Why Inclusive Leadership Matters

HRM Asia article on turnover sparked my thinking, how much do we understand about changing behaviours? The article highlights, Loopin, an employee wellbeing firm, discussing the common themes with turnover rates:

1. not enough opportunities for growth,
2. a lack of feedback,
3. the stress of micromanagement,
4. inflexible work arrangements, and
5. feeling unappreciated or undervalued.

A laundry list of “lacks”.

To HRM’s credit, the article offers tips to tackle these issues — all of these make sense. But it raises two fundamental questions: Is the real challenge here about behavioural change? Or how do we put humanity and inclusion back into leadership?

There’s a ton of historical research on behavioural change going back to the late 1800’s but the critical element here is positivity. Pavlov, Skinner, Watson, Thorndike and Bandura added substantial value on the topic of behavioral change.

One thing I learned from this research and working as an exeutive coach, rather than fixating on what’s wrong, the focus should be on adopting alternative approaches.

Yes, financial incentives can modify behaviours, but their success often requires convincing micromanagers that relying on this approach is not as effective as they might believe.

While Loopin offers solid ideas; creating regular feedback loops, open communication, offering more flexibility, honestly the first step is making the person realize they need to change. Without this awareness, these tips will undoubtedly fall flat.

Two steps needed for behavioural change:

1) Acute Self-Awareness — going beyond the surface level of awareness and this requires introspection, observation and feedback to uncover strengths, motivations to recognize when you might be overplaying those strengths.

2) Self-Efficacy — (with a nod to Bandura), it’s about how much you believe you can change, your willingness to do the work, and your resilience in the face of setbacks and obstacles.

The question is, will it work? The answer might be as tricky as the behavioral changes you’re trying to drive, but one thing’s clear, a workplace where every individual feels respected and empowered to contribute their best will assuredly drive higher retention.

Let’s back this up with data. Deloitte’s research demonstrates inclusive leaders focus on:

1. Fair treatment of individuals and groups, considering their individual qualities instead of relying on stereotypes.
2. Recognizing and appreciating the distinctiveness of diverse individuals while also acknowledging their group affiliation.
3. Leveraging the diverse perspectives of groups to enhance creativity and decision-making, thereby minimizing the chance of encountering unexpected challenges.

Now consider the ROI: Deloitte & Gartner’s research found companies that embrace diversity experience a cash flow per employee that is 2.3 times higher, while Gartner’s findings indicate that inclusive teams can enhance team performance by up to 30 percent, particularly in environments characterized by high diversity.

Inclusive Leadership Compass research indicates that Inclusive leaders with diverse teams are 20X more likely to exceed their business performance targets than non-inclusive leaders.

And, one more data point: MSCI found a common theme across some of the world’s most innovative publicly traded companies, (Amazon, Nike, and Visa) is a higher number of women on their boards compared to their industry counterparts. And, fascinatingly enough, these companies often have more robust diversity and inclusion initiatives.

So, if you want to address high turnover, examine behaviours and develop Inclusive Leaders across the organization.