December 2, 2021
Last week, the Biden-Harris Administration published its “Government-wide Strategic Plan to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce.” This follows President Biden’s Executive Order 14035, which launched an initiative to promote diversity and inclusion while expanding equitable employment opportunities within the civil service.
The DEIA Plan provides guidance for implementing the Executive Order and illustrates steps that agencies can take to improve DEIA in their workplaces. The plan:
- Provides vision and mission statements
- Establishes five operating principles to advance and sustain DEIA within agencies
- Further outlines the DEIA priorities expressed in the Executive Order
- Details strategies for advancing DEIA
- Provides an example maturity model to support growth
- Outlines steps to create a comprehensive framework to address workplace harassment
- Explains next steps for advancing DEIA
NFFE-IAM members will be pleased to learn that the DEIA plan promotes safe workplaces, professional development and advancement, pay and promotion equity, and merit system principles for all government employees. The plan also calls for employee input on the application of new DEIA processes, allowing NFFE-IAM members to have their voices heard and accounted for in changing workplace culture. NFFE-IAM locals should be ready to engage with management on implementation of the DEIA plan.
“The new DEIA Plan represents a win for NFFE-IAM members and government workers across the country,” said NFFE-IAM National President Randy Erwin. “With this guidance, federal employees will be able to increase fairness and transparency in their workplaces on important issues like pay and promotions, among many other things. The DEIA plan calls for strategic action that will advance equity for underrepresented groups and will help curb discrimination across the government. NFFE-IAM looks forward to assisting OPM and other agencies as they implement these critical policies.”