Tempe Diversity Audit -- Executive Interview Draft

JY Consulting/Wright Consulting Services Resp. ID:________

8787 Emma’s View

HC 1 Box 1394 Tempe Executive Interview

Strawberry, AZ 85544 June, 2001

520.476.6400

Introductions & Orientation. Brief introductions. Explain the purpose of the interview. Clarify how data will be used and how confidentially will be maintained. Gather general background data such as job position, length of time working for Tempe, previous job experience, etc.

To begin, what job is the City of Tempe workforce paid to accomplish? What are you and your fellow employees here to do?

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How do you/your department fit into that? How do you and your employees further the overall purpose of the City workforce?

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What are the top 2 or 3 challenges facing the City’s workforce in the next 3 to 5 years? What are you and your fellow managers most concerned about?

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What kinds of challenges are your anticipating? How are you preparing your people to meet them?

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Tell me a little about the City of Tempe culture. What expectations does the City have of its employees; what is expected of them? What is valued in employees and what is not? What makes an effective employee for the City?

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In a perfect world of work, employee expectations and behaviors match up. We know and accept what is expected of us, and we do it, even more, in a work environment that supports and rewards us. How does the environment of the City compare to this perfect world? How does working for the City measure up? How does it fall short?

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What considerations are most important in recruiting employees? In promotion?

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Describe how management decisions are typically made and then communicated to employees.

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How are employee/workforce problems generally handled; how are employees expected to handle work/personal problems?

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How are employees encouraged and motivated? Rewarded?

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There has been much talk about diversity issues in the City workforce. In your opinion, what is diversity, what is it they are talking about? To your knowledge, is there a formal definition of diversity within the City? If so, has it been adopted into policy and procedures? Why, why not?

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Overall, how diverse is the City workforce? On a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 is extremely diverse and 1 is not diverse at all. Describe the diversity of the workforce, ethnically, racially, gender, etc.

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Should the City’s workforce be diverse? Why, why not?

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What benefits, if any, do you see possible managing a diverse workforce? What problems?

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How aware are most employees of diversity issues and benefits? What, if anything, has been done City wide and/ or in your area of responsibility to promote diversity awareness and sensitivity? Has any formal training been provided for managers, supervisors or employees? If so, please describe.

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How does the City currently manage and support diversity? What, if anything, is your charter on this issue? Give specific examples. How do you manage and support diversity in your areas of responsibility?

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In your experience, how frequently do issues surrounding diversity arise in the City? What types of diversity issues does the City run into? How does it handle problems pertaining to diversity issues? Is there a management policy in place? What is it? How well does it work?

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Thinking about the City as a whole, what do you see as the most pervasive diversity problems or issues? What in your opinion contributes to these issues? Are they widespread? Why, why not? What do you see as the most significant issue or problem? How so? Describe.

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Thinking about your area of responsibility, what poses the most significant diversity challenge for you and your organization? How are you handling problems? What’s working well or not and why? What support are you receiving on this? What barriers are you running into?

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Thinking about your area of responsibility, are they any unique diversity issues that we need to be aware of as we conduct our audit? If so, please describe.

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Are you familiar with the diversity issues that emerged in the City workforce, prompting investigations? Please describe that situation as you see it. What happened? Why?

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Were these valid issues or not? Why? What did the City do right in this case and what did it do wrong? In your opinion, are these issues pervasive in the workforce or isolated? Why?

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Based on what you know thus far, what needs to happen to improve the City’s ability to manage and support diversity? Identify your current priorities and goals. Conversely, what would you be most concerned about?

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Specifically, what barriers do you see, including management and/or employee opposition, to creating and managing a diverse workforce in the City? What about your area of responsibility? How do you see that situation?

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Overall, based upon what you know about the City, what do you think would work the best and what would not be accepted in creating a diverse workforce? Why?

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What is the City’s biggest obstacle to overcome in managing and supporting diversity? For executives/managers? For line employees? Conversely, what is the City’s biggest opportunity to benefit from its diversity?

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What questions do you have, if any, before we conclude? Finally, is there anything that we haven’t touched upon that we should be aware of in order to conduct a successful diversity audit?

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Close: Thank you for your time and consideration.