Best Practices and Beyond: The Fish and Wildlife Service's Diversity and Inclusion Implementation/Action Plan

In June 2010 the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) came under attack for its poor diversity record.  First, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a negative report on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) equal employment opportunity program, indicating that their program was dysfunctional and violated federal regulations. Second, the DOI’s Blacks in Government chapter brought attention to the department’s lack of commitment to “fair policies, excellent practices and high standards.”  In response, DOI Secretary Ken Salazar issued an Inclusive Workplace Statement with a goal to build and retain a highly qualified and diverse workforce, and to create a welcoming and inclusive work environment. A Chief Diversity Officer position and a Diversity Change Agent Program were created to lead this effort, and he tasked each DOI bureau to develop and submit its own inclusion and diversity implementation plan by September 30, 2010.  Through these efforts, he vowed to make “the Department of America reflect the face of America.”  In December 2010 the Service unveiled its Diversity and Inclusion Implementation Plan (Plan) as part of the Inclusive Workplace Strategy.  One aspect of the Plan requires all Service managers and supervisors to complete training related to managing an inclusive and diverse workforce.  This recognized the importance of leaders as the front-line warriors in implementing diversity change; without buy-in and support from leaders, especially those with hiring responsibilities, even the best diversity plans would fail to create an inclusive workforce. With support from the Directorate, Diversity Change Agents, and the Diversity and Civil Rights program, the Service is aggressively exploring some of the best innovative practices within the federal government that have been instrumental in helping other agencies to recruit, retain, and create a more diverse and inclusive workforce. This presentation will highlight some of the positive and new approaches to addressing diversity, as well as focus on some of the best practices used by federal agencies.  Furthermore, case studies on how these agencies have successfully used best practices to create a more diverse workforce will be reviewed and discussed.