Why Inclusive Leadership Matters in an Employee Driven Market

In this month’s edition of Alex Advocates for DEI@Work, I delve into the often-misconstrued concept of inclusive leadership. I explain in Layman’s terms exactly what it means, the benefits when it comes to talent retention and attraction and how you can measure it in your organisation. In the current landscape of the employee’s market, every tool in your kit is worth using to give your organisation the edge, plus you get the added benefits of building a great place to work!?

My name is Alex Correa and I‘m a Brisbane based Legal Industry recruiter, and the Founder of Developing Talent, Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy. Developing Talent | Diversity + Inclusion works with companies that want to advance their diversity and inclusion agendas and we deliver programs to up-skill current and future leaders to help them do this effectively.

What is Inclusive Leadership?

Inclusive leadership relates to how a leader behaves in the workplace. It encompasses the way that leader supports their team and demonstrates an awareness and consideration of the diversity of their team.?

By understanding that each individual employee has a different life experience, a different perspective and a different learning style, a leader comes to appreciate and understand that their employees may need a variety of support or management styles applied. They proactively use their knowledge and skills of these differences to support team members to be their best selves at work, setting their team up for success in their roles.

Inclusive leadership is an evolution. It involves self-awareness and emotional intelligence but goes beyond that. At an organisational level it involves supporting individuals, in a way that is in sync with company values, strategy, norms and culture. Inclusive leadership helps everyone play their unique part in working towards your common business goals.?

Why Inclusive Leadership Matters in an Employee's Market

In today's business landscape, the concept of leadership has evolved over time. No longer is it enough for leaders to simply guide their teams toward operational goals; they must also cultivate environments where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives. Inclusive leadership has emerged as a critical framework in achieving this goal, particularly in an employee market where retention and engagement are paramount.

In an employee’s market, retention rates fall, and prospective employers battle for talent. Many job seekers who come through my office are fielding multiple offers and making choices between companies based on “feel” as much as salary, benefits, and company reputation.?

When an inclusive leader supports their employees with a mindset that takes into consideration all that is unique about their team members, research shows that an organisation enjoys correlating improvements in productivity and profitability. Inclusive leadership styles help employees feel empowered, supported, and most of all, happier in their workplace. It inspires confidence to be themselves at work and to bring innovation, ideas and unorthodox solutions to problems.?

It is by cultivating a psychologically safe working environment, that people feel more confident to put forward ideas, raise issues and to take risks. Psychological safety is not just about managing your legal risk as an employer but also increases retention and reduces turnover.?

Can you Measure Inclusive Leadership?

The best way to measure whether your leaders are inclusive is to take a deep dive into your retention rates, exit interviews and employee engagement surveys.?

You’ll also be able to see inclusivity demonstrated when you are seeing employee driven innovation and boosts to your productivity.?

Furthermore, evidence suggests an inclusive leader relies less on HR and People and Culture. They may approach these experts for advice, but they generally have the skills and experience to deal with the individual challenges of their teams on a daily basis. They know their team best and have the confidence to be an agent for change.?

The business case for inclusive leadership is undeniable. Research demonstrates that organisations with inclusive cultures experience lower turnover rates, higher employee engagement, and improved business outcomes. Moreover, diverse teams bring a wealth of perspectives and ideas, challenging the status quo and fostering innovation.

Employees who feel a strong sense of belonging in their organisation demonstrate higher levels of performance and well-being. Inclusive teams not only outperform their non-inclusive counterparts but also report greater job satisfaction and mental health benefits. This sense of belonging translates into higher levels of employee loyalty and word of mouth advocacy for their organisations.

Inclusive leadership is not a leadership fashion statement and is more than a moral imperative. It is a very real strategic advantage that improves retention and attraction of talent. By fostering environments where every individual feels valued and respected, organisations can unlock the full potential of their teams and drive sustainable success. For most businesses, inclusive leadership is a work in progress. It’s a journey worth taking though and one I am proud to help play a part in.?

