Report to the Congress on the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion
Print- Preface: Implementing the Dodd-Frank Act
- Introduction
- Equal Employment of Minorities and Women
Equal Employment of Minorities and Women
The Board is committed to equal employment opportunity in all aspects of employment, and to fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In support of its commitment, the Board has in place strategic objectives to attract, hire, develop, promote, and retain a highly skilled and diverse workforce. The Board also allocates significant resources to ensure the success of its EEO and diversity and inclusion initiatives, which assist in enabling the Board to compete with other federal agencies and the private sector for talented individuals.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The Board's Equal Employment Opportunity Program, which is housed within ODI, strives to meet the "Essential Elements of a Model EEO Program" as prescribed in the EEOC's Management Directive 715 (MD-715) and the Government-Wide Diversity and Inclusion Initiative and Strategic Plan issued by the Office of Personnel Management and mandated by the President's Executive Order 13583. The Board has formal policies regarding EEO, reasonable accommodation, and discriminatory workplace harassment, and the EEO Program undertakes training and analysis to ensure that the Board complies with all applicable laws and regulations. The Board uses elements of MD-715 (which includes an annual barrier analysis) as the primary metric to assess the effectiveness of its diversity policies and initiatives. Further, the Board reviews quarterly employment transaction data (i.e., hires and promotions) and conducts a complaint trend analysis to identify any adverse impact based on race or gender.
In addition, the Board utilizes EEO management systems to identify strengths and areas for improvement in the talent acquisition process. By identifying potential issues, the Board can develop action plans that incorporate short- and long-term objectives. ODI works in conjunction with EEO liaisons from each of the Board's 14 operational divisions, the Office of Inspector General, and Board leadership to ensure that inclusion and diversity exist at all levels of employment throughout the Board and that divisions identify and approach diversity challenges with transparency. Divisions also develop their own additional EEO and diversity strategies, such as management development, succession planning, and accountability, and include these strategies in management performance objectives.
To ensure the Board is aware of innovative developments and best practices, ODI consults with leading national professional organizations such as the Equal Employment Advisory Council, the Society of Human Resource Management, the Federal Interagency Diversity Partnership, Workforce Opportunity Network, the Conference Board, the Institute for Corporate Productivity, and the Federal Dispute Resolution Conference. These organizations conduct valuable research and benchmarking and also highlight relevant best practices, which ODI shares with division EEO liaisons to meet the Board's needs.
The Board annually submits to the EEOC an EEO Program Status Report as well as its EEO-1 Report, which is published at www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/diversityinclusionrpt.htm. The Board's 2014 EEO-1 Report is included in this document as appendix A.
Highlights of the Board's 2013 and 2014 EEO-1 reported total workforce demographics are shown in tables 1, 2, and 3. The Board's total workforce is 44 percent female and 43 percent minority. The Board reported an increase of 105 (4 percent) employees in the total workforce for 2014, of which 24 were minorities and 32 were women. The percentage of minorities in the Executive Senior Level category increased from 23 percent in 2013 to 24 percent in 2014, while the representation of women remained steady at 40 percent. In the 1st/Mid. Level Manager category, the percentage of minorities decreased slightly from 53 percent in 2013 to 52 percent in 2014, as did the representation of women (from 55 percent in 2013 to 54 percent in 2014). Hispanic representation in the Board's workforce continued to increase, from a total of 109 employees in 2013 to 118 employees in 2014.
The Board recognizes that a strategic approach to diversity and inclusion requires multiple, integrated, ongoing efforts. The Board continuously reviews and assesses its employment policies, procedures, and practices to ensure EEO compliance and the full utilization of our diverse and talented workforce. As examples, the Board closely monitors applicant pool data; the programs in place to advance and promote employees, as well as those related to skill development, succession planning, and compensation equity; and the pipeline of personnel available for promotions. Results of the Board's assessments are considered when deciding how to address issues and trends.
