Career development Diversity Leadership: How Inclusive Teams Achieve Success
How Inclusive Teams Achieve Success
By Indeed Editorial Team
Published March 1, 2021
The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed’s data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.
Whether you aim to lead your department or your organization, you need a strong team. Rather than building teams of like-minded decision-makers, however, many organizations have begun to realize the beneêts of diverse leadership. With
an inclusive team, you can provide more eéective guidance and make smarter decisions. In this article, we discuss diversity leadership and explain how you can build an inclusive team.
WHAT IS DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP
Combining leadership and diversity successfully requires these key elements:
Awareness: Every team has preexisting biases, and inclusive leadership understands how to reëect upon and move past them.
Collaboration: Diverse leadership teams must know how to work together and exchange ideas as a team.
Commitment: Leadership for diversity must be an ongoing pursuit and requires long-term focus and accountability from your executive team.
Cultural IQ: The most eéective teams easily and willingly include and adapt to others’ cultures as necessary.
Curiosity: Leaders with an inclusive mindset must be interested in others’ experiences and be capable empathy and withholding judgment.
Humility: Inclusive teams have a high level of self-awareness, and they never hesitate to acknowledge mistakes and shortcomings.
Related: 11 Eéective Leadership Principles
Beneêts of diversity in leadership
Embracing diversity in leadership can have a variety of ênancial and strategic beneêts. Here are four of the best reasons for promoting inclusivity in the workplace:
Increased returns
Organizations with executive teams that reëect the highest levels of gender diversity are 15% more likely to have better-than-average ênancial returns, according to The Ladders. Those with the highest levels of racial and ethnic diversity are
35% more likely to achieve above-average returns. In contrast, those with the lowest levels of leadership in diversity are almost 30% less likely to have above-average returns
Enhanced performance
Teams with leaders who promote inclusivity are 17% more likely to consider themselves high-performing, Harvard Business Review reports. Part of this improved performance may result from better attendance, as inclusive workplaces report
fewer employee absences throughout the year.
Improved decision-making
Inclusive leadership teams are 20% more likely to make eéective decisions, according to Harvard Business Review. In many cases, leadership teams with greater diversity make better decisions because they’re less likely to value harmony over
other outcomes. As a result, they’re less likely to conform and more apt to evaluate options critically.
Better teamwork
Although diverse teams include leaders with a wide range of experiences, they tend to work together more eéectively. These teams are almost 30% more likely to report a strong sense of collaboration, Harvard Business Review reports. As a
result, organizations that embrace diversity are more likely to retain employees from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Related: 6 Tips for Eéective Teamwork
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How to encourage diversity as a leader
Establishing an inclusive workspace is almost always an intentional process. Here are êve steps to encourage diversity and create an inclusive leadership team:
1. Consider the full range of diversity
First, take the time to acknowledge the various types of diversity your leadership team should include. Many organizations seek out executives with a range of:
Ages
Religions
Nationalities
Education levels
Socioeconomic backgrounds
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Veteran statuses
Family makeups
Related: Learning About Diversity and Inclusion: 10 Free Virtual Courses
2. Get support from fellow leaders
Next, get your current leadership team and other stakeholders to buy into a diversity program. One of the best ways to garner support is to emphasize the common beneêts of leadership diversity:
Proêt: Your team can drive greater revenue and improve productivity, which can lead to higher proêts.
Retention: With a more diverse leadership team, your organization can improve retention for both employees and customers.
Compliance: If your jurisdiction requires some level of diversity, meeting or exceeding the base level can ensure that your organization avoids penalties.
3. Consult with diversity experts
No matter how much enthusiasm your team might have for diversity, it’s important to seek advice from experts. Naturally, human resources professionals with extensive diversity experience can best guide your team toward developing an
eéective program. These experts can provide resources, share knowledge and improve your sensitivity to potential issues with diversity initiatives.
Although some organizations choose to hire a full-time diversity executive, others contract a consultant to provide essential guidance. In most cases, the size of your organization and the depth of your budget determines the best option for
your team. For example, large organizations that need extensive program development and ongoing compliance management often opt for a permanent hire.
4. Set a strong example
Once it takes eéect, an eéective diversity leadership program should encourage all of your organization’s employees to embrace inclusivity. At êrst, however, it’s essential to lead the way by setting a good example:
Talk about diversity in the workplace at every opportunity to make it clear that inclusivity is important to your organization.
Seek out opinions from fellow leaders and employees who come from diverse backgrounds or who have diéerent life experiences.
Pay attention to the eéect your behavior has, and watch for related changes and increasing levels of inclusivity throughout your team.
5. Change hiring practices
With a deliberate focus on hiring a diverse range of employees and leaders, you can take substantial steps toward creating an inclusive workplace. Use these tips to reshape your organization’s recruitment process:
Place job openings in locations that tend to attract job seekers from a wider range of backgrounds.
Create outreach programs with women’s colleges, historically Black universities and local organizations that employ a diverse range of people.
Conceal applicants’ personal information from hiring teams to remove unconscious bias and ensure that you hire the right person for the job.
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