Groups & Teams Overview
Emily Feyes
Introduction
Increasing diversity is a complex issue dealing with deep-seated beliefs and both implicit and explicit biases. Enhanced diversity will not be accomplished easily and requires time, planning, and a willingness to be uncomfortable. In this chapter, we will explore what qualities and theories of leadership will help an individual steer an organization through the cultural shifts needed to promote and foster diversity within the workplace and out into the community. This chapter will focus on leadership approaches/theories, then the discussion will then shift to what actions leaders can take to promote diversity within their workforce. Lastly, the chapter will explore actions to promote diversity and cultural sensitivity in interactions with community members.
The demographics of the United States have changed over the past 40-50 years and will continue to change. The number of non-Hispanic, white Americans has been decreasing since the 1980s (Judy, 1995). With this comes an increase in the percentages of other ethnic or racial populations. To view the 2020 census results use this link. These changes in the overall population are reflected in the labor force.
As these demographics have shifted, companies, have worked to increase the diversity of their workforce. Companies are actively recruiting and hiring individuals that have historically been in the minority in terms of identifying characteristics such as race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and socioeconomic status. The desire to increase diversity stems from the benefits that come along with approaching problems from different perspectives instead of through a single homogeneous lens.
Increasing workplace diversity requires an overall shift in an organization’s culture. Historically, the workforce has been dominated by middle-to-upper-class white men. During this time of single demographic domination, multiple levels of culture (artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions) were established and became part of employees’ work identities. When workers face the challenge of adapting to a more inclusive workforce, they may feel threatened and become defensive by what they see as a question of their own personal identity (Osland, 2011). A strong leader willing to work with employees through their complex, personal beliefs is necessary to successfully facilitate a cultural shift.
Organizational leaders play a critical role to establish and promote workplace culture. Employees look to leaders to set organizational norms. Establishing an environment that reflects the desired values of an organization requires action and the embodiment of these values. If employers espouse certain values but act in ways that directly contradict them, employees will see through the empty words and will look outside of the organization for a company that demonstrates the cultural fluency that they desire. A disingenuous atmosphere can make it difficult for companies to attract and retain talented individuals and becomes especially important when considering workplace diversity. We will explore what behaviors leaders can demonstrate and what actions they can take to successfully promote diversity in their organization.
Background
Diversity and Cultural Competence
Financial incentives have been a major driver of increasing diversity in the workplace. From a business perspective, companies have recognized that hiring employees with different perspectives and ideas drive innovation and problem-solving within their organizations (Nemeth, 1986).
Cultural competency requires an individual to consider how culture can affect how another person perceives and understands the world around them. In the workplace, this involves embracing different perspectives and ideas and ensuring that deserving individuals are rewarded (either through promotion or some other form of recognition) within the organization to demonstrate that they are not just employed to fill an arbitrary quota.
Some argue that achieving true diversity requires more than cultural competence. Competence is often viewed as a set of skills that once learned can be mastered and applied to every situation (Lokko, 2016) which is not necessarily the case. Diversity and cultures are dynamic requiring constant education and adaptation of skills, which is why Lokko et al. (2016) recommend the promotion of cultural respect as opposed to cultural competence. Cultural respect requires an individual to accept that there will always be skills to learn and mistakes made. It involves a sense of humility because it is an acknowledgment that one cannot possibly know everything that there is to know about a person’s cultural identity in every given situation.
Promoting diversity, cultural competence, and cultural respect within an organization requires a strong commitment from leadership. In the next section of this chapter, we will discuss how leaders ought to commit to change within themselves to embrace diversity as well as encourage change within their followers/employees.
Leading the Way Toward a More Diverse Workforce
Leaders need to perform a self-assessment to determine their own level of cultural competency and areas of weakness that they should address while guiding their company toward a more diverse culture (Rowitz, 2013). They need to look at whether their own biases result in the more frequent promotion of certain individuals, whether they are distributing workload equitably among different groups, and whether they are more likely to praise or criticize an employee based on their cultural or ethnic backgrounds (Myers, 2007). They must understand the cultural values and norms of the groups they intend to interact with, and then act to promote diversity within their target area. This is especially important for individuals in leadership roles. They need to be ready to do more than talk about diversity; they need to demonstrate cultural competency in how they treat employees with diverse identities (Rowitz, 2013).
