Diversity down to the letter: the U.S. Postal Service sends a clear message about equal opportunity for its workforce

HR Magazine, June, 2004 by Pamela Babcock

USPS also culls results from a companywide, quarterly "Voice of the Employee Opinion Survey," which asks specific questions about diversity, workplace harassment and discrimination. Every quarter, 25 percent of career employees--a different cross-section each time--takes the survey and returns results in sealed envelopes. An outside vendor develops reports to monitor perceptions and trends. Six survey questions form an index to gauge USPS' diversity success.

In 2003, the survey index results rose roughly 4 percent from the previous year. This percentage represents employees' perceptions of factors such as fairness/cooperation, job/organization satisfaction, supervision, discrimination and work conditions. Analyzing results helps identify organizational issues and plan improvement strategies, Weatherall says.

"The good news is, we've seen over the last couple of years just continuous improvement in our employees' views of the organization and the work environment," he says.

Percentages of Minorities and Women at USPS

                    2004  1991

Male                61.9  66.2
Female              38.1  33.8
White               63.5  67.8
Black               21.1  21.1
Hispanic             7.6   6.2
* Other Minorities   7.9   4.9

* Asian American/Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska native;
grouped to conform to 1991 categories.
Numbers may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
Source: 2004 USPS data and 1991 Comprehensive Statement on Postal
Operations

Percentages of Minorities Moving Up at USPS

Level                  Blacks   Hispanics   Other Minorities    Women
                    2004  1991  2004  1991  2004  1991        2004  1991

Non-Supervisory     21.2  21.1  7.7   6.4   8.2   5.1         38.0  34.3
Line Supervisors    22.1  22.3  6.4   5.1   4.6   2.7         42.6  32.1
Mid-Level Managers  17.5  14.3  6.3   4.5   4.5   3.3         31.1  18.0
Executives          15.6  10.6  6.3   4.2   2.7   2.4         27.1  11.5
*CLF 1980              10.2        5.9         2.2               42.1
*CLF 1990              10.4        8.1         2.8               45.8

*Civilian Labor Force data from 1980 and 1990 Census for comparison.
Source: U.S. Postal Service

Online Resources

For tips on measuring the success of your diversity initiatives, as well as links to the Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM] Workplace Diversity Toolkit, an SHRM white paper on diversity in the workforce and recent HR Magazine articles about timely diversity topics, see the online version of this article at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/04June.> RELATED ARTICLE: Major USPS Diversity Initiatives

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has implemented multiple initiatives and special events designed to foster a more inclusive environment in its workforce:

* USPS' Affirmative Employment Program targets Hispanics, women, disabled veterans and other individuals with disabilities, says Murry E. Weatherall, vice president of diversity development at the Washington, D.C., headquarters.

* The USPS National Diversity Leadership Committee, a diverse group of postal executives, works to ensure representation of all groups at all levels of the organization.