Assessment

Completed a comprehensive, internal HR Department Diversity Self-Assessment for 2004. Based on the internal assessment, specific activities were incorporated into the HR Department goals for 2005.

Communication

Original goal for 2004: Provide open forums to foster interpersonal communication within the department regarding employee issues and concerns. Due to the unexpected increase in workload of the intended facilitators, this effort was deferred until a time when key, critical issues are resolved, and the department can refocus on this effort.

Recruitment

Our goal for 2004 was to engage in recruitment efforts that meet or exceed availability for management and non-exempt job groups.

• There was only one hiring opportunity in the management job group. Due to recruitment and diversity-related efforts, we were able to hire a highly qualified individual chosen from a diverse applicant pool.
• As a result of recruitment and diversity-related efforts, 50% of the new hires in the non-exempt job group directly address underutilization.

Values

Conducted values-based workshops for our HR employees with a high percentage of participation. This helped identify desired model behavior to support the values and needs of our staff. These were the first steps in our effort to communicate and elevate the understanding of HR Department Values. and to align them with the Values of Operations and Berkeley Lab.

Action Items for 2005

Assessment

Continue to develop and refine our comprehensive, internal HR Department Diversity Self-Assessment for 2005, and to pay attention to the evolving needs of our staff. Based on the internal assessment, specific activities will be incorporated into the HR Department’s goals for 2006.

Communication

• HR will provide open forums to foster interpersonal communication regarding employee issues and concerns within the Department. The forums will be scheduled after the new HR Department Head is appointed.
• Based on the 2004 HR Department Diversity Self-Assessment findings, we discovered that our supervisors/managers should proactively and more consistently discuss the diversity goal with our HR employees during the annual Performance Review and Development process.
  HR will elevate this communication in two phases:

1. All new employees will receive and acknowledge the diversity goal along with other key Berkeley Lab requirements.
2. The HR Leadership Team will consistently incorporate diversity-related topics and opportunities for open discussion in their staff meetings.

Retention

• Based on the 2004 HR Department Diversity Self-Assessment, our findings show that HR employees are aware of the support available across teams when understaffed; however, a low number of employees did not acknowledge that they received the same support when their own teams were understaffed.
  
  HR will address this with the following actions:
  
  
  1. The HR Leadership Team and managers will routinely check whether additional support is needed across teams, with special regard to allocating available resources during times of escalated business activity.
  2. The HR Leadership Team and managers will notify teams whether departmental assistance is available.

Recruitment

Depending on the availability of future hiring opportunities, HR will engage in recruitment efforts that meet or exceed availability in the underutilized management and non-exempt job groups within the department.

Values

In order to continue supporting the values and needs of HR employees, we will refine the values-based statements from the first workshop, and provide continued communication and opportunities for open discussion and feedback.

For more information regarding this diversity plan, contact Larry Hanson, Interim Head of Human Resources, or Amy Pagsolingan, Best Practices Diversity Council Representative.		Download this Diversity Plan in printable .rtf format.