MEMORANDUM. FROM: Jim Laurent, Director - Human Resources and Labor Relations (612) Anita Bellant, Manager Diversity (612)

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1 Page 1 of 6 MEMORANDUM TO: All Commissioners FROM: Jim Laurent, Director - Human Resources and Labor Relations (612) Anita Bellant, Manager Diversity (612) SUBJECT: MAC WORKFORCE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION UPDATE DATE: March 14, 2017 Several Commissioners have requested information about diversity and inclusion as it relates to the employees of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). This memo summarizes the current state of the MAC workforce, explores recent efforts to increase diversity and inclusion, and provides information on future plans to enhance the MAC s workforce diversity. MAC S WORKFORCE The MAC s Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) provides a broad look at the diversity of the MAC s workforce. The AAP is submitted every two years to the State of Minnesota and provides a snapshot of the MAC s workforce and job categories. Minnesota metropolitan census data relative to current workforce demographics determines whether there is a goal for a particular job category in the organization. Per the AAP women are represented in 25% of the MAC s workforce. To be on par with current census demographics, women would need to represent 29% of the organization s workforce. Similarly, minorities represent 10% of MAC s workforce, compared to the 11.5% listed in census demographics. Note, information about ethnicity is based on self-reporting. Anecdotally Human Resources is aware of employees who would fall under a protected class category but are not statistically represented because they have not self-reported. Attachment 1 contains a breakdown by divisions within the MAC. Management and Operations Division employees represent approximately 75% of MAC s workforce, so an analysis of data by division should be viewed through the lens that one division dwarfs all others in employee population. CHALLENGES The MAC s employees reported in the AAP is small compared to public employment at the state of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and Hennepin and Ramsey counties. When you combine the MAC s small staff with a three year average turnover rate of a modest 5.5% that translates into about 33 positions filled in any given year. Given that approximately 30 percent of those 33 openings are being vacated by women and minorities, the actual opportunity to improve diversity exists in 20 or so openings per year. This low number of opportunities affects the speed at which diversity numbers can be improved to meet goals.

2 Page 2 of 6 Another challenge for the organization, particularly as it relates to women in the workforce, is the type of work that MAC performs. Many of our job classes are demographically male dominated. Police, Fire, Maintenance and skilled-craft employees alone account for 303 employees more than half the workforce listed in our AAP. According to census data, if we were to fill all these classes of positions proportional to the number of qualified individuals in the workforce for that class, approximately 27 women of the 303 employees, or 8.9%, would be needed to meet the goal. Currently we employ 28 women in these work categories. The large number of single-incumbent positions combined with the low number of actual positions opening each year also pose a challenge. To fill the 33 or so openings per year, the MAC needs to develop 12 to 25 different recruitment plans. We fill many positons only once every decade or more. This makes it difficult to have the MAC brand be consistently known for each of these fields. Candidates might not be as familiar with the MAC and its role as they are with larger public employers such as state, county and city governments. Similarly, these single incumbent positions with specialized expertize make it difficult for managers within the organization to provide for succession planning or training. It is often difficult to convince a manager to part with an employee s time and talent for purposes of cross training when there is no viable option for continuing to cover the employee s work. Despite these challenges, the MAC has had success in moving the diversity needle in a positive direction. APPROACH The MAC uses a comprehensive strategy with a broad range of approaches to develop a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. These approaches vary from broad initiatives intended to educate employees and managers, eliminate bias and support diversity in the organization to narrowly targeted approaches relative to certain functions within the organization. The AAP goals are updated annually, and if there is a goal for a position, then Human Resources and the hiring manager discuss strategies to attract candidates consistent with the goal. Strategies can include where and how the job is marketed, advertising and outreach directed specifically to women or minority communities where diverse individuals with the skills required for the specific opening can be reached and encouraged to apply. Human Resources reviews a job minimum requirements with the hiring authority. Discussions focus on removing unnecessary barriers to hiring by identifying, for example, whether an applicant can be successful if the job posting allows years of experience in lieu of a college degree.