According to Rowitz (2013), cultural competency, which is necessary for true diversity, occurs in the following stages:
- awareness,
- understanding, and
- action.
Before leaders can develop an atmosphere designed to promote diversity, they need to first understand the obstacles they will face when working towards this cultural shift. Leaders ought to honestly address stereotypes they themselves have toward different groups and consider what implicit biases they may hold. According to the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University (2015), implicit bias is defined as “the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.” This type of bias is not always consistent with how an individual believes that they view those that are different from them.
Biases are shaped by our experiences and influences as we grow and develop in our environments. Since biases occur on a subconscious level, they require us to seek tools to help identify the groups our biases may be directed toward. Leaders need to critically evaluate how they think about, speak to, and act toward members of different cultures. Once they gain awareness about their own thoughts, feelings, and interactions, they can begin to educate themselves to overcome their prejudices.
Leaders should not isolate themselves in their quest to understand, they should reach out to members of minority groups that they wish to engage with in their community or in their workforce to gain perspective about the discrimination and challenges that these individuals face daily (Rowitz, 2013). They should learn culturally appropriate language to promote inclusivity and respect. Leaders should recognize that this is a lifelong learning process and should seek out and encourage feedback (Rowitz, 2013). Diversity and inclusion are sensitive topics, and missteps will be made. Leaders need to be prepared for conflict and discomfort as they work to understand the perspectives of others; these instances should be approached with empathy, humility, and a willingness to learn.
During this time of self-reflection, leaders should assess their leadership style, along with their strengths and weaknesses, and evaluate how these will influence their goal of promoting diversity both in the workforce and in their community (Myers, 2007; Rowitz, 2013). There are many different leadership theories/styles that have been studied and researched, some involving natural-born leadership traits and some involving skills that can be developed. In this section, we will focus on four of these leadership styles and how they might work for or against an organizational shift toward diversity.
The Context for Diversity and Leadership
Promoting Diversity and the Situational Approach to Leadership
Situational Leadership considers the leader’s characteristics, as well as their followers. Situational leadership involves a leader analyzing the level of follower competence and commitment to the goal, in this case, diversifying the workforce population, and adjusting their leadership style to match it (Northouse, 2016). Leaders should strive to find a balance between directive behaviors (such as establishing goals and timelines, defining roles, and giving directions) and supportive behaviors (such as asking for input, sharing information about oneself, and listening) based on follower/employee competence and commitment levels (Northouse, 2016).
Situational leadership may be beneficial in an organization that desires to increase diversity and cultural competence either in their workforce, or in their interactions with the community that they serve, due to the overall flexibility of the approach. As followers learn and grow, their competence will improve and this approach will allow leadership to adjust their style to meet the changing needs of their followers.
For example, in a company where employees have a low level of commitment to improving diversity and a low level of competence, particularly cultural competence, a coaching leadership style with highly directive and supportive behaviors would be required (Northouse, 2016). Leaders would need to set clear goals and expectations regarding the development of cultural competence and inclusion in the workplace while also demonstrating the achievement of these goals in their own behaviors. Leaders would also need to be available to listen to employee concerns regarding the changes in company culture and how they may feel threatened by this change. Leaders should also help manage conflicts as they arose and provide praise when goals are met. Within this approach, leaders can adjust their style as employees’ attitudes and competence improve.
This approach does not come without some drawbacks. One hurdle associated with taking this approach when working to increase diversity is that it fails to take follower demographics into account when assigning them to a category. It also fails to distinguish between one-on-one leader-follower relationships and leader-organization or leader-group relationships (Northouse, 2016). Leaders may be forced to assign a category to the organization, especially in large healthcare systems, instead of to individuals resulting in a mismatch between leadership styles and follower categories for several individuals. If this occurs, it may affect the strength of support or dissent that a leader faces when working toward this cultural shift.
