We will strengthen America’s workplaces by preventing discrimination and promoting workplace policies and practices that foster an inclusive work culture. The expected outcomes are (1) increased voluntary compliance with the Federal equal employment laws and (2) increased individual awareness and understanding of rights and responsibilities.
We believe that the best way to combat workplace discrimination is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Educating employers and workers about their rights and responsibilities under the law is the first step toward an inclusive work culture where all workers are judged on their talents and abilities without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, age, or disability. A strong prevention program helps employers comply with the law and breaks down barriers to employment opportunities.
Our Strategic Plan for FYs 2004 through 2009 links our broad strategic objectives to the agency’s Five-Point Plan. Strategic Objective 2, Inclusive Workplace, relates to one element of our Five-Point Plan: Proactive Prevention. It also identifies our long-term goals for achieving results in this area.
We will proactively prevent discrimination by educating employees and employers and by providing information that will help them identify and solve problems; enhancing outreach activities; promoting sound workplace practices; introducing new and expanded outreach activities, including outreach to small and mid-sized companies; and making better use of available technology to communicate with the public and our stakeholders.
There are three performance measures under Strategic Objective 2. One measure assesses the extent to which private and Federal sector employers attending our major outreach events improve their workplaces as a result of their participation. A second measure seeks to ensure that over half of the Federal agencies will implement EEOC’s Model EEO Program attributes. Our final measure assesses individuals’ awareness of their EEO rights and responsibilities. One measure is expanded in our new Strategic Plan to identify persons benefited by workplace improvements (Measure 2.1.1.) and another is continued in the Plan (Measure 2.1.3.).
| FY 2004 | FY 2005 | FY 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Design survey methodology, conduct survey(s), establish baseline of improvements. Set targets for FYs 2005 through 2009. | Set target values for FYs 2005 through 2008 and a final goal for 2009. | 85% |
| Result | Designed survey methodology and conducted survey. Baseline/target setting postponed to FY 2005. | 91.2% of participants indicated that improvements had been made. | 94.7% |
|
Target met |
||
Based on responses on training evaluation forms from participants attending our free and fee-based outreach and training who had previously attended EEOC training or other presentations, 94.7% of the participants in FY 2006 indicated that their organization had made an improvement in their employment policies, practices, or procedures as a result of their participation in previous programs. We achieved this increase over our FY 2005 level even after adjusting our survey methodology to ensure that the time frame used by participants to link our training to workplace improvements would avoid double-counting responses in later years for the same workplace changes.
| FY 2004 | FY 2005 | FY 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Issue guidance on attributes of a Model EEO Program; design measurement index. | Using Model EEO Program and measurement index, establish baseline value for FY 2005, target values for FYs 2006 through 2008, and a final goal for FY 2009. | With EPCA, establish baseline value; set target values for FY 2006–2008; and final goal for FY 2009. (Federal agencies do not report FY data until after the fiscal year has ended.) |
| Result | Issued guidance on Model EEO Program and designed a preliminary measurement index. | Designed the EEO Performance Compliance Assessment (EPCA) tool as measurement index. Postponed establishing baseline and target values until FY 2006. | Assessment tool not continued and goals not established. |
|
Target not met |
||
Successfully implementing the six “essential elements” of a model EEO program, as described in MD-715, will provide the infrastructure necessary for a Federal agency to achieve a discrimination-free work environment characterized by an atmosphere of inclusion and the free and open competition for employment opportunities. Measure 2.1.2 established a final goal of successful implementation of these attributes of a model EEO program in 50% of the Federal agencies by FY 2009 under the Strategic Plan in effect for FY 2006.
In FY 2005 the agency drafted a measurement index, the EEO Performance Compliance Assessment Tool (EPCA), to assess how well a Federal agency implemented the attributes of a model EEO program under MD-715. After extensive review, the agency determined that the tool, as designed, does not accurately assess an agency’s progress in achieving a model program. Accordingly, the agency did not set baseline or target values for this measure and ultimately chose not to continue it in its new Strategic Plan.
| FY 2004 | FY 2005 | FY 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Design survey methodology, conduct survey(s), establish baseline of confidence. Set target values for FY 2005–2009 | Postponed | Postponed |
| Result | Activities postponed | Activities postponed | Activities postponed |
|
|
Target not met |
||
The Strategic Plan in effect in FY 2006 identified this performance measure as an indicator of the agency’s contributions toward ensuring that individuals understand their EEO rights and responsibilities. Much of our past work has provided people with information they need to understand their rights and responsibilities under the EEO laws we enforce. We believe that individuals who know both their rights and their responsibilities are more likely to properly identify discriminatory behaviors at the workplace and know what to do about them. In addition, we believe it is equally important for individuals who are responsible for workplace policies, practices, and procedures to possess the information they need to critically assess whether their workplaces are contributing to a discriminatory environment and what their responsibilities are for changing the situation.
Although the agency anticipated conducting a survey to establish a final goal and intermediate targets to attain, we were not able to fund the survey until the end of FY 2006. This measure does continue in our new Strategic Plan and we anticipate obtaining critical information that will enable us to identify yearly targets and a final goal extended to FY 2012 for this measure.
This page was last modified on December 7, 2006
