You will examine an inclusive climate by first assessing the inclusiveness of your own work group. You will cite evidence that recommended leadership behaviors are in place, and offer your

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ILRDI001: Improving Engagement

Cornell University ILR School

Examining an Inclusive Climate

In this part of the course assignment, You will examine an inclusive climate by first assessing the inclusiveness of your own work group. You will cite evidence that recommended leadership behaviors are in place, and offer your ideas for where improvements could be made.

You will examine the dynamics of inclusive climates by considering status, people's interpersonal experiences, and observed behaviors, and answering questions that will drive you to take a deeper look at how inclusive your climate is.

You will take steps towards inclusion within your work group. You will solicit input from your team or work group, and you will discuss it as a group and try to articulate your thinking to them. You will also chart the specific behaviors that you think you should start engaging in to promote inclusion for your team members, and the specific behaviors you want to stop engaging in.

Assignment:

Complete course worksheet “ Fostering an Inclusive Climate” see attachment

· Complete Course worksheet (Part One – Three) in its entirety.

· Complete all sections with cohesive and comprehensive answers.

· No plagiarism

· Use Lectures as resources to assist with the completion of worksheet

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Fostering an Inclusive Climate Course Project

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[Type text] [Type text] [Type text]

ILRDI001: Improving Engagement

Cornell University ILR School

Define an "Inclusive Climate"

In this Lecture, you will define… an inclusive climate, explore the critical characteristics of inclusive climates, and determine what it means to have an inclusive climate (as distinguished from other initiatives, such as increasing diversity within the workplace).

You will… also specify why inclusive climates are important and learn the benefits that inclusive climates offer to both the individual and the organization.

You will identify… the leader behaviors that promote inclusive climates as well as the impact of peer influence on a unit's inclusive climate and recognize how the environment may impact your efforts as a leader to build an inclusive climate. You will… also examine environmental influences, which include messages and signals received from the broader organization, including senior leadership. You will… also begin working on an important required component of this course: a project which has been designed to help you more fully explore the concepts presented here.

In this context, "climate" refers to employees' shared perceptions about the behaviors that are expected and rewarded within the organizational or workgroup context. As you will see, there are different forms of climate, and each is associated with a different set of employee behaviors, as Professor Nishii explains.

So I'd like to begin by talking about climate. What do we mean by "climate"? Climate refers to employees' shared perceptions about the behaviors that are expected and rewarded within a particular organizational context. But rather than talk about organizational climate in a general sense, organizational scholars tend to distinguish between different forms of climate based on their strategic reference. So, for example, rather than talk about general organizational climate, we say "climate for X," as in climate for service, climate for safety, climate for inclusion, and also things like climate for innovation. Each form of climate is associated with a different set of employee behaviors. 

So, for example, the employee behaviors that are required for delivering excellent customer service are different from the employee behaviors that are required for ensuring high safety standards. And the same is also true for inclusion. A different set of behaviors is associated with promoting inclusion within organizations. So, another way of describing climate, in particular inclusive climates, is to think about it in terms of employees' shared understanding about the social norms within a particular organizational context with regard to the behaviors that are expected of employees to pursue inclusion goals. 

So, one more point I'd like to make about climate is that in thinking about climate, it's useful to think about climate along two dimensions. So the first is how much, or how high, or how negative to positive. So, in the case of inclusion, we can think about a scale that ranges from low levels of inclusion, or maybe exclusion, to high levels of inclusion. And then the other dimension is how strong is the climate? And climate strength refers to how much people within a particular work context agree in their perceptions of climate. So, in weak climates, people don't have a shared or agreed-upon idea of what's expected. But in strong climates, people do have shared perceptions; there's an alignment in how they understand their particular organizational context. And weak climates are something to avoid, because in weak climates, behavior tends to be unpredictable because there aren't strong or shared norms guiding individuals' behaviors.

For the sake of simplicity, imagine that the two graphs below reflect responses to a climate survey gathered from members of two teams. In the team on the left, there is considerable variability in team members’ perceptions of climate. In this case, low agreement is indicative of a weak climate. In comparison, the team on the right is characterized by shared climate perceptions, or strong climate. Note that it’s possible to have strong (or weak) agreement about a highly inclusive or not-inclusive climate.

Examining an "Inclusive Climate"

An inclusive climate, or inclusion, is more than about making sure everyone feels good, or that members of marginalized groups are included, as Professor Nishii explains here. A lot of scholarly research has been done on climate and it clearly demonstrates that climate is a powerful tool for guiding employee behaviors. 

You may find it helpful to expand the viewing size of these videos.

What Is It?

An inclusive climate relates to how a team functions and performs based on the quality of social connections, openness to learning, agility, and depth of decision-making.

Okay. So now I'd like to talk more about what we mean by inclusive climates. It's critical, I think, for us to begin with a definition, because the terms "inclusion" and "inclusive" have been used quite loosely. And as it turns out, the English language is quite ambiguous when it comes to words like "inclusion." For some, inclusion means that the organization is making attempts to increase diversity, and others think of it as trying to create an environment in which all employees feel valued. But what does this really mean? I've found that it's more productive to think about inclusion in the here and now in terms of our conduct in everyday interactions, and not so much through the lens of the big -isms like sexism and racism. It's not so much about making sure that members of underrepresented or historically marginalized groups don't feel excluded, as I think many people assume. Although it's true that fairness and respect are foundational for inclusion, because without them, people don't feel safe or valued. It's foundational for everybody, for all individuals, in all interactions, and every one of us is at risk of experiencing exclusion in various situations. So inclusion isn't an initiative that targets members of a particular group. Inclusion is much more. Scholars have begun to think about inclusion as involving two distinct sets of experiences or states. The first is experiencing belongingness, so this feeling that I'm a valued member of the in-group. And the second is feeling that one's uniqueness is valued and integrated. The challenge for leaders is to seek a balance between the two. In attempt to be inclusive, sometimes leaders focus too much on one or the other. So for example, people might feel that they can experience belonging so long as they minimize what makes them unique, and focus instead on blending in. This is often referred to as assimilation, which is different from inclusion. It's also possible for people to feel that their uniqueness or their difference is recognized by others, but they still feel like an outsider or they still feel marginalized because of it. 

