Heavy-Duty
Diversity
For U.S. employers, the Great Recession
has been a lot like a hurricane. The winds
have been strong, the rains constant and
the damage devastating. So devastating,
in fact, that few workplace fixtures —
neither hiring nor salaries nor benefits
— have survived untouched. At least one
workplace practice, however, appears to
have been durable enough to weather
the downturn’s destruction, according to
a recent poll by the Society for Human
Resource Management: diversity.
Titled “Workplace Diversity Practices:
How Has Diversity and Inclusion Changed
Over Time,” the poll compared diversity
practices in 2010 with those in 2005 and
found recession-proof increases in:
• The percentage of organizations that
provide training on diversity issues (71
percent in 2010, versus 67 percent in
2005);
• The number of organizations that have
a diverse board of directors (66 percent
in 2010, versus 53 percent in 2005); and
• The percentage of organizations that
said their diversity practices were very
or somewhat effective (84 percent in
2010, up slightly from 83 percent in
2005).
Despite gains in workplace diversity,
however, the percentage of organizations
that have workplace diversity practices
— including recruiting and retention
strategies, for instance, and community
outreach programs — declined to 68
percent in 2010 from 76 percent in 2005,
according to SHRM.
“While some diversity practices have
been put on hold during the recession
— for example, diversity hiring programs
may be suspended when there is no
hiring — the findings clearly show that
organizations are still making significant
investments in diversity programs, and
these programs are having payoffs for
those organizations,” says SHRM Director
of Research Mark Schmit.
New Professional
Practice Statements!
The Association Forum Board of Directors recently approved
two new professional practice statements: "Achieving Diversity in Associations" and "Use of Social Media in Associa-tions." They include the Association Forum’s official policy
positions, professional practices for the association professional and the governing body, as well as background information. Specifically, the diversity statement reaffirms that the
Association Forum values the differences in its membership
and recognizes that diversity adds value to its mission and
the quality of its programs and services; it also urges associations to foster diversity in staff recruitment, development and
decision making. The social media statement presents potential risks of using and not using social media that should
be identified and addressed; it also provides guidelines for
developing policies and procedures that address strategic
and responsible use of social media.
To download the full professional practice statements,
visit associationforum.org, click on Resources, followed by
Samples and Best Practice Guidelines.
Association Forum’s professional practice statements are
developed by industry experts and provided as a management tool for achieving excellence in managing associations
and other nonprofit organizations.
