Personnel Services

​On Nov. 17, 2020, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors declared racism a public​ health crisis, asserting that racism and the health inequities therefrom constitute a public health crisis affecting the entire community. 

As a result of analysis and feedback from the community and employees, a professional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion firm with experts in the field recommended the County create a DEI Cabinet, establish a Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer position, and expand outreach to the community to identify DEI issues and best methods for engaging​ with our community. 

The DEI Cabinet developed the DEI Action Plan focused on creating strategic pillars: our employees, our community, and our program/policy/service delivery. 

County DEI Action Plan

County Employee Pillar ​

1a. Building Inclusive Leadership Capabilities

• Create and implement a DEI training plan for individual contributors, leaders of others, DEI practitioners and remedial 
  
• Develop inclusive leadership playbook for managers and supervisors (Inclusive Hiring, DEI Learning Journey, Listening, Policy)​
• Leverage Culture Chats to accelerate adoption of common language and DEI principles
• Embed accountability of DEI principles in relevant policies, programs and processes
• Create a personal inclusion goal
  

1b. Create a Culture of Belonging

• Establish countywide employee resource groups
• Implement listening sessions (Leader led, Town Halls)
• Develop powerful storytelling (e.g., Sac County DEI Annual Report, newsletters, social media, publications, website)
  

• Create a​​​ Culture Impact position that manages a library of curated resources, authentic conversations, and oversees ERGs

• Create and launch an employee belonging survey and index to measure employee sense of belonging year-over-year

1c. Develop Strategic Talent Priorities to Attract, Retain and Develop Talent

• Embed DEI in County onboarding plan for new hires
  
• Develop recruitment goals based on department need utilizing inclusive hiring practices (i.e. diverse panel/states, sourcing, etc.)​
  
• Develop Internship and Mentorship initiatives that create diverse pipelines for talent and build skills to address talent gaps for underrepresented groups
  
• Leverage Internship programs to tap into High School, Community Coll​eg​e, and those who do not possess a college degree to build a diverse pipeline of talent for early career and entry level positions.  
  

Community Pillar​

2a. Create Community Racial Equity Committee

• Update bylaws to include Committee roles and responsibilities
• Identify members of Community/County Committee to establish charter, application process, and list and # of potential Sac County Community Racial Equity Committee members.

2b. Establish Community/County Feedback Loop

• Establish forum and format for listening, providing feedback, and sharing ideas/best practices

2c. Collaborate with Constituent Groups to Assist Building the Community Racial Equity Action Plan

• Identify community organizations to hold focus groups
• Determine programs, policies and processes to evaluate and assessment methods to identify structural barriers, systemic inequities, measure progress and establish a mechanism for reporting.

2d. ​Plan Community Engagement Activations that inform, educate, empower and inspire participants.

• Identify 3 Departments that will highlight a DEI initiative that has made an impact 
• Pull together a committee to plan the event

• DEI Cabinet members and Department Heads get trained on Racial Equity Tool​
  
• Conduct RET Assessment of County Services and resident experience w/those services (i.e., protective services, homelessness and housing, economic development, criminal justice and law enforcement)
  
• Review budgeting practices and allocation of resources to determine if there are inequities
  
• Analyze procurement process to address structural barriers and advance racial equity

• Create DEI dashboard
• ​Create survey/audit tool to assess the impact of County policies and practices

•   Reviewed Hiring Process Training and made recommendations to content that included DEI principles. Complete a review of Sac County Employee Selection Handbook to embed inclusive hiring strategies. 
• Review DPS Onboarding framework to include DEI principles
• Revisit and prioritize DEI Assessment policy suggestions (i.e., contractors/temp path to full time; performance review standardization; Create County wide ERGs; expand parental leave; include explicit injunctive remedies and codified definition of retaliation in the Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Policy)
• Review policies w/DEI lens to ensure gender neutral, values based  language and DEI principles are embedded

• Update County website to include DEI philosophy, plan, priorities, people sharing stories​