Report: Interdepartmental Collaboration Favored as Means to Achieve Organizational Diversity - Higher Education: The American Association for Affirmative Action released a report called “Collaborative Relationships Between EEO/Affirmative Action, Human Resources and Diversity Professionals,” which found that there is interdepartmental collaboration in most organizations to achieve diversity goals.The report, which was conducted to gauge the extent to which diversity offices work with those who make hiring decisions to actually ensure a diverse workforce, also found the following:
*In addition to meeting diversity benchmarks, key benefits of the interdepartmental collaboration include a better model
for problem-solving (as it pertains to organization-wide issues) and better strategic planning.
*Over half of respondents reported resistance to change as the biggest obstacle to successful collaboration. “The lack of leadership accountability” and “communication” tied for the second-largest hurdle, with 42 percent of respondents identifying one or the other as an issue in the organization.
*More respondents suggested that greater leadership engagement and accountability could overcome barriers to diversity than indicated “the lack of leadership accountability” as a barrier.
