HR Industry News

Calls for new association for diversity managers

— 20 August 2007 —

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) says that a new professional association is needed to establish industry standards for diversity experts.

A new report, commissioned by the LSC, claims that such a body would define proper career paths for diversity practitioners.

It goes on to reveal that despite educational and vocational training, diversity experts feel they cannot carry out their jobs effectively as a result of an unstructured mix of standards and guidance available to them.

Rather than receiving on the job training, diversity managers would like to see some kind of professional association to standardise training patterns and develop a structured career path for the industry.

The report’s author, Professor Chris Mullard, said that diversity is becoming critical to the success of both public and private sector organisations and professionals require the organisation and skills necessary to effectively perform their functions.

The report also found that despite the training shortfalls, practitioners were found to rate highly developed social and interactive skills as far more important for success than commercial knowledge.

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