Promoting Diversity and Transformational Leadership
Leaders that utilize a transformational leadership approach may see increased success in promoting diversity and shifting the culture of their organization. Utilizing this leadership approach, leaders are working toward increasing the ethics and standards of themselves and their followers (Northouse, 2016). Goals are clearly outlined and leaders demonstrate the morals/values that they want to see promoted within the company. Transformational leaders inspire their followers to change and find their place within the new culture (Northouse, 2016) and provide support and guidance, which is vital during culture shifts.
Transformational leadership lends itself to increasing diversity and inclusion within an organization as this often requires individuals to re-evaluate how they view people who are different, which means identifying their own prejudices and faults. Having a leader who embodies the change and values while also providing a supportive, judgment-free environment to change and grow allows followers to emulate someone they respect and make mistakes along the path to change. Transformational leaders recognize the need to be lifelong learners which is necessary when dealing with diversity and cultural competency as these concepts are dynamic and not a set of skills that can be singularly mastered.
Promoting Diversity and Authentic Leadership
The Authentic Leadership approach may have the most potential for the widespread promotion of diversity. Authentic leadership focuses on four distinct components which are enhanced by certain characteristics.
- The first component is self-awareness or the ability to recognize one’s own strengths and weaknesses (Northouse, 2016). This is a critical component for promoting diversity. As discussed earlier, awareness is the first step toward cultural competency. A leader’s ability to understand where they fall short or excel in terms of cultural perspectives and assumptions will allow them to educate themselves and grow while also allowing them to empathize with the changes that they are asking their followers to make.
- The next component is internalized moral perspective which involves allowing one’s own values and beliefs to guide decisions made and actions taken as opposed to being influenced by outside forces (Northouse, 2016). This is an important consideration in the adoption of a new culture that embraces and promotes diversity. A leader will face many challenges during a cultural shift and their vision may be called into question at different points throughout the transition. Authentic leaders listen to others’ perspectives but will ultimately follow their own moral compass toward what they know is right. A strong moral compass is enhanced by a leader’s ability to truly understand their purpose and follow the values that guide them toward the right thing to do (Northouse, 2016). Being self-aware allows an authentic leaders to acknowledge that they are not always right and may not always know how best to approach a conflict or challenge to their overall goal.
- Leaders must also be able to employ balanced processing, which involves a leader seeking out and actively listening to dissenting views or opinions with an open mind to determine if there is a better way to approach a problem or view a situation (Northouse, 2016). Balanced processing is valuable to promote diversity as leaders consider the perspectives of individuals from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds without bias or prejudice. Doing this will result in leaders garnering trust and respect from their followers which will enhance their commitment to the overall goal of promoting diversity.
- Finally, authentic leaders must practice relational transparency; they must be willing to share their honest, authentic selves with their followers (Northouse, 2016). This requires leaders to share their own successes and struggles as they move along the path toward reaching their goals. This helps followers to relate to the leader as they experience similar situations which builds trust. It allows followers to see the leader in action working toward the common goal, instead of merely instructing followers on how to behave or which principles to embrace, and provides them with the necessary tools, resources, and guidance to enable them to develop their own approaches and values. Encourage independent thinking and decision-making, allowing them to take ownership of their choices and develop a sense of empowerment and autonomy. Though there is not a lot of data demonstrating organizational outcomes of authentic leadership, the components discussed above clearly demonstrate an approach that lends itself to promoting diversity within organizations and in community partnerships with healthcare organizations.
Discussion
Leading to Promote Organizational Diversity
Increasing diversity within an organization requires a workplace cultural shift. A lack of diversity-embracing culture will undermine these mechanisms and cause employees to seek work elsewhere even when structural mechanisms are in place to increase diversity, (Myers, 2007). This shift does not happen overnight and often includes setbacks and opposition. Leadership within the organization needs to be prepared for these challenges, and this can best be done through proper planning and employing leadership styles/approaches that we discussed earlier in the chapter.
