	Representation of Women and Minorities Governmentwide and at DHS in 2003 and 2007

DHS, one of the 24 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies, was  formed from 22 agencies, including the following agencies or parts of  agencies: the U.S. Customs Service, which was formerly located in the  Department of the Treasury; the Federal Emergency Management Agency;  the Coast Guard; and most of the Immigration and Naturalization Service,  which was formerly located in the Department of Justice. The members of the career SES are the highest nonpolitically appointed  leaders in the federal workforce, and we recently looked more closely at  their representation governmentwide. Table 5 shows the total number of  career SES and the percentage of women and minority SES in DHS and at  the 23 other CFO Act agencies in 2003 and 2007. Representation in the Career SES Developmental Pool Governmentwide and at DHS

The vast majority of potential successors for career SES positions will  come from the GS pay plan for grades GS-15 and GS-14, the levels that  serve as the SES developmental pool. The percentage of women in the governmentwide SES  developmental pool increased by 3.9 percentage points between 2003 and  2007, but the percentage of men in this developmental pool decreased by  this same amount. Unlike the total number of employees in the governmentwide SES  developmental pool, those in DHS’s SES developmental pool increased by  more than half. While we did not analyze factors that contributed to changes in DHS  workforce from September 2003 through September 2007, OPM and the  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in their oversight  roles require federal agencies, including DHS, to analyze their workforces. DHS Has Reported Taking Steps to Affect the Diversity of Its Workforce That Are Consistent with Leading Diversity Management Practices

A high-performance organization relies on a dynamic workforce with the  requisite talents and up-to-date skills to ensure that it is equipped to  accomplish its mission and achieve its goals. DHS’s Acting Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) testified in April 2008  on actions the Department is taking to create and manage its workforce. These actions are consistent with leading diversity management practices  in four areas: (1) a diversity strategy as part of its strategic plan, (2)  recruitment, (3) employee involvement, and (4) succession planning. We  have not conducted a review of DHS’s diversity management efforts;  therefore, we cannot comment on the effectiveness of DHS’s  implementation of these practices. Diversity strategy as part of the strategic plan. DHS established an  objective in its 2004 Strategic Plan to “ensure effective recruitment,  development, compensation, succession management and leadership of a  diverse workforce to provide optimal service at a responsible cost.” In an  August 2007 progress report on implementation of mission and  management functions, we indicated that DHS had taken action to satisfy  most of the elements related to developing a results-oriented strategic  human capital plan. The Diversity Strategy outlines DHS’s policy of  encouraging a diverse workforce and the value of a diverse workforce in  accomplishing DHS’s mission. For DHS, in addition to the changes that will occur as a result of the  upcoming new administration, several factors including recent turnover  and expected retirements provide opportunities for DHS to affect the  diversity of its workforce and highlight the importance of succession  planning.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created from a disparate group of agencies with multiple missions, values, and cultures into a cabinet department whose goals are to, among other things, protect U.S. borders and infrastructure, improve intelligence and information sharing, and prevent and respond to potential terrorist attacks. GAO designated the implementation and transformation of DHS as a high-risk area in 2003, and it remains so. While DHS has made progress, it continues to face challenges in transforming into an effective, integrated organization. In response to a request to provide information on diversity in DHS and steps DHS is taking to create and manage a diverse workforce, GAO is providing demographic data related to the federal government as a whole and DHS's workforce. GAO obtained these data from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Central Personnel Data File (CPDF). GAO used its past work on leading diversity management practices (GAO-05-90) and reviewed data from DHS on its diversity management practices.

What GAO Found

Data in OPM's CPDF show that as of September 2007, the overall percentages of women and minorities have increased in the career SES governmentwide, the highest nonpolitically appointed leaders in the federal workforce, and the SES developmental pool for potential successors since September 2003. As part of GAO's recent analysis of the diversity of the SES and the SES developmental pool, GAO reviewed career, or permanent, SES appointments at DHS and DHS's SES developmental pool. During this 4-year period, the total number of career SES and those in the SES developmental pool for potential successors increased at DHS. The percentage of women in the SES increased, while the percentage of minorities decreased. For the SES developmental pool, the percentage of women and minorities increased. While GAO did not analyze the factors that contributed to changes in DHS's workforce for this period, OPM and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in their oversight roles require federal agencies, including DHS, to analyze their workforces. As part of a strategic human capital planning approach, agencies need to develop long-term strategies for acquiring, developing, motivating, and retaining a diverse workforce. An agency's human capital planning should address the demographic trends that the agency faces with its workforce, especially retirements, which provide opportunities for agencies to affect the diversity of their workforces. DHS reported taking steps to affect the diversity of its workforce. These steps are consistent with several leading diversity management practices: (1) a diversity strategy as part of its strategic plan, (2) recruitment, (3) employee involvement, and (4) succession planning. For example, DHS cited its use of intern programs for recruiting and its implementation of two leadership development programs for managing succession. GAO has not conducted a review of DHS's diversity management efforts; therefore, it cannot comment on the effectiveness of DHS's implementation of these practices.