AGENDA #5a
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Report on Numbers of Minority Supervisors
DATE: June 19, 2003
BACKGROUND
One of the Council’s established goals is to increase the number of minorities in supervisory positions. After a presentation in January 2003 on the race and gender of supervisors, the Council requested additional information on the number of minority employees occupying supervisor positions in each Town department, and the race and gender of employees supervised by minorities. The Council requested information on the following questions:
Human Resources staff prepared this report in response to the additional request.
DISCUSSION
The materials attached provide information about each department’s employees and supervisors organized by gender and race. For consistency, this information is based on data from November 2002, when the initial report on minority supervisors was prepared. The same data set was used to allow comparison of this report with the findings from the initial report. The information is presented in summary and then organized by specific Town Department.
The data on supervisory positions was gathered with assistance from Department Heads. The definition of supervisor used for the purposes of this report is:
“a position which has a significant level of authority in the hiring, training, evaluation, disciplinary actions and recommending for termination over one or more other regular positions.”
This definition is consistent with the commonly understood meaning of the term. Department heads were asked to specify which employees were supervisors, and to answer four questions about each supervisor’s relationship with employees:
This information about the supervisor’s relationship with employees was then compared to the race and gender demographics of the department to highlight the similarities and differences between supervisors and employees in each department. Some information was compared to the race and gender demographics of the Town’s primary recruitment area for the majority of positions. This five-county recruitment area includes Orange, Alamance, Chatham, Durham and Wake Counties. This area was selected based on the distribution of the majority of the Town’s current employees and also in terms of reasonable commuting distance.
FINDINGS
The statistics and corresponding graphs on which the discussion below is based are drawn from the attachments to this report. The primary questions asked by the Council are answered below.
What is the race and gender of Town supervisors?
There are 130 Town employees classified as supervisors. Of all supervisors, 87 supervisors (67 percent) are white, 42 supervisors (32 percent) are black, and one supervisor (one percent) is Asian. Ninety supervisors (69 percent) are male and 40 supervisors (31 percent) are female.
Supervisor demographics can be compared to the demographics of all Town employees. Of all employees, 345 employees (57 percent) are white, 245 employees (40 percent) are black, and 16 employees (3 percent) are Asian or Hispanic. And, 433 employees (71 percent) are male and 173 employees (29 percent) are female.
Finally, supervisor and employee demographics can be compared with the demographics of the five-county recruitment area. The demographics for the five-county regions are: White population, 74 percent; Black population, 24 percent; Other population, 2 percent. Information on gender was available for Orange County only. Orange County is 47 percent male and 53 percent female.
In what departments do employees supervise others who are of a different race?
With the exception of the Town Attorney’s office (which employs just two people), employees supervise others who are of a different race in every department.
In what departments do employees supervise others who are of a different gender?
With the exception of the Human Resources Department, employees supervise others who are of a different gender in every department.
How many White, Black or Asian supervisors supervise employees of a different race?
§ The number of non-White employees who are supervised by White supervisors ranges from zero employees in the Attorney’s Office and Housing Department, to 36 employees in the Public Works Department. There are 11 non-White employees in the Transportation Department, 14 in the Fire Department, and 16 in the Police Department who are supervised by White supervisors.
§ There are 45 non-Black employees who are supervised by Black supervisors in the Transportation Department. In other Town departments, the number of non-Black employees supervised by Black supervisors range from one person in the Planning Department, to 23 in the Police Department.
§ There is one non-Asian employee in the Engineering Department who is supervised by an Asian supervisor.
How many men supervise women? How many women supervise men?
§ Men supervise women in every department except for the Clerk’s Office and the Human Resources Department. The number of employees ranges from one employee in the Attorney’s Office, Housing Department and Inspections Department, to 17 employees in the Library and 28 employees in the Transportation Department.
§ Women supervise men in several Town departments. 45 men in the Transportation Department are supervised by women, and 8 men are supervised by women in the Parks and Recreation Department.
CONCLUSIONS
Town supervisors consistently supervise employees who are of a different race or gender. There is variation among and within departments in terms of demographics of employee and supervisory groups.
The specific reasons for the variations among departments can be attributed to a number of variables including job characteristics, applicant preferences, training and experience requirements for specific positions and other elements. The choices applicants make in terms of job interest, physical demands, preferred work schedules and other working conditions, the turnover rate for each type of work, the volume and types of work required and positions budgeted serve as constraints which may prevent an absolute balance from being either attained or maintained over time.
ATTACHMENTS