Racial Equity and Social Justice

Summary of objective implementation status (achievements or progress over last year; significant delays or issues, etc.)

Human Resources, in conjunction with the Office of Equity, continues to identify opportunities and implement strategies with a goal of achieving a county workforce that is reflective of community demographics.

In Calendar Year 2023, efforts related to this goal were focused in the following areas:

• In early 2023, the Workforce Development Unit launched a new
• four-tier system to guide employees in their training and advancement goals. Specific to Racial Equity and Social Justice, Tier 2 (for individual contributor level employees) and Tier 3 (for supervisors and managers) training curriculums include courses intended to develop employees’ skills and knowledge to become more effective, ethical, and compassionate professionals who can engage in creative approaches to meet diverse individual, community, and societal needs. Courses also explore the impacts of institutional racism and employees’ responsibilities as public servants.
  • In 2024, at least two additional racial equity and belonging courses will be added to the Tier 2 and 3 training levels to supplement the Race Equity 101 training being developed by the Office of Equity.
  • An executive leadership program (Tier 4) is currently being developed. It will be launched in late 2024.

• Effective July 1, 2023, all recruitment advertising costs have been consolidated into one budget area that is controlled by Human Resources. With this change, HR is no longer placed solely in an advisory capacity when recommending advertising sources, including diversity related sites, which may or may not be approved by the hiring department based on budgetary constraints. Now, HR has the ability to develop ad plans and place ads at the sites it determines most appropriate for each recruitment. This new methodology will also enable HR to achieve economies of scale with vendors who offer multi-ad discounts.

• Increased attendance by HR staff at in-person career fairs and community events. Events attended include career events at SSU, SRJC, and USF, Sonoma County Pride, Santa Rosa’s Wednesday Night Market, the Sonoma County Fair, Fiesta de Independenica, Knights of Columbus job fairs, and the Experiencing Homeless and Homelessness or At Risk job fairs.

• Through “Start Here” Trainings conducted in 2023, Human Resources has educated 251 members of the public on the County’s recruitment and hiring process. 824 individuals have participated in the training since it was launched in 2018.

• Human Resources concluded work with an Ad Hoc of the Civil Service Commission which resulted in updates to the Civil Service Ordinance that were approved by the Board in October 2023. Edits included removing language that was no longer legally compliant and adding language to bring sections in compliance with current local, state, or federal law. As a part of this process, gender-specific language has been replaced with gender-neutral language and additional protected classifications were added to the anti-discrimination section, ensuring the County’s Civil Service system is in alignment with Federal and State laws.
  • In 2024, HR will begin evaluating the Civil Service Rules, class specifications, and County recruitment and examination processes to identify and remove barriers that may be adversely impacting individuals in underrepresented demographic groups.

• In October 2023, Human Resources released a significant update to the Employee Demographic Dashboard. The latest update displays race/ethnicity and gender demographics of the County’s workforce categorized into four job classification levels: Individual Contributor, Supervisor, Manager, and Executive. The information can be viewed in aggregate or by department and compared against the demographics of Sonoma County’s available labor market. This data makes the County’s efforts to advance racial equity more transparent and easier to track, thereby, holding us accountable to this work. The Employee Demographic Dashboard can be accessed here: https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/administrative-support-and-fiscal-services/human-resources/employee-demographic-dashboard
  • Future updates to the dashboard will be released in 2024, which include information about employee pay, recruitment, and retention.

• Human Resources continues to monitor industry best practices, update internal guidance documents, and educate departments on recruitment and selection processes that are specifically focused on identifying and eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring processes.

• Since the internship program re-launch in May 2022, Human Resources has been proactively developing partnerships with departments and local educational institutions for internship opportunities. Since May 2022, over 22 new internship opportunities have been created.

Key milestone update (include relevant metrics, if applicable)

There are two types of data that Human Resources is utilizing to evaluate the County’s progress towards achieving a workforce that is reflective of the demographics of the community: 1) Applicant Data and 2) Employee Data. This data is compared against the Community’s available labor force, which is defined as individuals between 20-64 years of age.

The following report shows the total population number and corresponding percentage of Sonoma County’s available labor force in each demographic category as collected in the US Census.

Community Available Labor Force (20-64 years old)

Race/Ethnicity data that is collected by the County from applicants and employees is in alignment with the demographics we are required to collect and report to the EEOC on a biannual basis. These categories include Hispanic, White, African American/Black, American Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, Multiple Races, and Decline to State. As a result, the County does not collect and report out data regarding individuals who identify in the Census category of “some other population,” which creates inconsistency when trying to align data between various reports. Therefore, for purposes of evaluating the County’s success in making the workforce more reflective of the Community’s local labor force, comparisons can only be made in relation to the data the County collects.