Table 1. Federal Reserve Board reported total workforce demographics, 2013 and 2014
| 2013 | 2014 | Change (number) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 1,364 | 1,437 | +73 |
| Female | 1,092 | 1,124 | +32 |
| Non-minority | 1,376 | 1,457 | +81 |
| Minority | 1,080 | 1,104 | +24 |
| Total employees | 2,456 | 2,561 | +105 |
Table 2. Federal Reserve Board workforce profile 2013, selected data
| EEO-1 categories | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exec. Sr. Level | 1st/Mid. Level Manager | Professionals | Admin. Support Workers | Service Workers | ||||||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Male | 231 | 60 | 38 | 45 | 894 | 54 | 24 | 18 | 124 | 82 |
| Female | 153 | 40 | 47 | 55 | 747 | 46 | 112 | 82 | 28 | 18 |
| Non-minority | 294 | 77 | 40 | 47 | 960 | 59 | 18 | 13 | 41 | 27 |
| Minority | 90 | 23 | 45 | 53 | 681 | 41 | 118 | 87 | 111 | 73 |
| Total employees | 384 | - | 85 | - | 1,641 | - | 136 | - | 152 | - |
Table 3. Federal Reserve Board workforce profile 2014, selected data
| EEO-1 categories | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exec. Sr. Level | 1st/Mid. Level Manager | Professionals | Admin. Support Workers | Service Workers | ||||||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Male | 246 | 60 | 42 | 46 | 937 | 55 | 20 | 16 | 139 | 84 |
| Female | 162 | 40 | 50 | 54 | 774 | 45 | 108 | 84 | 27 | 16 |
| Non-minority | 310 | 76 | 44 | 48 | 1,011 | 59 | 16 | 12 | 53 | 32 |
| Minority | 98 | 24 | 48 | 52 | 700 | 41 | 112 | 88 | 113 | 68 |
| Total employees | 408 | - | 92 | - | 1,711 | - | 128 | - | 166 | - |
In addition to monitoring hiring and promotion, the Board also monitors the retention of women and minorities by job category, level, and grade. In the event there are concerns about retention, ODI works with management to address any issues.
Further, the Board utilizes the complaint investigation process to address employees' concerns and to identify trends in the workplace that may adversely affect the Board's employees.
ODI and the Office of Employee Relations collaborate to ensure that the Board properly administers its EEO policies, including those relating to reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities, and its workplace-related policies, such as adverse actions and disciplinary actions.
Recruitment and Retention
The Board recognizes that a work environment that attracts and retains top talent is essential. ODI, Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, and Organizational Development and Learning collaborate continuously to promote an excellent quality of work life at the Board for all employees.
Short-term and long-term strategies are developed to help ensure women and minorities are represented in the Board's applicant and candidate pools and are considered for hires and/or promotions for key positions. In 2014, the Board filled 561 positions, of which 115 were interns. The percentage of positions filled across the Board's five major job families (attorney, computer professional, financial analyst, economist, and research assistant) remained unchanged from 2013 at 55 percent.
The Board utilized a variety of sources to fill the positions. Twenty-two percent of the positions were filled internally. In filling the remaining 78 percent of positions, the Board used several methods to attract a broad range of candidates, including job boards, social media (e.g., LinkedIn, Talent Advantage, and Federal Reserve Board's "@fed career" Twitter account), career fairs, and publications that aid in providing diverse pools of candidates with the skill sets necessary to fill positions.
Additionally, as part of its strategy to attract diverse pools of talented applicants, the Board recruits from a number of colleges and universities for full-time positions, including those listed in table 4. The Board also continues to partner with the Reserve Banks to participate in national diversity recruiting events by sharing the cost of career fairs; engagements hosted by professional organizations (including the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA), Asian MBA, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund); and networking opportunities with special interest organizations. The Board is collaborating with the National Capital Region Chapter of Year Up and will participate in the Year Up program during the summer of 2015. Year Up empowers urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support to achieve their potential through professional career opportunities and higher education. It offers a one-year, intensive training program that equips students with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, and corporate internships.
The Board also identifies students for paid internships. The internship program enables the Board to identify candidates for future employment opportunities and provides students hands-on opportunities and insight into the mission and work of the Board and the Federal Reserve System. Many of the students are recruited through colleges and universities (including historically black colleges and universities), special interest publications, and diversity-focused organizations (e.g., the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, Washington Internships for Native American Students, Workforce Recruitment Programs for college students with disabilities, and INROADS).
Table 4. University career fairs and recruiting outreach initiatives utilized by the Board in 2014
| Clark Atlanta University |
|---|
| Cornell University |
| Drexel University |
| George Washington University - School of Business |
| James Madison University |
| Morehouse College |
| Pennsylvania State University |
| New York University |
| Rochester Institute of Technology |
| Spelman College |
| Syracuse University |
| University of Maryland |
| University of Miami |
| University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| University of Virginia |
Training and Mentoring
In 2014, the Board nominated 25 employees to System Leadership Initiative Conferences (19 to Thrive for managers and junior-level officers; 6 to Trailblazers for mid-level officers). Ten (53 percent) of the Thrive participants were female, and five (26 percent) were minorities. Two (33 percent) of the Trailblazer participants were female, and two (33 percent) were minorities.
The Board continued to expand the Executive Coaching program and provided this development opportunity to 91 officers and managers. Of the total, 42 (48 percent) participants were female; 29 (32 percent) were minorities.
As part of the Board's project to revamp its performance planning and appraisal process, a number of competencies were included to support professional and leadership development. The competencies (learning agility, decision quality, drive for excellence, perspective and strategic agility, developing collaborative relationships, and effective communication) are mirrored in courses provided to employees through the Board's Organizational Development and Learning evolving core curriculum (e.g., Emotional Intelligence, Decision Making and Critical Thinking, Giving and Receiving Feedback, Interpersonal Skills and Conflict Resolution, and Situational Leadership).
