I’m a retired accountant, and just stumbled upon the workforce blog, so my comments are not those of an HR professional, but from the standpoint of someone who served non-profit clubs and organizations along with small and medium size business for many years. My first reaction to the SHRM idea of hiring someone with a “business” background instead of someone with an “association” background was “Are they nuts?”

I can honestly say that there is such a world of difference in the needs of the two and the personalities of the management of the two that it would lead to a complete change in personality of the organization. The only exception is that extremely large organizations (Red Cross being one example) can benefit from having leadership from the governmental sector, and that is probably because of the similarities in their operational methodologies.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment,
Kirk Ward