Ian Dodds Consulting’s (IDC) Monthly Best Practice: January 2016

By Ian Dodds – The Inclusion Builder

I’m hoping that I have the opportunity to work on these important inclusion issues in 2016

In 2016 I want to make major contributions to the field of inclusion by working with clients on the important topics I am going to descibe in this Monthly Best Practice.

The first is Inclusive Leadership. I am currently invlolved in a research project, funded by the Employers Network For Equality and Inclusion, enei, to determine the factors which drive and make Inclusive Leadership successful. I had been aware for a long time just how important Inclusive Leadership is in fostering inclusion in any organisation. The Research to date is showing that the performance returns are very significant of effective Inclusive Leadership. It results in:

• Improved services to customers, clients or sevice users;

• Higher levels of employee motivation and productivity;

• An improved capbility to increase the representation of underrepresented groups in Senior Management;

• Greater talent retention and increased employee loyalty;

• More creative problem solving;

• Increased employee well being.

It is clear that this is a critical subject for organisational success and so, once the research is completed at the end of January, I do hope that I manage to secure projects to work with clients on Inclusive Leadership.

Recently, I have had a number of meetings with leading BMEs, Black Minority Ethnics, in different organisations. It is clear that progress has been disappointiing on advancing BME equality in almost every sector. Regular readers will know that in the October 2015 Best Practice I speculated that this was because organisations were using transactional approaches. Whereas, what is required is a transformational approach, as described in that best practice. It looks like I shall have some opportunities in 2016 to help clients develop and implement a transformational approach to BME Equality. This is an approach which changes mindsets and not just processes and systems.

In the January 2015 Best Practice I described how an inclusive, whole systems approach is key to delivering major change. In all of my many years of working at helping clients in all sorts of organisations successfully deliver complex change I have never had a failure. Yet research by McKinsey has shown that 80% of major change programmes do not achieve their objectives. In recent years, because I have devoted a lot of time to diversity and inclusion, I have only been involved in one complex change initiative with a client and this is still ongoing. Hence, it is one of my objectives to win more complex change projects this year so that I can demonstrate that the key to success is building an inclusive culture.

If you would like to discuss any of these targeted areas for interest for me in 2016 please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dr Ian Dodds, 29 Dec 2015

iandodds@iandoddsconsulting.com,

www.iandoddsconsulting.com, 

www.thepowerofinclusion.com

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