Main menu
Companies may have clear goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion, but do their leaders have the necessary skills and knowledge to create an inclusive environment?
This question often arises when companies struggle to achieve their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, and the reasons behind these challenges can be hard to pinpoint.
Part of the problem is the desire for rapid change. While goals are undoubtedly important, the day-to-day efforts of diversity, equity, and inclusion are just as crucial.
Achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion in any organisation requires a genuine cultural shift. Without it, a company can become unstable, forcing employees to leave.
Focusing on hiring diverse talent is an important step, but it's not enough unless leaders actively build an inclusive and equitable workplace. This gives employees a sense of belonging and stability, which motivates them to stay and engage.
The Foundation of an Inclusive Workplace: Leaders
Data confirms that unequal career advancement opportunities still exist across different groups. One report on diversity, equity, and inclusion indicated that women and minorities at all levels are more likely than men and non-minorities to leave their jobs searching for a workplace that supports their career progression.
Interestingly, there were no significant differences between the various groups in their assessment of different aspects of work, such as satisfaction with advancement, growth opportunities, performance expectations, or work-life balance. In many cases, minorities reported better rates in these areas.
The main factors behind their decision to stay or leave were primarily related to the environment created by their company's leaders. The following are the main reasons why leaders from diverse backgrounds remain at their companies to advance their careers:
- Senior leaders succeed in building strong trust.
- Managers provide opportunities for team members to grow and develop.
- Organisational leaders have strong interpersonal skills.
- Managers are responsive and show empathy.
Outstanding Leadership Is Inclusive Leadership
One of the most significant mistakes companies make is separating inclusive training from its other leadership development goals. This detached approach can make leaders feel that being inclusive isn't part of their daily job and doesn't fall within their responsibilities.
However, this isn't true. Leaders shouldn't view inclusivity as a behaviour separate from their daily work. Instead, they should see it as an inherent part of communicating, managing meetings, and delegating daily tasks.
One study reported that when leaders consistently demonstrate effective behaviours that foster a sense of belonging, employees are seven times more likely to say that a sense of belonging is a strong part of their culture. Leaders who create an inclusive environment daily create a better workplace for everyone, regardless of background.
7 Key Leadership Skills Every Leader Needs
Leaders usually embrace the idea of inclusive leadership but may find it challenging to implement. Therefore, it is vital to define specific leadership behaviours that help them adopt inclusive practices.
By conducting research and surveys, we can better understand leaders' challenges and how to implement inclusivity in the workplace daily. Here are seven key skills that help leaders create an inclusive workplace:
1. Building Empathy
The problem:
Leaders don't recognise the importance of empathy.
The solution:
Inclusivity must start with empathy. Leaders need to put themselves in the shoes of every team member so they can better understand them.
Unfortunately, empathy is rarely part of a company's culture. Policies that make it difficult for leaders to show empathy include requiring employees to work in the office, organisations that closely monitor employees, or reinstating employee ranking systems in performance management.
Leaders must be role models to foster empathy. However, some leaders may struggle to understand feelings of exclusion, especially if they've never experienced them. That's why it's so important for them to have the opportunity to understand the experience of exclusion and its emotional impact.
Reading books or participating in discussions can help one gain a deeper understanding of exclusion. However, neither of these methods compares to a real-life experience of exclusion, which can be realistically simulated using virtual reality.
Tip:
Don't resort to empathy only during a crisis. Start building it now so leaders have a better understanding before crises occur.
2. Communicating with Everyone
The problem:
Leaders are unaware of the potential effects of their communication style.
The solution:
Daily communication is at the heart of creating an inclusive culture. Conversations can either foster inclusivity or fail to implement it.
Ambiguous words and moments when a leader unintentionally excludes others can make individuals feel isolated, and the organisation may not appreciate their value.
Inclusivity shows itself in the subtle moments of interaction with a leader. Leaders must be aware of their words and how others receive them.
Everyone has personal and professional needs they seek to meet daily. In every conversation, leaders must keep these key principles in mind:
- Boost self-esteem so individuals feel valued and appreciated.
- Listen and show empathy so individuals feel leaders understand and respect them.
- Ask for help and encourage participation so individuals think they're an active part of the organisation.
- Share ideas and show empathy to build trust.
- Provide support while holding each individual accountable.
Tip:
A leader's role in creating an inclusive environment begins with embodying practical communication skills and advocating for behaviours that all individuals in the organisation adopt.
When leaders communicate with everyone, individuals are more likely to feel a sense of belonging and be valued for their unique perspectives, contributions, and experiences.