3 Page 3 of 6 As a broader approach Human Resources in partnership with Sustainability and Strategic Planning is offering programs focused on an inclusive workforce: Unconscious bias training for all employees Leadership training on the impact of diversity Engagement groups to assist employees in being connected Another way to continue to market the MAC s brand and hopefully build a pipeline to the minority community is through focused internship initiatives. To that end the MAC is a regular participant in the StepUp program, which provides summer internships to a diverse population of inner-city high school youth. MAC has hosted 12 StepUp interns over the last several years and is looking to hire three more this summer. The MAC also plans to hire four interns through the Urban Scholar program. This will be the MAC s first summer participating in the program, which is primarily focused on economically disadvantaged college and graduate level students. In addition to providing these interns with the ability to learn about the MAC and build relationships within the organization, the program offers an opportunity to work on a specific project within MAC. In fact, the Human Resources Department is looking to hire a scholar to help us benchmark best practices for diversity and to explore process changes than can create a more diverse organization and inclusive culture. NOTABLE INITIATIVES In addition to broader, ongoing initiatives and monitoring, beginning in 2015 the MAC began piloting diversity initiatives focused on the Fire and Police departments. A. FIRE DEPARTMENT At the beginning of 2016 the Fire Department had a total of 33 fire fighters, including three female and no minority employees. While the lack of minorities is clearly unacceptable, the lack of diversity in the firefighting field is not unique to MAC. When we began tackling this problem we surveyed the fire departments from which the MAC often gets applicants. Survey results indicated that of the 11 suburban and outstate fire departments with full-time fire fighters there were only 17 minorities amongst 558 fire fighters just 3% of the total. Note that Minneapolis and St. Paul were excluded from that survey since the MAC has not had applicants from these departments. Up until recently, the Minneapolis Fire Department was under a court order that allowed the city to select fire fighters based on race. For full-time female fire fighters, survey results indicated the percentage is 5.6%. Paid on-call department diversity numbers are similarly challenging. In the metro area there are approximately 4,500 fire fighters, with 6.7% of those being minorities and 6.4% are women. The Human Resources Department has reviewed and added information to the hiring process and recruitment plan several times over the last two years to attract a diverse applicant pool. The last process, which included extremely targeted and active recruitment efforts, was able to yield a more diverse pool that translated to diverse hires. Of the four fire fighters hired in that process, two are minorities and one is female.

4 Page 4 of 6 Despite recent success, and given the market data, it has become clear that if the MAC is going to continue attracting diverse fire fighter candidates, we need to create our own program. Human Resources, in partnership with the Fire Department, has been working to create an apprentice-type training program. The idea is to recruit students graduating from local high schools into the firefighting field, assist with their required course work and training, then hire them and assist them to get the two years of experience necessary to gain permanent employment as MSP fire fighters. The MAC is working with a non-profit called TCI Solutions to reach out to two Minneapolis high schools and one St. Paul high school to attract students into a Junior Fire Fighting Program. This Legacy program s goal is to teach students life skills and give them tools to contribute positively to their family, community and economy. The MAC is hopeful that at the end of the program several strong, diverse candidates will become MAC fire fighters. B. POLICE DEPARTMENT The Police Department has also recognized the importance of having a workforce that reflects the surrounding community.in addition to constant review of the hiring and recruitment processes the department has embarked on two promising initiatives to increase diversity. The community service officer (CSO) program is being retooled to reallocate most of the CSO positions as traffic control agents (TCAs). The CSO program required the officers to have backgrounds, education and training similar to police officers. CSO job duties primarily involved traffic management but would branch out into other policing areas. The TCA position has less rigorous hiring minimums centered on education and training and is open to more applicants as a result. Efforts to recruit these TCA positions has focused on the airport community itself since that community offers a wealth of ability and diversity, has familiarity with the airport and has already passed background checks for SIDA badges. This initiative has resulted in the MAC recently completing its first TCA hiring process by offering positions to six individuals, four of whom are minority males and one of whom is a minority female. The Police Department, in conjunction with Human Resources, is also partnering with the cities of Bloomington, Eagan and St. Louis Park in a pilot program to attract applicants from diverse areas to work as police officers. The Pathways to Policing program reaches out to individuals who already have a college degree but want a career change. The program targets diverse populations and provides a pathway to becoming a police officer. Interviews are underway with the hope of making offers later this spring. Currently the pool of applicants is 40% diverse. Selected candidates will be hired and sent to skills training at Hennepin Technical College. Upon completion of that program they will return to the MAC and begin working as a police officer by entering our probationary training program. We aim to hire two individuals through this process. TRENDS Historical data and recent hires suggest MAC is trending in the right direction. Since 2011 our minority employment percentage has increased to 13.6%. In 2015 and 2016 the MAC s combined hiring percentage was 27.5% female and 17.5% minority, which is above our AAP overall goals of 25% and 10% respectively.

5 Page 5 of 6 The AAP also reflects more women managers than in previous years, with women having been hired into several key roles at MAC including: Assistant Director of Field Maintenance Field maintenance manager Manager in Landside Sustainability and Strategic Plan Manager Concessions Assistant Director Sergeant For the first time, the MAC recently hired minorities into key management positions, including: Assistant Director of Operations-Landside Chief Information Officer CONCLUSION The MAC has made progress in the area of diversity and is committed to continuous improvement. With upcoming training and continuation of the initiatives we have started, we believe the MAC will continue to improve on creating a diverse, inclusive workforce. THIS IS AN INFORMATIONAL ITEM ONLY; NO COMMISSION ACTION IS REQUESTED.

6 /".'"^.f-l - I*' ' 5 Human Resources Page 6 of 6 '.*A'/ and Labor Relations Attachment 1 ]VI:einoa-aBidiiin TO: FROM: Commissioners Anita Bellant, Divers? Manager DATE: November 29, 2016 SUBJECT: MAC Employees Division/Dept Women Minorities CMAA 67% 0% Legal 47% 13% Finance 55% 9% HR 69% 23% IT 23% 19% Operations 18% 11% Planning 39% 6. 5% Public Affairs 70% 0% Sustainability 100% 0%