Anno 2022 is bijzonder veel onderzoek en materiaal beschikbaar over hoe organisaties de inclusiviteitsgedachte kunnen benutten om te groeien, competitief te blijven en te overleven in uitdagende tijden. Tegelijkertijd zorgt het aanhoudende gebrek aan een goede visie rondom dit thema, dat allerlei initiatieven die worden genomen op het vlak van recruitment, dialoogsessies of anti-bias trainingen, het tegenovergestelde effect bereiken – mensen worden inclusiviteits-moe! En het onderwerp wordt een lastig thema, terwijl het juist een thema moet zijn wat staat voor groei, innovatie en evolutie! Voor mij betekent de inclusiviteitsgedachte dat organisaties meer talent aantrekken en weten te behouden, er een betere aansluiting wordt gevonden op nieuwe (commerciële) markten, de kwaliteit van dienstverlening omhoog gaat en het innovatief vermogen van de eigen organisatie wordt vergroot.
Although many organizations benefit from the trend that it is important to be diverse and inclusive and link all kinds of expressions to this, really relevant interventions are not taken or are limited to a few separate initiatives. The real inclusivity idea is not linked to the strategic goals of the organization and no real investment is made. Too often there is still too great a distance between what is decided at the executive level by key players and what is needed at the level of inclusivity in order to really make a change.
‘’Put your Money where your mouth is’’
Anyone who reads the literature and who has experience with change management knows that the only way to effectively implement change is by investing in the executives, or management. I know the quote "put your money where your mouth is" sounds a bit provocative, but that's the point. After all, it is very simple to have the new managers and the current management team participate in an assessment to see whether these people have what it takes to make the transition to an inclusive organization. Only in this way, in my opinion, you are really working on changing as an organization and it is not just a "nice for the outside" and a "look how well we are doing" show.
Assessment - Future Leaders
So what does an assessment that examines Inclusive Leadership entail? The starting point for setting up the methodology has a scientific basis. Three principles have been included in this: 1. Inclusive personality traits, 2. Intercultural mindset and world view, and 3. Inclusive skills. Important is that the emphasis is not only on inclusiveness, but on effective leadership as a whole. Being an inclusive leader is part of that.
It would be great if organizations dare to take the step to really invest in change. Our assessment methodology will help to correctly select the leaders of the future. In addition, the assessment provides insight into the development potential of current managers, so that targeted interventions can be deployed.
If you want to know more about this subject, feel free to contact us.
Michael van den Berg