3. Facilitating Inclusive Meetings
The problem:
The same people dominate the discussion in meetings, and others are excluded from participating or are interrupted while speaking.
The solution:
Inclusivity means ensuring the right people are involved in generating ideas and making decisions. Research shows that meetings without a clear purpose negatively impact underrepresented employees.
Start meetings by defining the goals and benefits to mitigate interruptions. Techniques such as partner discussions, chat programmes, and polls encourage introverted and reserved people to participate.
To ensure attendees in a virtual meeting participate and engage, leaders should share materials in advance to capture their attention and allow for time to be distributed equally in discussions.
Tip:
Creating and clarifying ground rules to foster inclusivity provides equal opportunities for participation. Developing these practices to lead effective meetings provides psychological safety and a space that encourages individuals to be themselves.
4. Delegating for Equal Opportunities
The problem:
Leaders repeatedly assign the same individuals to essential projects.
The solution:
When they delegate, leaders must carefully consider who deserves opportunities. This starts by considering all team members' capabilities, developmental needs, motivations, and available time.
Before delegating tasks, leaders must answer the following questions:
- What assumptions am I making?
- What areas need further exploration regarding team members' capabilities or aspirations?
Tip:
When it comes to delegation, leaders often think they must delegate everything or nothing. Because they're busy, they choose the easier path: delegating everything to one person.
However, leaders should think about delegation differently. They can delegate idea generation, tasks, and authority separately. By considering how to allocate different parts of a project, leaders can be more inclusive in distributing tasks, instead of relying on habit or favouritism.
5. Providing Honest Feedback
The problem:
Managers feel uncomfortable giving feedback to improve performance, especially to different people.
The solution:
Many managers avoid giving feedback to improve performance to avoid conflict. When there are noticeable differences between people, leaders may find it even more challenging to predict how someone will react.
As a result, they avoid giving feedback, which deprives their team members of the feedback they need to grow and develop.
On the other hand, some leaders are overconfident about giving feedback. For example, when they have difficulty understanding someone's point of view, they respond negatively without considering that person's competence.
Leaders must adjust their feedback style to align with the needs of the person they are giving it to. For example, minorities and women often report a lack of clarity about what's needed to achieve success, and that promotion decisions aren't always clear.
Tip:
Feedback must be clear, specific, and timely. Leaders can use the STAR method for positive and developmental feedback. The STAR method focuses on giving feedback about behaviours, not the people themselves. This approach ensures that those in an underrepresented group don't feel targeted or are not part of the team.
In short, a leader must build a continuous feedback culture. This is the most effective way to reduce bias. The more diverse the group of people giving feedback is, the better the chances of getting an accurate picture of performance.
6. Coaching for Growth
The problem:
Leaders prefer to coach people who are similar to them.
The solution:
Leaders must not limit others' opportunities for advancement by avoiding coaching them because of differences in gender, culture, age, or any other factor.
Listening carefully is a crucial trait of a successful coach. Leaders focus on meaning, intention, and emotions; when they master that, they know when and where to show empathy. It's also essential for the coach to share their perspective.
Tip:
When leaders are humble and admit their failures, they can build strong relationships with employees. This humility encourages everyone to share their experiences, fosters trust, opens the door for discussion, and enriches everyone's understanding of differences.
7. Resolving Conflicts Fairly
The problem:
Managers try to avoid conflict and often find a temporary solution that doesn't change the status quo.
The solution:
Conflict is natural and necessary for making better decisions. This is because everyone has different experiences, perspectives, preconceived notions, styles, abilities, and motivations.
Leaders should listen to and evaluate all viewpoints. To achieve this, leaders must explore and understand cognitive and identity diversity with their teams. Valuing a team's diversity builds a strong foundation for respecting differences within and at the company level.
Tip:
Nurturing differences helps individuals feel valued and included. It can also boost their commitment to contributing to the team and the company. Teams that understand diversity and respect all viewpoints are less likely to escalate differences into conflict.
In Conclusion
Building an inclusive workplace is a long journey that requires commitment and daily practice until we form a culture based on fairness, equality, and inspirational leadership.
It's natural to face some challenges and make mistakes on this journey, so we should be gentle and kind and give ourselves space to think and reflect on our mistakes so that we can learn from them.
Accepting our mistakes and learning from them can bring about positive change in relationships, teams, and cultures. Allowing ourselves and others to make mistakes and turn them into opportunities is the key to success in building a prosperous and inclusive workplace.