The following table shows the race/ethnicity of individuals who applied for positions through the County’s applicant tracking system in calendar year 2020 compared to those who applied in calendar year 2023 (through October 31, 2023). The data indicates that 49% of the County’s applicants in 2023 are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), which represents a 6% increase over the number of BIPOC applicants in 2020 (43%). The number of Hispanic applicants for County positions has increased 5%, from 22% to 27%, during the last three years.

Applicant Data

A review of employee data shows that the number of BIPOC employees has increased 4% over the past three years from 28% to 32%. The number of Hispanic County employees has increased 3%, from 20% to 23%, while most other BIPOC demographic categories remained flat. The increase in Hispanic/Latin workforce, coupled with a 7% decrease in the number of White employees, is an indication that work performed by Human Resources and County departments related to this strategic plan pillar is effectuating change. In looking across all races/ethnicities, the demographics of the County’s overall workforce is largely reflective of the available labor force of our community.

To determine how successful efforts have been at ensuring there is diverse representation across all levels of the County workforce and that representation at each level is aligned with the demographics of our community, we must evaluate the demographics of the County’s workforce by job classification level (Individual Contributor, Supervisor, Manager, and Executive).

As seen in the following chart, 2023 data at the “Individual Contributor” level indicates that the diversity of the County’s workforce has increased (at this level) across all demographic categories, except Black or African American, since July 2020. When comparing this data against the available labor force of our community, the demographics of the County’s individual contributor workforce mirrors or exceeds the percentage of the American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black of African American, Hispanic or Latin, and native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population makeup of Sonoma County’s available workforce. While the percentage of White employees, 58.22%, also exceeds the percentage of White individuals in the labor force (47%), it also reflects an 8% decrease over the last three years. The number of individuals who haven’t specified their race/ethnicity has increased by over 4%.

When looking at “Supervisor” level staff, the data indicates there have been decreases in the American Indian/Alaska Native, Black or African American, Two or More Races, and White demographics, and increases in the Asian and Hispanic or Latin demographics. In comparison to the available labor force, the percentage of Black or African American and American Indian/Alaska Native employees at this level exceeds the percentage within the available labor force in the community. The number of supervisory Hispanic or Latin employees has increased by 3% over the last three years, to 21.89%, and is just shy of equal representation in comparison to the available labor force (23%).

When comparing changes at the “Manager” level from 2020 to 2023, the data indicates small increases across all demographic areas, except White, which decreased just shy of 4%. The percentile of employees’ demographic makeup at this level is largely consistent with the demographics of the available workforce in the community, except for Hispanic or Latin and White races/ethnicities. Despite the Hispanic population making up 23% of the available workforce, only 9.97% of managers at the County identify as Hispanic or Latin. The White population on the other hand, at 76.98% of the workforce, greatly exceeds the 47% of that demographic in the available labor force. HR will continue to evaluate policies and procedures and provide racial equity training opportunities in an effort to remove barriers to hiring/advancement at the management level.

The highest job classification level, “Executive,” demonstrates a significant increase of Asian employees, which is now comparable to the percentage of the population in the available labor force, but sees decreases in other categories, including Black or African American and Hispanic or Latin. Further, the demographics of employees who identify as White increased slightly.  When looking at the population of the available labor force, the data indicates underrepresentation in the American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic or Latin, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander races/ethnicities, over representation of Whites, and representation that is comparable to the community in the Asian and Black or African American races/ethnicities. HR will continue to evaluate policies and procedures and provide racial equity training opportunities in an effort to remove barriers to hiring/advancement at the executive level.

Coordination and partnership update

This strategic plan goal has a direct nexus with the organizational Excellence Pillar, Goal 3, Objective 1-3:

Organizational Excellence: Goal 3 – Become an employer of choice with a diverse workforce that reflects our community, and an employer with a positive work culture that results in engaged and developed employees.

·         Objective 1 – Implement programs and identify opportunities to support employee work-life balance and a positive work environment, including a Telework Policy.

·         Objective 2 – Conduct an employee engagement survey by mid-2022, and based on survey data, develop and implement strategies to incorporate survey outcomes into future operational planning.

·         Objective 3 – Support employee professional growth and retention by investing in high quality training, development, and leadership programs.

As HR is the primary and/or co-leads for these objectives, work on both pillars is being completed in tandem by department staff.

Community, equity and climate update

Human Resources will continue to evaluate policies and procedures using disaggregated County data in an effort to remove barriers to hiring/advancement and increase equitable employment in local government.

Funding narrative (If this objective received Strategic Plan funding in year 1 or year 2, please provide a status of expenditures to date.)

Human Resources requested and received $50,000 in funding related to this strategic plan goal to develop the Employee Demographic Dashboard. As of October 31, 2022, a portion of that funding has been used to purchase software (2022), renew the license for the software (2023), and to hire an extra-help employee to first develop, launch, and then to intermittently update to the dashboard. The project is well within cost and additional funding is not anticipated relative to this initiative at this time. However, additional funding may be requested in future years as project plans are developed and if additional strategies are identified.