Inclusive Leadership
What is an Inclusive Leader?
Inclusive leaders are collaborative and versatile, treat all team members equally, develop personal relationships with each of them and value everyone’s contribution.
Those in leadership positions throughout an organisation are pivotal to creating an inclusive workplace culture.
Creating the Space
As well as developing individual relationships with employees and using inclusive language, leaders and managers need to think more broadly about how their day-to-day behaviour creates the space for an inclusive workplace.
Demonstrate Fair Processes
Links between fairness and inclusion in the workplace are complex. Despite employer efforts to ensure fair employment practices, this has not been shown to facilitate inclusive behaviour in the workplace in all instances.
Create and Sustain Inclusive Social Norms
Recent research suggests organisations can use an array of communication strategies to create and sustain social norms around diversity and inclusion. In one study in a university setting, participants were shown videos and posters of their peers displaying pro-diversity attitudes and inclusive behaviours (pro-diversity social norms).
Recommendations
- Leaders and line managers are pivotal to enabling inclusive cultures to thrive.
- Include Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) targets in performance objectives to ensure that this a focus for leaders and assess effectiveness through employee survey data and 360-degree feedback mechanisms.
- Stress the importance of collaborative and empathetic leadership styles and cultivating mutual trust and respect with employees, whilst role modelling leaders who exhibit these behaviours
- Review internal processes for potential biases and ensure identity conscious diversity communications underpin your efforts to develop inclusive leaders.
BUILD AN INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE
