Inclusive Leadership… What's new?
Do you get the concept of Inclusive Leadership? In this blog post, we have gathered the latest from research on this new leadership paradigm and some practical advice to get you going.
D&I is increasingly becoming a ‘need to have’ for companies. It’s a competitive advantage when attracting talents, a qualifier when securing new clients, and a must in many stakeholder relations. However, we cannot say D&I without saying Inclusive Leadership. The question is; why do we need leaders who foster inclusion? And what exactly is Inclusive Leadership?
Inclusive Leadership in short
Imagine the situation where you are the newcomer to the team. Or maybe you get a cold sweat thinking about the presentation you have to give to management next week?
Regardless, you can probably recall a situation where you didn't feel like a natural part of the group or comfortable contributing. When we don't feel a genuine sense of belonging or feel safe contributing, we quickly become alienated, and our head potentially spins, and we may withdraw from the team. All other things being equal, situations like that don't provide a state where we perform our best in collaboration with others.
The inclusive leader’s job is, among other things, to cultivate a culture where everyone feels they are valued and respected and belong to the team and organisation. However, the term Inclusive Leadership can come across as unclear, with different definitions.
Are you confused? We can help clarify.
In an article, the Human Resource Management Review (HRMR) has given an idea of how we can define Inclusive Leadership. HRMR suggests considering Inclusive Leadership from an employee, team, and organisational level.
In addition, HRMR proposes a model with the following dimensions that organisations should work with:
Promote employee uniqueness (e.g., promote diversity)
Strengthening belonging in a team (e.g., building relationships)
Show appreciation (e.g., recognise efforts and contributions)
Support organisational efforts (e.g., advance the organisations mission of inclusion)
Source: Human Resource Management Review
One could be tempted to say, "Fine. However, what does it mean in everyday life when HRBPs have to collaborate with the leaders? And the leaders have to run their part of the business?" The figure below breaks it down a little.
Figure: Human Resource Management Review
It is no secret that we are passionate about translating the above into daily unique organisational practice.
In practice, you can do this:
Advice 1
First, the article suggests that "HR departments should increase their collaboration with managers and support them in developing the necessary skills and behaviours to realise each dimension of inclusive leadership simultaneously."
For example, in the organisational dimension, managers must understand D&I strategies, their goals, and their roles and responsibilities to achieve them.
Next, managers should be trained and coached to develop integrated behaviours and supporting practices in all employment processes.
Advice 2
The next piece of advice is to develop a feedback system where the leaders report on the impact of their recognition of employees so that a more complex reward system can be drawn up which accommodates different work groups and, thus, individual needs.
Advice 3
The third piece of advice is to create dynamic leadership development adapted to individual leaders' development needs. In addition, it is suggested that leadership behaviour be included in performance reviews to assess leadership development.
Curious about more?
We hope you found some interesting insights in the above. If you are curious about how we at Diversity Factor work with Inclusive Leadership, we suggest that you download our free Whitepaper on Inclusive Leadership. Here you can, among other things, get an insight into how we work to engage the entire organisation through our definition of diversity and how we tailor solutions based on our Inclusive leadership model. You are also welcome to book a 30-minute call where we can discuss D&I options together.