Talent Management
The challenges of the past year highlighted how essential a high-performing, equitable, and diverse workforce is in allowing us to meet the retirement and health care needs of our diverse members and their beneficiaries.
The rise of telework and uncertainty brought about by the pandemic led to rapid change and innovation in talent management. This was made possible through team members’ resourcefulness and commitment to ensuring human resource processes were in place to strengthen diversity in recruitment, retention, equity, and succession.
We identified and implemented tools to strengthen recruitment efforts; expanded training for team members at all levels; created new pathways for career development and advancement, including launching the Upward Mobility Program and expanding the Emerging Leader Program; and provided mentoring and job application resources to internal and external applicants. Our results have been many successful firsts.
Key Highlights
- A total of 1,960 team members learned to define unconscious bias and identify types of bias that can impact work performance during the first of three unconscious bias seminars CalPERS hosted with Dr. Tyrone A. Holmes, Ed.D.
- Trained 28 accessibility subject matter experts on CommonLook, an enhanced accessibility software, thereby expanding our ability to provide equal access to electronic documents.
- Offered 39 DEI on-demand web-based trainings to all team members via our partnership with our internal training system and LinkedIn Learning.
- Provided 168 new team members and managers training on CalPERS’ DEI philosophy and fundamental concepts, equal employment opportunity (EEO) policy and resources, and team member opportunities for engagement with DEI.
- Conducted a full analysis of CalPERS’ existing onboarding program:
- Provided recommendations for recruitment best practices and enhanced program features to increase support and consistency of experience for all new team members
- Established a year-one goal of closing new team member gaps in mandatory trainings across the enterprise, including training related to our Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention Policy
- CalPERS’ Human Resources Services Division (HRSD) created and piloted a new leadership course, Managing Remote Teams, to equip leaders with additional skills to effectively lead diverse teams in a virtual environment.
- CDOP conducted a virtual Leadership Development Workshop on The Diverse Mind: Mental Health in the Workplace, with 117 leaders attending the session, most of whom responded to our survey that the session helped support a work environment that values differences and contributions.
- CDOP participated in HRSD’s 10-week progressive leadership series, offering a 90-minute workshop on the important role managers play as DEI advocates to promote an inclusive work culture and the valuable resources available to them through CDOP. This year, 55 new team leaders received the training.
CalPERS is committed to mitigating the impact of bias in recruitment and selection in hiring, as well as internal development and promotional opportunities. We strive to ensure that our internal recruitment programs, such as Upward Mobility and the Emerging Leader Program, as well as our external recruitment strategies, such as career fair participation, are free from bias and promote DEI by ensuring that our recruitment strategies reach a diverse pool of potential applicants.
- CalPERS completed the state-required California Annual Workforce Analysis, which provides state government entities with a way to gauge their EEO efforts through its three components: Workforce Composition, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), and Upward Mobility. CalPERS’ efforts resulted in the following:
- 13.1% or 372 CalPERS team members were identified as PWD, leading to the establishment of hiring goals and development of an action plan required by CalHR
- Seven of 35 team members accepted into the first cohort of the CalPERS Upward Mobility Program moved into higher-level positions. The program helps entry-level team members advance to higher-level technical, professional, and administrative positions. A total of 107 team members who could benefit from the program were identified
- CalPERS conducted its annual campaigns for the Statewide Change in Disability Status Survey and the Statewide Employee Veteran Survey. The goal of the surveys is to improve annual data accuracy to support departmental plans to correct significant disability, gender, race, and veteran underutilizations within identified occupational groups.
- For the second consecutive year, CalPERS Emerging Leader Program (ELP) redacted the applicant’s name, email address, classification, and division to guard against bias in accepting applicants into the 2020 cohort. The 24 journey-level participants accepted into the six-month program aspire to leadership positions. For applicants not selected or ineligible for ELP, a new self-directed development program, Path to Leadership, is now available.
- Began gender neutral language Job Bulletin pilot program with our Information Technology Services Branch.
- Updated all CalPERS Job Bulletins with DEI language.
- Began full analysis of the Annual Performance Review processes, documents, and tools.
- Provided recommendations for new performance factors, inclusion of CalPERS competencies, and five-point rating scale.