In today’s world of accelerating change and transformation, the data are clear regarding the importance of culture – the right culture -- to achieving organizational goals. Some go so far as to say that it’s not about culture vs strategy anymore, because culture is the strategy. Moreover, the case for valuing human differences at work is clear-cut. According to research from 2017, how employees perceive inclusion -- defined as leadership support for diversity, equal opportunity for all to succeed, and a working environment that is accepting of differences – influenced strongly how they saw their leaders, which in turn had a strong influence on their engagement. Even more recent research (from 2021) indicates that inclusive collaboration – defined by the six components of alignment, cooperation, compassion, fairness, psychological safety and belonging – increases job satisfaction and decreases attrition.
A culture of inclusion is one in which diversity is highly valued, and where successful collaboration leads to innovation and exceptional performance. In an inclusive culture, leaders are able to clearly articulate, communicate, and demonstrate the value placed on human differences at work not only for maximum team effectiveness but also for creating new products, services, and revenue streams. In such a culture all individuals – but especially leaders – are able to advocate for cultural difference while modeling behaviors that promote inclusion, collaboration, and breakthrough thinking.
Highrise Vista Consulting offers two types of assessments related to a leader's ability to build a culture of inclusion:
Intercultural Development Inventory®
Highrise Vista is a Qualified Administrator of the IDI® Assessment, a validated and reliable instrument to measure where individuals fall along a developmental scale of monocultural to intercultural mindsets. When a critical mass of leaders take the assessment, we can create an aggregate profile to determine the average level of cultural competence as well as the distribution of how many leaders are in each developmental stage of the IDI® model.
The IDI® is owned by: IDI, LLC | Intercultural Development Inventory
Inclusive Collaboration Toolkit
What makes a team perform at their best? Inclusion and collaboration together are a reliable formula. A sense of belonging to a team must be combined with the confidence that different identities are valued. An appreciation for uniqueness and authenticity is thus an important aspect of inclusion. People at work need to feel like they can be themselves, whether they are very different from or very similar to their colleagues. Otherwise, it's common for people to feel they need to hide their true identities. This thwarts both feelings of belonging and safety needed to encourage maximal contributions.
Along with proactively demonstrating the curiosity and empathy required for people to begin showing more aspects of themselves at work, teams can work on deliberately encouraging collaboration. From the RallyBright website:
Inclusion and collaboration improve organizations in many ways. When all team members feel a sense of belonging, collaboration becomes more fluid and productive. Often, inclusivity is tied to diversity. Yet, inclusion is more than just inviting different groups of people to the table; it’s also creating an environment where all perspectives and experiences are welcomed and valued. Giving everyone on your team a voice, and the right environment to use, brings about collaboration with improved results.
Highrise Vista Consulting is a licensed administrator of the RallyBright Inclusive Collaboration Toolkit. Inclusion and collaboration - RallyBright
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