Manager’s Matter

It is often said that people don’t leave companies, they leave direct managers. Inclusive leaders are more likely to contribute to employee satisfaction and overall retention. The actions and attitudes of managers have a significant influence over the well-being and performance of their teams. An inclusive leader takes the time to understand any inequities that exist in their organisation and are across the impacts and consequences of subconscious bias, discrimination and privilege. Even if they haven’t experienced direct discrimination or racism themselves, they are actively curious of others' lived experience and take the time to understand how this shapes individuals and how this in turn impacts their team.?

Research underscores the profound impact of leadership on employee well-being and organisational success. Studies by leading Australian psychologists like Dr. Peter Cotton reveal that over 50% of an individual's well-being at work is attributable to their relationship with their line manager. Moreover, the quality of relationships within teams significantly affects bottom-line financial performance and service delivery.

However, achieving true inclusivity requires more than just acknowledging diversity. It demands a theoretical and actual understanding of equity and equality. While equality strives for uniform treatment, equity recognises and addresses individual needs and experiences. In a diverse workforce, where no two individuals are alike, equity ensures that everyone has equal opportunities for success.

Inclusion occurs when individuals from diverse backgrounds collaborate seamlessly to enhance performance and well-being. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Inclusion isn’t a wish list or eutopia, it is actually possible in a workplace. This encompasses both social inclusion, which involves physical representation and communication, and cognitive inclusion, which values diverse perspectives and contributions.

How Inclusive Leadership Helps You Attract Talent

There are two things that inspire job seekers to apply for a role and accept an offer. The first is the reputation of the organisation. The second is their experience at the interview. After an interview, a job seeker considers how they felt in the discussion, and whether they felt they gelled with the hiring manager. When the hiring manager is also the manager or leader, they consider whether they’re likely to be supportive, and whether they made an effort to understand them. This informs a judgement call about whether they feel this helps create a work environment where they will thrive.

Those leaders who approach this best tend to tune into the challenges and stage of life of the job seeker during the interview, without being intrusive. Their goal is to assess the level of support the individual may need and the programs and benefits that are most likely to appeal to them and their individual situation. This may be a discussion about wellness programs, hybrid working, remote working or leave policies. It is the ultimate gesture of respect to invest the time to get to know them as a person and to be able to demonstrate that you care about their success in the role. The job seeker feels seen and heard.

Take for example an IT company that I have come across lately. They no longer ask people to submit CVs for roles. They request instead a short video where the candidate introduces themselves, and then they get together for an informal chat. They try to understand who they are, what makes them tick and what their goals and ambitions might be. Only then do they start thinking about whether they will complement their team, where they are likely to add value to the organisation and whether a particular role might suit them. In this example the employer has a good idea up front about the support the employee might need to excel in their role. It’s more talent pipeline filling than direct recruitment, but it works. And lots of people want to work for them!?

The 5Cs of Inclusive Leadership

The 5Cs framework, pioneered by Professor Alyson Meister, provides a structured method for inclusive leadership, highlighting essential traits that nurture diversity and inclusion.

The 5Cs encompass:

1. Consciousness: Inclusive leaders are aware of their biases and strive to mitigate them. They aim to comprehend how their decisions affect individuals from diverse backgrounds and consistently work on self-awareness.
2. Curiosity: Inclusive leaders display curiosity about different perspectives and experiences. They actively seek opportunities to learn from others and broaden their understanding of diverse backgrounds.
3. Compassion: Compassionate leaders grasp the unique challenges faced by their team members and demonstrate empathy. They foster a supportive environment where individuals feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves – including their values, passions, strengths, and vulnerabilities – to work.
4. Competence: Inclusive leaders prioritise developing cultural competence. They invest time and resources in understanding various cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives to ensure their leadership style is effective across diverse teams.
5. Courage: Inclusive leadership demands the courage to challenge the status quo and address systemic biases. Leaders must be willing to take risks, speak out against injustice, and advocate for diversity within their organisations.

