[Electronic copy. Signed original on file in Office of Policy]
Director’s
Order #16B: Diversity in the National
Park Service
Approved: Jonathan B. Jarvis
Director
Effective Date: 3/29/2012
Duration: This order will remain
in effect until amended or rescinded by the Director
Contents:
[1]. Purpose and Background
[2]. Authority for Issuing this Director’s Order
[3]. Diversity Goals
and Policies
[4]. Diversity Beyond the Workforce
[5]. Responsibilities
[6]. Related Guidance Documents
________________________________________________
[1]. Background and
Purpose
The term “diversity” is used broadly to refer to many demographic variables such
as race, religion, color, gender, national origin, disability, sexual
orientation, age, education, geographic origin, and skill characteristics. The National Park Service recognizes that
Within the Service, the concept of
diversity includes—
·
respecting and appreciating
individual differences and ensuring all employees are included as full,
contributing, and influential team members;
·
creating and maintaining an
inclusive approach to all policies and practices;
·
educating the workforce on
diversity;
·
ensuring that diversity principles
are incorporated in the hiring process; and
·
facilitating culture change to support new behaviors.
The purpose of this Director’s Order
is to articulate our policies for seeking and achieving diversity in the
workplace. It supplements section 1.9.1.5
(Workforce Diversity) of Management
Policies 2006, and supersedes any conflicting guidance that may have been issued previously.
[2]. Authority for
Issuing this Director's Order
Authority for issuing this
Director's Order is contained in Executive
Order 13583 (August 18, 2011), the 1916 NPS Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1
through 4) and delegations of authority found in Part 245 of
the Department of the Interior Manual.
This Order is designed to promote the National
Park Service workplace as a model of equal opportunity, diversity, and
inclusion. This Order is intended only
to improve the internal management of the NPS and is not intended to, and does
not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law
or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies,
instrumentalities or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.
[3]. Diversity Goals and
Policies
The foundation of our diversity
policies rests on zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment, and
retaliation, and requires a commitment to goals that must be clearly
communicated to our employees and potential employees. These
goals include—
·
educating our managers, supervisors
and employees by providing training on valuing diversity and managing for
diversity;
·
recruiting a diverse workforce by
developing and using targeted recruitment plans to expand the pool of qualified
applicants and diverse employees;
·
retaining a workforce that reflects
diversity, monitoring employee development, and promotion practices to ensure
equal access to equal opportunities by all employees;
·
ensuring that employees are treated
with respect, free from harassment, intolerance, and discrimination;
·
ensuring accountability by
reviewing, evaluating and monitoring management actions to make sure they
incorporate our goals for improving our diversity; and,
·
ensuring the diversity of this
Nation is represented at all levels throughout the National Park Service; and
·
ensuring that our commitment to diversity is reflected in the way we
manage our partnerships, collaborative programs, and procurement activities.
In an era when our flexibility,
adaptability, and critical thinking are paramount to our readiness, a
well-managed, highly diverse workforce is imperative to achieving operational
excellence. The National Park Service is
fully committed to utilizing the potential that embracing diversity brings. Good inclusion and diversity practices help
us to identify and develop the best talent, create effective teams, achieve
excellence, and attain mission success.
In A Call to Action, the National
Park Service has included an action plan to develop a workforce that values
diversity and an inclusive work environment in order to attract, retain, and
cultivate a workforce that represents the range of personal and professional
backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that arise from differences of
culture and circumstances.
Therefore, to achieve our diversity
goals the Service will—
·
value employees in all occupations
and organizational levels, and provide them the opportunities for working to
their full potential and making their maximum contributions toward achieving
the organization’s mission and goals;
·
strive to build a workforce that
always reflects the diversity of our citizenry at all locations and levels;
·
continue to improve our efforts to
actively recruit, hire, develop, and retain a workforce that reflects the
demographics of this Nation at all levels and locations; and
·
continue to aggressively work toward building a work environment
where workforce diversity is embraced, where there is zero tolerance of
discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and where the mission of this
organization is achieved through collaboration and teamwork.
[4]. Diversity Beyond
the Workforce
Beyond workforce diversity,
integrating inclusion and diversity principles into NPS management practices
provides opportunities to facilitate organizational change, harness employee
potential, achieve performance goals, enhance external and internal customer
satisfaction, and produce stronger work products, thus furthering our
mission. We will continue to improve our
efforts to faithfully tell the complete story in our interpretive themes and
programs and in our educational and informational materials and promote our
national treasures in diverse publications and media. We will continue our aggressive efforts to
integrate diversity into our daily operations by respecting cultures,
languages, and different perspectives and by education our employees, partners,
stakeholders, and diverse communities through our civic engagement initiatives.
It is very important that the
diverse groups of this Nation are provided
opportunities to participate in all activities of this organization. Diverse businesses, vendors
and contractors are representative of the citizenry of this Nation and we are
totally committed to improving their participation in our contracting and
procurement activities. We will also
strive to increase the number of partnership arrangements and cooperative
agreements with diverse colleges, universities, associations
and organizations through our collaboration and partnerships with diverse
groups.
The Service recognizes that it is
important that citizens, when they visit units of the National Park System, see
staff that is reflective of the diversity of America. Further, it is important that these sites
provide a deeper connection and a demonstrated reflectance to the communities
by the stories told. Having diversity at
all of our sites and areas means not only including the representation of those
groups that are now conspicuously absent, but also enhancing and including, not
sacrificing, the talents of the employees currently in the workforce. As a Federal agency, the National Park
Service has an obligation to be a model employer, but we cannot be an adequate
model without improving our diversity.
[5]. Responsibilities
A.
The National Park Service Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Program
Plan, as prescribed by the EEOC’s Management Directive 715 (MD-715), was
approved on December 20, 2004, and updated March 5, 2008. In accordance with the Plan, the Servicewide
Equal Employment Opportunity Program Manager will ensure that—
·
the EEO Program Plan is communicated
Servicewide; and
·
any action items identified in the EEO Program Plan are
communicated to those who are responsible for implementing the actions[.]
B.
In our continuous pursuit [of] excellence, all personnel share
responsibility for ensuring that everyone’s talents and contributions are
recognized, valued, and used in a manner that contributes to mission
accomplishment.
C.
To achieve our goal of recruiting, developing, and maintaining a diverse
workforce, all supervisors and managers must demonstrate their commitment
through proactive leadership that articulates a clear and focused common
vision. This commitment to improving our
diversity also will be demonstrated by our managers and supervisors at
every possible opportunity in—
·
discussions at meetings with
employees;
·
conferences;
·
seminars;
·
training sessions; and
·
meetings with stakeholders and partners.
D.
Managers and supervisors will be held accountable for their efforts to
improve the diversity and address inclusion and diversity of the National Park
Service through EEO critical elements in their performance standards and
evaluations. We
fully expect our leaders to demonstrate this commitment by aggressively
eliminating barriers to success for all of our employees, contractors, and
volunteers; and seeking new and innovative ways to diversify our talent pool
and be more inclusive.
E.
It is essential that employees understand that they are personally
responsible for ensuring that the workplace environment is conducive to
inclusiveness and tolerance of our differences.
This extends to managers with decision-making authority for contracts,
procurements, grants, and cooperative agreements, who must take into full
consideration this Order, Executive Orders 11625,
12138, 12432, 13157,
and any other Federal policies, regulations, and statutes that will help
achieve diversity in the workplace.
F.
All managers and supervisors tasked with taking actions prescribed in
the EEO Program Plan
will provide timely information to the EEO Program Manager regarding the status
of action items and any other EEO related issues for which the Service is
required to generate and analyze data.
G.
If significant disagreement should accompany our efforts to achieve
diversity, managers and supervisors will employ conflict management resources
and techniques such as the Department’s conflict resolution program (http://www.doi.gov/cadr/).
H.
An Inclusion and Diversity Workforce Strategy is one key component
within an overarching inclusion, diversity, and relevance effort that also
recognizes the importance of our interactions with visitors and with
communities outside of our parks. We
will also incorporate inclusion and diversity into our program content (e.g.,
interpretive stories and exhibits), which will enable the Service to connect
with non-traditional visitors to our parks and be responsive and welcoming to
the needs of the full spectrum of the increasingly diverse and multi-cultural
American public. Ultimately, the
principles of inclusion and diversity will be organically and
organizationally imbedded such that it is seamlessly and transparently executed
in our culture.
[6]. Related Guidance Documents
This Director's Order may be
supplemented by an annual statement affirming the Director’s diversity
commitment.
The Order is one in a series that also will include—
#16A:
Reasonable Accommodations for Applicants and Employees with Disabilities
(Being revised since issuance May 4, 1999.)
#16C: Discrimination Complaints Process
#16D: Equal Employment Opportunity and Zero
Tolerance of Discrimination
#16E: Sexual Harassment
#16F: National Park Service Anti-Harassment Policy
Other Director’s Orders with
applicability include—
#75A: Civic Engagement and Public Involvement
#93: Conflict Resolution
Additional guidance is available,
including—
·
[t]he Secretary’s policy on equal
opportunity and diversity at http://www.doi.gov/pmb/eeo/upload/2011-Policy-on-Zero-Tolerance-of-Discrimination-and-Harassment.pdf[;]
·
[t]he
diversity web page at http://www.doi.gov/diversity/workforce_diversity.html[.]
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