1.
Recruiting and Maintaining a
Diverse Workforce
Lisa Brown Morton, President & CEO
Nonprofit HR Solutions
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Nonprofit Human Resources Symposium
Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research
University of San Diego

2.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Learning Objectives
• What Really is Workforce Diversity?
• Why Having a Diverse Workforce Matters
• Attracting & Retaining Diverse Talent to the
Nonprofit Sector

3.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
What Really is Workforce Diversity?
What Does it Mean In Your Organization?

4.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Workforce Diversity:
encompasses race and ethnicity, gender, socio-
economic status, sexual identification and
orientation, philosophy, geography, and
physical ability

5.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Why Having a Diverse Workforce Matters

6.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Why Having a Diverse Workforce Matters
• Exodus of current nonprofit leadership (3 out of 4 nonprofit executives are
expected to leave their jobs over the next 5 years)*
• 82% of executive directors are White*
• Workforce diversity is an act of “good citizenship”
• Diversity is an imperative of program effectiveness and ethical commitment
• Greater diversity leads to greater innovation and productivity
• Increased cultural competency value proposition when staff reflect the
communities that they serve
*2006 Compass Point Report on Diversity

7.
Recruiting & Maintaining a
Diverse Workforce
Business Case/Imperatives for Diversity
• Demographic imperative
 Demographic changes are driving changes in the composition of the workforce (i.e.
more women, more people of color)
• Mission Imperative
 Diverse workforces will help organizations better accomplish their missions
 Organizations are serving increasingly diverse communities
• Competition/Funding Imperative
 Having a more diverse workforce better positions an organization to more
significantly impact the communities it serves and therefore attract more
funding/donor support
• Moral Imperative
 To the public, diversity is the right thing to do

8.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce

9.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Preparing For & Attracting a Diverse Workforce

10.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Preparing to Attract & Maintain a Diverse Workforce
• Drive Board of Directors to measure diversity and monitor its successes
• What gets measured gets noticed – ensure commitment to diversity by
CEO by measuring his/her performance in this area
• Share ownership for diversity across all senior management; measure
individual leaders’ results; make diversity management a core leadership
competency
• Intentionally create an environment of inclusion through mentoring
programs, leadership development training and succession planning
• Train management and staff on diversity awareness and how to
communicate and manage constructive conflict
• Engage a diverse slate of employees to be “diversity talent identifiers”
• Demonstrate patience and willingness to invest in a long-term
recruitment diversity strategy; develop a clear, attainable plan

11.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
“If we bring diverse candidates into
organizations and do not meaningfully include
them, what have we achieved other than
representational diversity?”
Brigette Rouson
Principal, Rouson Associates

12.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Key Steps to Recruiting A Diverse Workforce
• Cast a wide net when searching for prospective employees keeping in mind that
networking is the most effective way to recruit and hire diverse candidates
• Actively network among communities representing full spectrum of diversity
(ethnicity, sexual orientation/identification, gender, age, etc.)
• Develop partnerships with professional organizations and other sources where
diverse candidate pools exist (HBCUs, AMHI, AANN, etc.)
• Post jobs with web sites and publications targeted at underrepresented
communities (Latinos, Asians, LGBTs, men, etc.)
• Use an employee referral program focused on attracting diverse candidates
• Recruit at college campuses with large minority populations
• Use diversity search firm partners with demonstrated competence in finding
professionals from underrepresented groups
• Be strategic – integrate all tactics to leverage effectiveness and efficiency

13.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
Resources
Measuring Racial-Ethnic Diversity in California's Nonprofit Sector
http://www.urban.org/publications/411977.html
Diversity & the Nonprofit Ecosystem: Part 2 in the 3-Part Diversity Series
http://blueavocado.org/content/diversity-nonprofit-ecosystem-part-2-3-part-diversity-series
Achieving Diversity Step by Step
http://www.tsne.org/site/c.ghLUK3PCLoF/b.4245353/k.AE39/Nonprofit_Publications__Diversity
_in_the_Nonprofit_Workplace_Guide.htm
Strategic Diversity to Increase Human Capital in Public and Nonprofit Organizations
http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/Millennium/usefulInformation/Strategic%20Diversity%20to
%20Increase%20Human%20Capital.pdf

14.
Recruiting & Maintaining a Diverse
Workforce
About Nonprofit HR Solutions
Nonprofit HR Solutions is one of the nation's only full-service human
resources consulting firms dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of
nonprofit organizations. Collectively, our senior management team brings
over 75 years of combined, expert-level human resources experience to
nonprofit organizations of all sizes.
www.nonprofithr.com
202.785.2060 – voice / 202.785.2064 - fax