Read more about the 5Cs of Inclusive leadership.

The Challenges to Overcome to Implement Inclusive Leadership

Overcomplicating it

There is a big misconception that developing leaders to be inclusive is really hard. So much has already been done by organisations in relation to developing leaders to address bias and build on emotional intelligence.?

I feel that inclusive leadership is a bit like the last piece of the puzzle.?

It is embracing and enhancing the skills of your existing leaders and considering their humanity and intelligence and directing it towards an increased awareness of their capabilities. By gaining an understanding that there are nuances and diversity in any team, be it experience, facing challenges, or living through a unique historical situation. By factoring in this knowledge, a leader can take the support of their team to another level.?

For organisations that have already invested heavily in developing leadership skills in their people, supporting their leaders to be more inclusive is like adding a superpower, or competitive advantage if you want to be more businesslike, particularly for retention and attraction.?

Understanding leadership versus management

A great leader appreciates the important difference between leading and managing. A manager oversees operations, workflow, productivity, effectively getting the widgets to where they need to be. A leader inspires, motivates, leads from the front, acts as a role model and, most of all, supports their team at an individual level to help them thrive.?

A great leader helps an employee be the best they can be, to be their authentic selves and enjoys the positive contribution the employee makes as a result.?

Education

Leaders and employees are still learning about leadership and particularly inclusive styles of leadership. Inclusive leadership is a byproduct of diversity. There is little point in achieving it, and it will not be sustainable unless your leadership teams adjust accordingly.?

Unconscious Bias?

Unconscious bias remains a significant barrier to inclusion, perpetuating discrimination and micro-aggressions in the workplace. Studies have shown that individuals with non-English names or female identifiers face significant hurdles in hiring and advancement opportunities, even in this day and age. This highlights the pervasive nature of bias in organisational settings. Unconscious bias can be overcome, and there are many programs that can help, including our own.?

Can Anyone Learn How to be an Inclusive Leader?

Being inclusive is a learned skill and can take time, patience and even courage to apply. An inclusive leader is not afraid of difficult conversations, and this adds to your development of this skill and your experience. Your progression to becoming a more inclusive leader can be achieved by being self-aware and taking time to develop your own skills and knowledge and understanding of the diversity of the human experience.? See how inclusive you are as a leader with our self-audit checklist here. ?

By seeking to understand your people and having a natural curiosity, you can start to understand the building blocks of your own diverse team. This takes the concept of being able to walk in their shoes and learn from the experience. Nobody is saying this is necessarily easy and walking in someone else’s shoes can be hard to imagine when they are the polar opposite of your own.?

Inclusive leadership attained via professional development is another string to your bow, adding to your existing emotional intelligence (EQ) skills.

Yes. You can develop the skills, knowledge and understanding of what it is to be an inclusive leader.?

How Do I Develop Inclusive Leaders?

At Developing Talent | Diversity + Inclusion , we’ve had many people experience our program who arrive with very little idea about diversity and inclusion and walk out with many light bulb moments to help inform their approach. Some have said that they didn't really understand beforehand how the formative experiences of individuals in their early life can have such a profound impact on who they are and what makes them tick.?

Our inclusive leadership program includes a reflective practice because to become far more inclusive, you need to consider your own life experience before you can understand that of others. This reflective practice might help you understand your own privilege or lack of it, the obstacles you have overcome in your life and other factors that make you uniquely yourself.

I’m often asked whether it could be considered intrusive or prying to truly know the ins and outs of your team. You don’t need the details or the life history, chapter and verse.?

It is about developing a conscious awareness.?

Perhaps your team member comes from a non-English speaking background, or they have been in a car accident and have an invisible disability. Both impact their day to day lives and an inclusive leader is aware and factors these into the way they lead their team. They have come to understand this by asking regularly “What can I do today to help you succeed in your role? Is there something more I can do to support you?” This interest in their ongoing success makes an employee feel valued, respected and acknowledged.?