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Module 4 Policy Brief

Ryan Murphy
Arizona State University
OGL 350: Diversity and Organizations (2022 Fall – B)
Dr. Brown
November 10, 2022
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The Effects of Inclusive Leadership in Culturally Diverse Environments
Many organizations throughout the world try to ensure that their organization is diverse
to be more successful. Employing a diverse group of people can enable companies to come up
with more unique, innovative, and forward-thinking ideas. Diverse workplaces tend to have a
broader and more vast pool of knowledge that their employees can utilize to help each other
learn and grow much more than a group of like-minded individuals can. A large majority of
companies recognize the importance of diversity and have decided to employ people of different
backgrounds and experiences if they are qualified to do their job. The bigger issue relating to
diversity that companies face today is fostering a workplace environment that allows all
employees to feel comfortable sharing their ideas. Despite hiring people from different
backgrounds, sometimes employees feel that they aren’t truly included in helping shape the
future of the company. When this happens, those who are left out feel like their ideas don’t
matter and they will no longer participate as often. This will severely limit the productivity level
of the team members affected and lead the overall organization down a slippery slope. I believe
the Inclusive Leadership Approach can enable leaders of any company to create a company
environment that embraces acceptance, unique ideas, and personal differences. (Ashikali) Any
organization that can meet the basic needs of belongingness and uniqueness to the people
working for them, it usually empowers people to invest more time and effort into their work
which leads to great results for both the workers and their employer. Everybody wants to be a
valuable part of something that they can help grow or build. It is up to the leaders to give their
employees the power and freedom to achieve their greatest potential. This all starts by including
all different types of people working within the company to work together and embrace their
differences.
The main issue companies face today is how to maximize their potential by utilizing a
diverse set of employees and ideas. Most successful companies have adopted a specific way of
doing things that has worked well for them over time, sometimes this can lead to newly hired
individuals to feel like they must conform how they do their work to be exactly like those they
see as important and respected within the organization. This can limit the effectiveness of
employee diversity because the people affected would no longer be bringing their unique ideas
and perspectives that could benefit everybody on the team and allow them to come up with even
better ways to operate. Some organizations can do well without a wide array of diverse ideas and
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plans but not most. The world we live in today involves people from all cultures working
together to get the best results possible. If a company cannot empower their own diverse set of
employees to feel comfortable to be themselves, share their ideas, and embrace others’ ideas I
find it hard to believe that company would succeed dealing with people of other cultures
consistently. People that feel included in their workplace often put more time and effort into their
work that can pay massive dividends in the long run. Once companies realize the importance of
Inclusive Leadership in relation to embracing diversity, it can enable an organization to create a
more welcoming and efficient environment focused on growth.
We are in a time where technology is allowing people from all different cultures to work
together more than ever. This can be a massive benefit for any company that is able to maximize
the productivity and efficiency of their diverse employees. For example, I know somebody who
worked for a United States insurance company then got a job with an Irish software developer
who sells their products to U.S. and Canadian insurance companies. The company had decent
sales before he arrived, but they knew how important hiring a person of his experience and
cultural differences would benefit them greatly. Leaders of the company were shocked to realize
how their Irish employees lacked the urgency and understanding of how their clients expected
them to operate, which could create irritation when they fell behind on projects, both internally
and externally. Once the newly hired employee brought up how companies in the U.S. expected
things to go much quicker than the Irish employees were accustomed to, they began to realize the
company had to reallocate funds and hire additional employees to cater to their customers and
allow them to make more sales. This is one of many examples of how a lack of cultural diversity
within a company can create significant roadblocks that can deter the company from reaching
their goals. All of this was allowed to happen once the company realized that despite disagreeing
with his feedback initially, he was clearly right. It can be tough for people to realize that they are
wrong but when a company has an Inclusive Leadership approach, they can make members of
the company feel comfortable to share their ideas. This idea led to a critical new approach that
improved the financial outlook and productivity of the company dramatically.
The policy I am proposing is for organizations to take action to ensure they embrace
diversity and have an environment where diversity is embraced, appreciated, and utilized daily. I
believe the best leadership approach available is the Inclusive Leadership Approach. One of the
first steps to embrace diversity is to appreciate differences and refrain from alienating other
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employees. There are many examples of ideas throughout history that were unpopular at first
until they proved to be the best way of doing things. All the employees within the company must
be aware of how important it is to embrace all new and unique ideas. Remember, there are no
bad ideas, just ideas that need improvement. Next leadership needs to put the needs of all the
employees working for them above their own and provide them with the support they need. If
people within the company see their leaders working with them on a consistent basis, the practice
will become normal for them as well. Another key aspect of Inclusive Leadership in culturally
diverse environments is discouraging group biases. It is also important to allow each member of
the team an opportunity to share anything they would like in a meeting that takes place
periodically. Everybody in the company is important and they need to be treated that way on a
consistent basis. The goal of this policy is to emphasize how we can all learn from each other’s
unique experiences, perspectives, and background to become the best team possible.
Research has shown that “Teams with inclusive leaders are 17% more likely to report that
they are high performing, 20% more likely to say they make high-quality decisions, and 29%
more likely to report behaving collaboratively.” (Bourke) This is a clear indication the leaders
who find a way to create an environment that promotes respect and inclusion get much better
results from a large amount of their employees. People who feel included and accepted can feel
comfortable sharing their ideas and work more closely with their peers. Another benefit that has
been noticed with inclusive leadership is the increased amount of commitment, humility, and
curiosity about others that people within the organization demonstrate. Any company that
exhibits these traits has a much higher chance of operating efficiently, productively, and
cooperatively while embracing the diversity that can take their business to new heights.
I recommend that all companies enact an inclusive leadership style that can encourage
companywide diversity which is more important than ever, especially for culturally diverse
organizations and those that deal with other cultures on a regular basis. Many companies have
taken the first step by hiring a diverse array of employees, but they need to ensure that the
company is able to provide them the tools and space they need to feel comfortable and thrive.
After doing this, it is important for organizations to value all employees’ ideas, provide them the
support they need to grow, and include them in the work process early and often. This can let
employees know that you are invested in their development and give them confidence that they
can achieve great things within the company. Another crucial piece of welcoming diversity is
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allowing everybody to share their opinion about the work being done. Many times the loudest
person can drown out the other voices in the room; if leaders can help each member of the team
feel important and key to the company’s overall success, their level of engagement typically be
high. Highly engaged workers tend to be more motivated and likely to share new and innovative
ideas that will help the company in the future. At the end of the day, the Inclusive Leadership
Approach can be utilized to embrace the diversity an organization has while also enhancing the
positive effects of the company’s diversity as a result.
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Works Cited

Support & Services. MyNavyHR. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2022, from
https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Support-Services/21st-Century-Sailor/Diversity-Equity-
Inclusion/

Ashikali, T., Groeneveld, S., & Kuipers, B. (2020). The role of inclusive leadership in supporting
an inclusive climate in diverse public sector teams. Review of Public Personnel
Administration, 41(3), 497–519. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371x19899722

Bourke, J., & Titus, A. (2019, March 29). Why Inclusive Leaders are Good for Organizations,
and How to Become One. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from
https://hbr.org/2019/03/why-inclusive-leaders-are-good-for-organizations-and-how-to-
become-one