What Is It?

An inclusive climate relates to how a team functions and performs based on the quality of social connections, openness to learning, agility, and depth of decision-making.

So, people might, for example, be asked what members of their group feel about something, or how they perceive a particular issue, and when they're asked these things, they feel that their unique identity is being recognized. But they can still feel like they're not quite an insider and experience that sense of belonging. But people who experience inclusion, they experience a true sense of belonging while also feeling that their individuality is recognized and valued by others. There are many psychological and interpersonal barriers that can get in the way of experiencing inclusion. It's not something that can be taken for granted. A climate is inclusive when its norms are carefully constructed to promote experiences of both belonging and uniqueness for its members. The two most essential aspects of inclusive climates are that they involve, one, strong values for developing high-quality interpersonal understanding, and competence; combined with, two, a shared belief that people's diverse backgrounds and perspectives are a source of insight that can be leveraged to enhance learning and performance. These beliefs are then translated into norms for how team members are expected to engage with each other to make that possible.

Why Is It Important?

Climate – and therefore employees’ behaviors and interactions – can be changed quite quickly and effectively, provided that employees receive clear signals about what is expected.

So, why is an inclusive climate important? A lot of research has been conducted on climate, and it clearly shows that climate is a powerful tool that guides employee behaviors. By providing a mental map of the behaviors that are expected and rewarded, it helps to reduce unpredictability. Climate, and therefore the employee behaviors and interactions that follow, can actually be changed quite quickly and effectively, provided employees receive clear signals about what's expected. Research shows that inclusive climates are powerful. They're powerful because of what they enable in terms of well-being, learning, and performance. So here's what we know from scholarly research about the benefits of inclusive climates for individuals. When people feel that those around them value what they have to offer and are genuinely interested in them, as individuals, then they're bolstered by a sense of belonging and confidence, which makes them more engaged with their work and with their coworkers. As a result, they tend to perform at higher levels, and are also much less likely to turn over. But when people feel unsafe to be themselves, they are more likely to hide their true thoughts and withdraw or become defensive, which can further exacerbate their experiences of exclusion. As a result, they report higher levels of stress and lower levels of organizational commitment to the organization. 

Overall, as you can see, experiences of inclusion have a powerful effect on both psychological and physical well-being. With regard to the benefits of inclusive climates for teams, what we see is that in an absence of an inclusive climate, it's possible for some team members to experience inclusion, while others do not, leading to fractured team dynamics that are characterized by subgroup formation in conflict, and losses to team collaboration, information-sharing, and performance. When team norms, however, promote and protect experiences of inclusion, team members report higher levels of trust and cohesion, and these in turn make it much more likely that information is shared openly, and furthermore, that team members cooperate and build constructively on the ideas of others. And these are the positive team dynamics that are at the core of what drives team performance and innovation.

Your Power to Shape Work-Group Climate

Key Points

All leaders shape climate, for better or worse

Provide clear goals and expectations

Consistently articulate and model desired behaviors

As a leader, you have enormous power to shape your team’s work climate. You signal the values and behavioral standards that you want to embed into your team based on what you systematically pay attention to – the things that you notice, comment on, measure, control, and reward. Casual comments and questions can be as potent as formal control mechanisms if they consistently demonstrate the inclusive standards you believe in and are trying to communicate.

Where leaders often run into trouble is when they are not aware of the power of systematically paying attention to certain things, or they are inconsistent about the behaviors and events to which they pay close attention. Employees and colleagues then get distracted trying to figure out what the leader’s behavior really reflects and end up developing their own narratives. It is the  consistency of what you attend to that is important.

Effective leaders shape climate by providing clear goals and expectations to employees. You can do this by consistently  articulating and  role modeling desired behaviors, then  assessing the behaviors of, and interactions among, employees in order to  reinforce desired behaviors through the timely communication of feedback and allocation of rewards.

Leaders and Peers

Research has shown that group leaders and peers play an important role in shaping climate. Senior leaders set the tone and role model for lower-level leaders, but they alone cannot shape the micro-climates throughout the organization.

You may find it helpful to expand the size of these videos for optimum viewing.

Exerting Leader Influence

One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is shaping workgroup climate in a way that optimizes team member experiences: their engagement, well-being, and performance.

Exerting Leader Influence

One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is shaping workgroup climate in a way that optimizes team member experiences: their engagement, well-being, and performance.

Okay; so now to the part about your role as a leader. So earlier I alluded to the fact that words like "inclusion" have little meaning without context. They require that the situation specify what is expected and valued. Employees need to understand what rights they are being granted and what obligations are being imposed on them. Fostering inclusion requires that you, as the leader, help team members to understand what inclusion means and why inclusion is important, so that they are intrinsically motivated to engage in inclusive behaviors. It's useful to think about leadership not in terms of the specific traits that might be involved, but as a process; that is, as a process designed to facilitate a specific set of outcomes. You'll see this logic play out in this course. While many leadership development courses focus on the specific behaviors that leaders should enact, our focus on this course is much more on how you can shape your unit's climate so

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