Diversity Program

Building a Better Workplace

What is Diversity?

Diversity is defined as all of the ways in which we differ. Among these dimensions are race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and child/elder care responsibilities. Effectively, managing diversity means including people with differences in the design and implementation of programs and valuing their contributions. Why? Because programs are generally more innovative, problem solving can be more effective and errors can be avoided because organizations create opportunities to draw upon people with different backgrounds which provide new perspectives for organizational and personal success. 

Why is Diversity Important?

The Census Bureau has adopted four strategies to accomplish its mission and goal. They are Valuing Employees, Customer Response, Public Cooperation, and Innovating In Our Work.

Diversity is an important component of each of the Census Bureau's four strategies. The Bureau values its employees by recognizing that employees with different backgrounds can make important contributions. Accordingly, the Bureau makes special efforts to recruit and hire employees with diverse backgrounds and institutes a variety of programs to retain all of its employees. Employees with diverse backgrounds can better respond to customers with diverse backgrounds because they can draw upon relevant features of their own backgrounds to give customers what they want. Public cooperation is essential for the Census Bureau to effectively do its work. Encouraging cooperation by a diverse public involves tapping the expertise of Census Bureau staff with diverse backgrounds to both reach key target groups and convince them that they should respond to census surveys. Innovation on the job is promoted by involving employees with diverse backgrounds in the design and implementation of tasks and programs.

Who are we in the Diversity Office?

While becoming "diversity savvy" encompasses the efforts of all bureau employees, the Diversity Office is the place where employees can find experienced staff strongly committed to building a more inclusive workplace. The Office is located in FB#3, Room#G-271. 

Diversity Initiatives:

• Diversity Poster Contest
• Diversity Fair 
• Education
• Series for General Workforce
• Training for Managers
• Coordinating Diversity Council Meetings
• Evaluating Organizational Climate and Changes

"Committed to Building a Better Census Bureau"