Leaders should assess the organization to determine where it is falling short in promoting diversity; this allows for strategic planning and the allocation of resources to improve the work environment and overall employee attitude toward diversity and cultural change (Chin, 2012). Without acknowledging the problems, it becomes difficult to adequately address them. This can lead to issues with the retention of minority workers; if the promotion of diversity is present in speech but not in action (through promotions, mentoring, and non-hostile environments), skilled, marginalized employees will seek out other opportunities for employment, even if it results in decreased compensation (Myers, 2007). It is very valuable for leaders to speak with members of marginalized groups to gain their perspective on the company culture and experiences in the workplace. Obtaining and applying feedback will result in the development of interventions that are more likely to meet the needs of the diverse population that the company is trying to attract (Rowitz, 2013).
Once leadership has performed a thorough evaluation of the current company culture regarding diversity, they can develop a strategic plan that clearly outlines how they will move forward to increase diversity within the organization. Weech-Maldonado et al. (2018) promote using a systems approach to improve the likelihood of success. Cultural shifts to promote diversity cannot be accomplished at an organizational or individual level alone; they need to occur at every level of the system. At the management level, cultural competency and diversity promotion need to be incorporated into the management system; adequate resources must be planned for and allocated to sustain any training programs utilized; diversity goals need to be set, communicated, and assessed; and policies, such as anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies, need to be put into place (Chin, 2012; Cordova, 2010; Etowa, 2017; Weech-Maldonado, 2018).
At the human resources level, active and deliberate recruitment and retention of minority/marginalized employees are necessary to increase and sustain diversity within an organization. Cultural competency training should be provided for current and future employees (including at the management and leadership levels), diversity policies should be incorporated into onboarding materials and advancement training, and managers should receive training on incorporating cultural competency and inclusion into workload allocation, performance goal setting, and promotions (Cordova, 2010; Weech-Maldonado, 2018). Finally, at the individual level, employees should be encouraged to evaluate their own potential biases and how their cultural background affects and shapes these (Weech-Maldonado, 2018).
Leaders should also look for diversity champions at different levels throughout the company; these are the individuals that strongly support the promotion of diversity in the company and are willing to aid leaders in moving the company forward toward its inclusion goals (Chin, 2012; Etowa, 2017). Champions can provide support to coworkers struggling with the culture shift and how they fit into the new system as well as to marginalized coworkers looking for acceptance in the workplace.
Leaders should be prepared to face conflict among individuals and should encourage the sharing of different perspectives. By doing this, they can give a voice to marginalized individuals and allow them to identify problems that still need to be addressed within the organization (Etowa, 2017). Encouraging and mediating conflict also maintains open communication where people can feel safe voicing their concerns and frustrations. Making employees feel heard will most likely result in more buy-in to the culture shift.
Strong leadership support is required to successfully steer a culture shift to increase organizational diversity and, to be most effective, this ought to be done at all levels of the company. To increase the likelihood of success, leaders need to carefully assess the current work climate, be deliberate in their diversity promotion planning/goal-setting, solicit input from marginalized groups to ensure their needs are being addressed, and prepare to evaluate and adjust systems as the plan moves forward. In the next section, we will discuss how many of these same principles can be applied in healthcare organizations to improve care delivered to culturally and ethnically diverse patient populations.
Conclusions
We are living in a global community, and the United States is unique given its culturally and ethnically diverse population. Organizations, need to address and promote diversity to remain relevant in this constantly evolving society. In this chapter, we have learned about several different leadership approaches/styles an individual attempting to improve cultural diversity within their organization may employ. This chapter serves to highlight styles that may be particularly beneficial or harmful in situations of organizational cultural shifts. We also discussed key steps for leaders to consider when attempting to improve diversity within their organization and when working with diverse communities; these included steps at both the individual and organizational levels. Promoting diversity is a large undertaking challenged by biases, sensitivities, and an overall fear of change. Strong leadership is necessary to direct an organization through resistance and roadblocks to achieve diversity goals and improve inclusion.
Leadership in Healthcare and Public Health by Emily Feyes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.