City Workplace Values and Expectations

Our City Values

The City of Seattle is committed to creating a workplace where every employee is valued for who they are and can do their best work. As City employees, we commit to the Citywide values of equity, inclusion, learning, accountability, and stewardship so that we can each thrive in the workplace. Our values shape how we create and maintain a work environment that is based on care, consideration, and respect so we can best serve our communities and support one another as colleagues.

City of Seattle Workplace Expectations: Living Our Values

We strive to provide a workplace where differences are honored, with a workforce that reflects the diversity of the people we serve. To create this environment, we hold ourselves to expectations that demonstrate our values.

Racial Equity and Social Justice

To help break down systemic barriers, City employees prioritize racial equity when creating policies, making decisions, and in our daily work and interactions. In addition to leading with racial equity, City employees recognize inequities based on gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, citizenship status, and other ways people are marginalized. We acknowledge historical truths that have led to unequal outcomes for communities of color. We involve individuals and communities most impacted by racial and social inequity in the development of policies and practices, both within our workforce and throughout Seattle.

Inclusion

Nobody gets left out. City employees ensure that the people who will be impacted by our work have a say in how that work is carried out. In our workplace we make sure that everyone feels welcome and can share their skills. We are respectful in our communication and engagement with each other and the community. This means we honor our individual differences and value the contributions of different points of view, personal backgrounds, and skill sets to our workplace. We keep our work environment free of all forms of discrimination and harassment, intimidation, bullying, retaliation, and other harmful behavior.

Learning

City employees are always learning. Our curiosity inspires us to find ways to improve and grow. We collaborate with our colleagues and the communities we serve. We celebrate our accomplishments and learn from mistakes together, so we can grow and evolve.

Accountability

City employees own our work – as individuals and as an institution. We recognize that our work as individuals is connected to the collective work of all City departments. We are accountable to the people we work with and serve by taking responsibility for our decisions, actions, and outcomes as we serve the needs of our communities. We take responsibility and ownership for our job performance and follow the standards set for our work.

Stewardship

We are ethical caretakers of public resources. We promote inclusive and collaborative practices in our utilization of resources to best serve the public. We seek opportunities to improve resource use and optimize performance and are open to suggestions for improvements from others. We engage with others to improve situations and strive to cause no harm. We live to the highest ethical standard of conduct, and perform our jobs with integrity, in recognition of the trust placed in us by the communities we serve.