The importance of embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and prioritizing it at the leadership level will help unleash the potential of your employees, helping to create a better and more engaged workforce. It also helps to increase the company’s earnings.
As leadership increases its focus on diversity, there are
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1. Investing in diversity and inclusion
benefits to retention, recruiting, profits, and particularly performance.
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2. Fostering emotionally agile leadership
Empathy and emotionally agile leadership – whether it’s realizing that instructions aren’t clear and clarifying them, keeping in touch with both remote and in-person workers to ensure that the workload is realistic and not overburdening, or checking in on the emotions of employees and making sure that their mental health isn’t suffering – is how great leaders can prevent burnout in their teams.
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2. Fostering emotionally agile leadership
With this increased emphasis on mental health, employees are taking note. Many are weighing up their personal health needs against their current role requirements, and choosing resignation over allowing their job to interfere with their mental health. As a result, it’s imperative that employers care about, prioritize, and address the mental health needs of their employees.
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3. Learning to lead several generations
As well as leaning on leadership, a multigenerational workforce has the opportunity to learn from one another, fostering a culture of collaboration, teaching, and understanding. Regardless of the leadership approach that is taken, as the current state of the market and the future continue to include a diverse age group, it’s essential
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3. Learning to lead several generations
to encourage teams to work together and learn from one other’s experiences, which will allow the business to thrive.
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4. Launching more female leaders
Fortune’s latest list of Fortune 500 companies showed a record number of female leaders: 41 women are leading companies, holding 8.1 percent of CEO spots. Records are being broken as well. This is the first time that two Black women are CEOs. Businesses that develop their female leadership and diversify their teams by creating a
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4. Launching more female leaders
corporate culture that makes employees feel included will achieve success.
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5. Fighting for authenticity
Gone are the days where rigid hierarchical organizational structures produce results. Authenticity in leadership is key, and leaders who create space for thoughtful, honest conversations about real issues that impact their team will thrive this year.More organizations are investing in leadership development skills to teach
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5. Fighting for authenticity
leaders to function in this way, especially since 80 percent of employees hold the belief that the workplace is improved through authenticity and in leadership.Authenticity improves employee productivity, trust between employees and leaders, relationships between coworkers, and the positivity of the work environment.
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5. Fighting for authenticity
This authenticity starts at the top, with leadership that communicates effectively and provides feedback.
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6. Focusing on accountability
Remote teams are functioning worldwide, which is great for lowering office overhead costs and harnessing a wider range of talent and productivity, but it’s challenging when it comes to transparency and accountability within a team.
A culture of accountability revolves around leadership. As such, businesses are investing in training their leaders about
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6. Focusing on accountability
creating consequential conversations, both up and down the leadership ladder. Managers who lead by example by holding themselves, and those in their team, accountable to an attainable list of standards and values will set the bar for others to follow.
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7. Staying responsive and adaptable
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we need to stay responsive and adaptable. You never know now when you suddenly won’t be able to go into the office. Or, half your team might be sick. In order to remain competitive, leaders should adopt a flexible way of thinking.
This way of thinking leverages the unique advantages of your
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7. Staying responsive and adaptable
staff. One person might know something someone else doesn’t, and by sharing their knowledge, they can help the team to grow. Trust and respect are important in order for team members to feel psychologically safe and supported. By building relationships with others and offering a safe place for opinions and risks, employees
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7. Staying responsive and adaptable
are able to communicate and build upon ideas, work through hardships, and support one another.
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8. Cultivating culture
As more and more people are working remotely, company culture has changed. By establishing core company values and goals, while involving the entire team, culture can be created. Showing appreciation, asking team members what they want and need, offering support, and asking for feedback goes a long way in growing company culture.
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8. Cultivating culture
As employees either continue to work remotely or begin returning to the office, letting the company mission and vision lead culture is the first step toward ensuring a remote or hybrid culture is able to be maintained.
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9. Keeping up with technological innovation
As tech continues to influence business, it’s becoming increasingly important that every member of the team becomes more digitally savvy, and leaders who help their employees learn new skills as new technologies emerge will reap the benefits. Investing in training for both leaders and their teams improves engagement and
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9. Keeping up with technological innovation
loyalty, and will help businesses stay relevant and up-to-date with the latest technology.
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10. Saying farewell well
Most business leaders understand that retaining talent is more cost-effective than hiring new people. The value that a productive employee brings to the business is also significant. A study found that high performers are 400% more productive than average ones.
This said, developing leadership’s approach around
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10. Saying farewell well
existing employees could generate positive returns in the long run. Leaders who keep exit interviews positive are finding that these former employees leave the company as brand ambassadors who – if they felt valued while working at an organization and leave on good terms – often make great rehires, as they already know
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10. Saying farewell well
the culture and systems, and can bring more skills and expertise to the company.