In support of the Inclusive Auburn initiative, and with the goal of eliminating bias and discrimination in the City's recruitment processes, HR began making updates to our practices in 2017. The focus increased in 2022 with an internally produced interview panelist training video, implementation of DEI specific questions, and a stronger emphasis of these best practices after our Management Retreat in March 2022.
Hiring managers must fulfill the below requirements for their process to move forward. All hiring and recruitment efforts across the City will include the following:
Hiring managers will work with HR to review the minimum qualifications of positions before posting, to the extent possible. The goal is to remove unnecessary barriers regarding years of experience and education requirements that would prevent people from expressing interest in our positions.
When applications are being reviewed by subject matter experts (SMEs) or hiring managers, personally identifiable information and attachments are not shared. This drives reviewers to focus specifically on the information shared on the application regarding education and experience. Make sure your application is up to date and thorough!
All members of an interview panel will view the 10-minute "Countering Bias in the Hiring Process" video produced by the City of Auburn, which addresses common biases impacting decisions made during interviews.
All members of a hiring panel will review and sign a Confidentiality & Ethics Agreement prior to their participation as a panelist.
Hiring managers will include diverse perspectives on interview panels, with regards to race, ethnicity, gender, hierarchy, roles, and/or departments. Human Resources will support these efforts and offer recommendations to hiring managers, as needed.
Every interview process will include at least one DEI question from a list of pre-approved sample questions provided by HR. If the department wishes to create a customized question for this requirement, a consultation process with HR will occur. Any questions regarding sample questions are referred to the HR Manager or Director.
Human Resources will continue to track self-reported applicant demographics throughout all recruitment processes to gauge whether we are reflecting the diversity of our community consistently.
Human Resources will continue to conduct intentional outreach to broaden exposure to the City of Auburn and our employment opportunities.
In July 2019, the City Council approved Resolution #5427 - Inclusive Auburn Initiative. You can read more about our Inclusive Auburn Initiative by visiting this webpage.
One of Mayor Backus' highest priorities for the City of Auburn has been to create an Office of Equity to provide opportunities for growth, and to ensure that all employees and residents can reach their full potential, regardless of changes in elected positions in the future.
She successfully did just that on September 1, 2022, by creating a stand alone department and naming Brenda Goodson-Moore our Chief Equity Officer. The City's executive leadership team recognizes that we cannot fully support our community in this work unless we start from within and focus internally on our own diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals.
Advancing equity is a social and moral imperative that is everyone's job, and we have an ambitious equity initiative that involves the tough, steady work of reflection, policy revision, and universal commitments to a just and equitable future.
The Human Resources Department is dedicated to the Inclusive Auburn Initiative and things that we can directly impact in our day-to-day work, as we continue to make strides toward hiring a workforce that reflects the community we serve.
The chart here shows annual hiring of new Full-Time, Benefited employees from 2020-2024. This information is based on self-reported ethnicity information, and the data points are as of June 30th each year. Our ultimate goal is to have a workforce that reflects the community we serve, which is why you see the most recent census information as a line across the graph.
In odd years, the City is required to report this information to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As you can see, we look at this information every year so we can evaluate our efforts and look for opportunities to improve.
