The first-ever partnership between the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) joins leading C-suite officers in both professions to work jointly on policies that foster greater inclusivity in the workplace.
“When it comes to the types of societal issues that corporations are facing, both looking within and looking out to how they can influence their communities, the two executives who are both most equipped to carry that forward would be the chief human resources officer and chief legal officer,” said Veta T. Richardson, president and CEO of ACC. “That’s why this alliance was such a natural one.”
Last month, ACC and SHRM co-hosted a two-part webinar series dealing with workplace race relations. SHRM CEO Johnny Taylor noted that “racism is still rampant in America’s workplaces [and that] it has never stopped.”
“I am not talking about ‘microaggressions,’ or unconscious bias in hiring and promotion,” Taylor said. “Routine abuse, threats and racial epithets are still happening with depressing regularity in the workplace. Organizations need to put more resources into their inclusion and diversity efforts and it is not the job of the chief diversity officer alone. CHROs and general counsels have an important role to play.”