Additionally, Manager Quick Start, an eight-module series, was offered twice in 2014, with a total enrollment of 32 managers. Sixteen (50 percent) were female; 16 (50 percent) were minorities. The program has received consistently high ratings, and a similar program is now being designed for Board officers. The officer program will be piloted in 2015, and the Board anticipates scheduling two cohort groups in 2016.
The Board also offered one session of Situational Leadership in 2014. Eighteen officers and managers participated in this training program; of that total, 12 (66 percent) were female and 7 (39 percent) were minorities.
The Board continues to provide customized training to increase employee awareness and knowledge of equal opportunity federal laws and their application within the workplace. In 2014, the Board launched the interactive web-based EEO and diversity training for managers and employees. The training consists of modules covering EEO compliance, disability and reasonable accommodations, diversity, and workplace harassment. The training is required of all employees, and it meets the training requirement of the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act (No Fear Act).
Successes
The Board continues to increase the pipeline (grades FR-27 through 29) for progression to official staff for minorities and women.1 The percentage of minorities in the pipeline to official staff increased by 9 percent, from 289 in 2013 to 314 in 2014. Similarly, the percentage of women in the official staff pipeline increased by 11 percent, from 362 in 2013 to 403 in 2014. In 2014, there were 21 appointments to the official staff, of which three were minorities and six were women.
The Board's long-term and short-term outreach and recruitment strategies continue to result in a diverse applicant pool of minorities and women in the Board's major job families. In 2014, the Board hired 46 computer professionals, of which 44 percent were minorities and 50 percent were women. Minorities accounted for 28 percent and women accounted for 42 percent of the 64 financial analyst hires. Women represented 40 percent and minorities represented 20 percent of the 20 attorney hires. Of the 36 economist hires, 33 percent were minorities and 19 percent were women.
The Board recognizes the low availability of minorities and women in the field of economics, and so to establish a dialogue regarding this challenge, the Board--in partnership with the American Economic Association--hosted a national summit on diversity in the economics profession on October 30, 2014, in Washington, D.C. This conference brought together presidents and research directors of the Federal Reserve Banks and chairs of college and university economics departments from around the country to open a profession-wide dialogue about diversity. Speakers and panelists discussed the state of diversity in the economics profession and examples of successful diversity initiatives in academia. A hallmark of the conference was the opportunity for collegial learning, discussion, and sharing among faculty peers to develop practical ideas about what can be accomplished in the economics profession. The
proceedings of the conference are available on the Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/conferences/national-summit-diversity-economics-profession-program.htm.
Challenges and Next Steps
Although progress has been made as a result of recruitment and outreach activities focused on Hispanics, their representation remains low in comparison to the overall workforce.
The Board's external outreach and collaboration with Hispanic-serving institutions and several Hispanic professional associations, such as the NSHMBA, the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, has resulted in an increase of applicants and interns in the major job families.
The Board will continue to pursue a comprehensive and strategic focus on diversity and inclusion as a key component of talent acquisition. This effort will identify and adopt best practices that demonstrate positive diversity outcomes in the areas of staffing, employee retention, employee engagement, and job satisfaction.
Representation of minorities in the Board's pipeline to become official staff has been increasing over the past three years, yet advancement beyond the FR-29 grade level, which is a pivotal internal position for advancement to official staff, remains low. The Board has undertaken several steps to help address this issue. In 2014, the Board administered an employee engagement survey, which may enable the Board to strengthen its talent-management practices--particularly those aimed at retaining a diverse workforce. The Board will continue implementing the succession planning and workforce planning strategies adopted in 2013, to promote leadership and accountability in order to increase diversity among the pool of official staff candidates. In addition, during the initial stages of appointing official staff, the director of ODI is consulted and is a member of the reviewing team that evaluates proposed official staff actions. This allows the ODI director to better support inclusion and diversity at the official staff level and to ensure that the Board's leadership nomination criteria and process are inclusive.
Per the 2010 Census civilian labor force data and subsequent updates, the availability of minority and female candidates in the economist job occupation remains low. To foster recruitment, the Board continues to organize, oversee, and participate in the three programs under the purview of the American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession: 1) the Summer Economics Fellow Program, 2) the Summer Training Program, and 3) the Mentoring Program. In 2014, the Board held information sessions at minority professional conferences, such as the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement and NSHMBA, to enhance diversity in the applicant pool for Board internships and full-time positions. Also, through its participation in the STEM Education Coalition and financial literacy programs, the Board aims to stimulate an interest in economics and math among minorities and women.
References
1. Official staff is equivalent to Senior Executive Service (SES). Return to text
