comprehensive, good-faith efforts in reaching this balance through expanded and targeted recruitment of people of color, women, and disabled individuals.

Lane County strongly encourages its departments to consider the direct and indirect benefits that a diverse workforce brings, such as; the added value of diversity in the workplace, and increased responsiveness and improved relations with the Lane County community. Effective and periodic training is seen as a critical component of enhancing the County’s efforts towards workforce inclusiveness. To this end, the County has provided, and continues to provide, diversity training at all levels, from heightened awareness and sensitivity of diversity, to increased diversity skills and competencies.

The County strives to achieve its workforce diversity goals through specific strategies developed by its departments. Several of Lane County’s largest departments have established their own diversity committees, and Lane County is in the process of re- establishing a countywide diversity team. One of the key roles of these committees and teams is to identify needs and goals, and to assess the County’s progress towards workforce inclusiveness.

The County’s goals and action plans are seen as methods to address broader inclusiveness in its employee workforce, and should not be mislabeled as quota systems. The County sees the diversity of its workforce as a crucial aspect in the larger picture of its overall effectiveness in responding to community needs and providing critical services.

Long-term (full utilization) goals have not been established due to the County’s inability to adequately predict expansion, contraction, and turnover on a long-term basis. However, the County will continue to put forth every good-faith effort to address its underutilization of minorities and women across job categories, and to assess and update its workforce diversity goals on an annual basis