“Internal Report: Major Diversity, Organizational Problems At Human Rights Campaign”
“The report informed HRC leadership that staff are critical of an “exclusionary environment” at the advocacy group — where 1 in 5 staff believe “diversity and inclusion” is not a necessary part of the group’s work and values.
To that end, the report stated, “There is a general perception that current diversity efforts are not working and that there’s a lack of diversity understanding broadly.” A participant in a focus group noted, “A lot of folks are personally invested in diversity inclusion but their voices have been smothered or pushed away.”…
“One of the most frequent concerns that rose was the sense of an organizational culture rooted in a white, masculine orientation which is judgmental of all those who don’t fit that mold,” the report states in summarizing its survey findings. “Disparate treatment toward women and those with ‘soft skills’ was frequently cited by staff — both men and women — and there is a sense that if you operate outside of that orientation, you will not be successful at HRC.”
That perception is also borne out in the experience of minority employees, according to the report, summarizing survey responses at one point as follows: “More than half of multiracial and Latino people and 83% of genderqueer people feel they are not treated equally based on their identity.”…
The survey also showed a significant problem in the human resources department. Referencing a discussion raised throughout the documents, the consultants bluntly state, “No one trusts HR.””
ugh. also the excuse in here about how HRC isn’t that much worse than most other non-profits. Ick.
Also, it’s so true — the HR mechanism is supposed to be a safety net, but the people who work in HR have to be actually good to talk to and capable of listening to diversity issues. Like, Toby on the Office seemed good to talk to, and I think he would have given me the benefit of the doubt if I came to him about a microagression that he had never personally experienced. But most people aren’t like that.
