SYMPOSIUM: Human Resource Management in Nonprofit Organizations

Throughout the nation, nonprofit organizations provide critical services, address significant needs and are increasingly important alternative delivery mechanisms for needed services of its citizens. The nonprofit sector, with its roots in volunteerism, plays an equally central role in the country's cultural, economic and social development. Recent statistics attest to the significance of the sector:

• More than 750,000 nonprofit organizations are defined as "public-serving"
• Nonprofit organizations account for six percent of the GNP
• Nonprofit organizations comprise almost 60 percent of the total number of social service agencies, more than 50 percent of the hospitals and 70 percent of arts and culture organizations.

This symposium edition of ROPPA will provide an opportunity to examine the unique aspects and issues of human resource management in nonprofit organizations from both theoretical and applied perspectives – providing an avenue for interaction and dialogue between practitioners and scholars in the nonprofit sector. The articles selected for the symposium will emphasize both the importance of human resource management functions and strategies as major contributors to the mission and future direction of nonprofit organizations. Submissions may include (but are not restricted to) the following themes:

• Strategic HRM in nonprofit organizations
• Ensuring compliance: HRM regulations in the nonprofit organization
• Staffing nonprofit organizations: Issues of workplace balance
• Volunteer labor and the law: HRM liabilities and responsibilities
• Trends and challenges of HRM in the nonprofit sector (workforce planning, outsourcing, and contracting for services, professional versus voluntary staffing)
• Empirical studies of nonprofit organizations and human resource management
• Human resources management functions in the context of nonprofit organizations (recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, benefits and compensation, training and development, recognition and reward systems)
• Leadership development of nonprofit executive directors and professional staff
• Sustaining high-performing employees and volunteers in nonprofit organizations
• Capacity building and HRM practices in nonprofit organizations