Executive Interview Implementation Research

March, 2002

 

 

  1. How do you define workplace diversity?  What are the key benchmarks and how does the City of Tempe compare to other cities?

 

  1. Employees say the City of Tempe’s has a vision for diversity and a formal definition of diversity as it relates to the work environment and how employees are to be treated.  Briefly describe.  What How confident are you that most employees can articulate the vision and understand how to apply it in the workplace?

 

  1. What are the top 2 or 3 current diversity goals in the City of Tempe?   What types of changes are you making today?  How effective is the progress to date?  What are your most significant accomplishments?  What are your biggest challenges?

 

  1. Several specific goals and programs have been mentioned as part of the City’s diversity efforts.  Give us some insights into what is working well and what needs to be improved for each of the following areas:

 

a.       Diversity Recruitment;

b.      Executive Focal Areas i.e. communication, recognition and time in field;

    1. Management Training Program; and
    2. Employee Training & Development Plans.

 

  1. Thinking about the City of Tempe’s goals and its current focus, what further actions or activities are needed?  What, if anything, is missing?  What additional goals would you recommend that the city focus upon to improve its ability to build a productive, diverse workforce?
  2. In general, how do system level changes get identified and handled?  What is the City’s approach to implementing change?  How are ideas and goals translated into action?  (Probe for a specific example of a successful organizational change.)

 

    1. Who is typically involved in identifying issues and making change?  What key roles do they play at various levels in the organization, i.e. senior management, supervisors, employees or specific departments such as HR, employee groups, unions?

 

    1. Are most of the system wide changes implemented tops down?  If not, how does it work?  How is employee input and buy in accomplished?  What strategies or tactics have been most effective and why?  Conversely, what types of strategies or tactics have failed or produced sub-par results?  Why?

 

    1. How are critical goals measured and monitored in the City of Tempe?  Is there a formal system in place, such as Management By Objectives, or some similar goal setting mechanism?  Please describe.  Are cultural goals or organizational goals included in the City’s formal management systems?  What about diversity goals?  Are specific diversity  goals are included in the City’s current annual plan, in its 3 to 5 year plan?  If not, should they be included here?

 

    1. How is accountability built into the City of Tempe organization?  How are current diversity goals being measured and monitored?  How should they be measured and monitored?  When is becomes apparent that a particular goal is not being accomplished, what do you do to take corrective action?

 

    1. How are proposed changes such as vision, goals and policy communicated throughout the City structure.  How is feedback gathered and used to assess progress and continuously improve?

 

  1. Ideally, how do you see a diversity implementation plan working in the City of Tempe?  Who would initiate it?  Who would be involved in developing it?  How would you align the organization to a common vision and purpose? How would it be implemented city-wide?  How would it be measured and monitored?  Who would “own” and champion the plan?  How will you know whether it is successful? 

 

  1. Let’s take a look at some of the preliminary findings from the qualitative research and census data.  I’ll share some information with you and ask you to help interpret what it means and offer any insight you may have into how it might be addressed in the forthcoming implementation plan.

 

a.       A significant number of employee say that they have issues and concerns pertaining to the workplace environment and diversity.  Does this surprise you?  How do you see it?  What do you see as the most problematic areas?  How would you address these issues and perceptions? 

 

b.      Data suggest that there is significant variation in the workplace environment by department.   How do you explain this?  How does this affect action planning and implementation of necessary change.  (Probe for how they see Tempe, a unified organization, small fiefdoms, or what?)

 

c.       Employees perceive favoritism as a significant problem in the City of Tempe.  They say that department heads and supervisors both treat some employees better than others.  What are they referring to in your opinion? What need to be done to address this?   (Probe for promotion of favorites, application of policy and procedure, conflict resolution and diversity specific criteria including gender, race and level.)

 

d.      Many contend that there is a ‘good old boy network’ in place which creates inequities in training/advancement opportunities, job assignments, disciplinary action and the like.  How do you  see it?  What would you suggest needs to happen to address this issue?

 

    1. The majority of employees say that department heads are sensitive to diversity issues.  Are there ‘best known practices’ that effective dept. heads use that could be expanded and applied throughout the City of Tempe?  In other words, what are you doing right and what more could be done?

 

    1. Some employees perceive their department heads as rigid and unbending and as looking out for their own interests rather than looking out for their employees.  Does this surprise you?  Why do you think they see things this way?  What might be done to address this?

 

    1. A few employees say that their supervisor/manager treats them according to prejudice and stereotypes rather than with respect and understanding. How do you see it?  What needs to be done to improve the situation?  (Probe for underlying factors such as lack of knowledge/experience, blatant prejudice, role of supervisor, variation by dept. and organizational level)

 

    1. Several employees say that they personally know of employees who have been treated inappropriately in the City of Tempe.  What types of diversity issues are you aware of and how should they be addressed in an action plan?

 

    1. Of the employees that say that they have heard, seen or experienced inappropriate treatment, well over half say that it occurs on a regular or occasional basis.  It is not seen as an infrequent occurrence; in their view there appears to be a pattern of behavior.  How do you respond to this?  What do you think they are talking about?  How should Tempe address this issue in your opinion?

 

    1. Most employees say that they are very familiar with the Public Works allegations and issues.  Is this high awareness a problem?  How might it impact future action planning?

 

    1. Employees identify gender as the foremost area where they personally have observed discrimination in the City of Tempe.  How do you define gender discrimination?  What types of gender issues are you aware of and what types of changes would you suggest?  (Probe for sexual harassment, glass ceiling, hostile work environment and other gender specific issues.)

 

    1. Race and ethnicity is the second most frequently observed category of  discrimination.  What types of issues have you seen in this area and what would you propose doing to improve the situation?  (Probe for issues regarding equal career/training opportunity, inclusion/exclusionary practices, promotional practices, etc.)

 

    1. A number of employees say that they see managers and supervisors trying to control employees and keeping them under their thumb.  How do you see it? What would you recommend to improve the situation?

 

    1. Some employees contend that most diversity problems do not occur between employees in their work groups.  They say that most of the issues occur between levels of the organization, especially between the employee and his supervisor or manager.  How do you see it?  What would you recommend to address this problem?

 

    1. Some employees say they fear speaking up when a work issue arises.  Further, some say that there is no safe place to raise issues when they do encounter problems in the workplace.  How do you see this problem and what might be done to improve the situation. (Probe for distrust of HR, TEC powerlessness and problems with the grievance process i.e. poor documentation, lack of follow through, knowledge of grievance process, etc.)

 

  1. Overall, employees give the City high marks for the job it is doing for employees regarding diversity.  They  say that diversity is personally important to them and they express strong faith in the City Manager and management’s ability to improve diversity in the workplace.  Given everything that we have discussed, what 2 or 3 goals would you like to see as part of an effective City of Tempe action plan?  Why are these specific goals so important?  How would you translate them into action?

 

  1. In your opinion, what type of diversity focus/goal would really rally the troops?  What do employees really care about and what would they strongly get behind and support.  (Probe for key themes re: cultural fit such as meritocracy, fairness, competitive edge, team cohesion, creativity, innovation etc.)

 

  1. Conversely, what types of goals or specific implementation strategies would cause fear or strong opposition among employees?  Among supervisors and managers? (Probe for hot buttons and areas of contention.)

 

  1. Are there any other diversity-related issues or activities occurring that we should be aware of in developing our report and recommendations that we have not discussed?

 

  1. What final thoughts or recommendations would you like to share, if any?