An Exploration of Inclusive Management Practices: Through the Lenses of Public Managers
Jessica Lee Spencer-Gallucci
ABSTRACT
This study explores how public managers think about and understand the practices of inclusive management (IM) in the workplace. Specifically, the research explores the lived experiences and perceptions of public managers and their implementation of inclusive management practices. The federal government is among the largest employers in the United States. Past and present presidential administrations recognize the importance of employee inclusion, engagement, and performance management as the foundations for building and sustaining the 21st-century workforce. This dissertation explores the intersection of inclusive management and diversity management. Although inclusive management practices have evolved into diversity management programs, government organizations continue to contend with implementing complex, inclusive practices in the workplace. Executive Order 13583 (2011) established a coordinated government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. Changes in inclusive legislation and policies in President Trump's 2019 Management Agenda and the Office of Personnel Management's Strategic Plan 2018–2022 may indicate a shift in diversity and inclusion priorities.
The Strategic Plan directs the Office of Personnel Management to provide federal supervisors enhanced public management tools that allow success in the workplace. As in previous years, the 2019 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) identified areas of concern in the workplace. Respondents expressed concerns about how their agency evaluates job performance, processes, merit promotions, and respondents' ability to influence organizational practices. Respondents also were concerned the results of the survey will not improve workplace practices.
This research explores the meaning and understanding of inclusive practices through the lenses of eight public managers. Although relying on eight interviews limits the study's generalizability, closely focusing and reflecting on a handful of distinctive voices, this study enabled a greater sensitivity to the lived experiences described by study respondents. The research examines the massive changes taking place in workplaces and societies. The narrative inquiry explored the question: How do public managers and leaders think about and understand inclusive management practices? The literature review guiding the study focuses on theories and concepts related to inclusive leadership, inclusive management practices, inclusion and diversity programs, and theory-to-practice models. Analyzing the eight participants' lived experiences provide a meaningful way of identifying patterns or different ways of doing the same things with inclusive practices, public managers' motivation, and professional training.
Overall, inclusive management studies linked historical knowledge of inclusion with current inclusive management practices to enhance public management in the 21st century. The accumulated experiences and perceptions of participants in this study contribute to the existing knowledge of inclusive management practices. The research expands the landscape of inclusive concepts, theories, and practices by focusing mainly on public managers' lived experiences and inclusive management views. This study's results indicate the participants' actions align with the literature related to inclusive leadership concepts and the value of employees' perception of belongingness and uniqueness in the workplace. / Doctor of Philosophy / An Exploration of Inclusive Management Practices: Through the Lenses of Public Managers
Jessica Lee Spencer-Gallucci
GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT
Although U.S. government organizations have advanced toward a broad view of inclusion, many public managers continue to grapple with an inclusiveness that requires listening, engaging, and supporting all employees in completing core tasks to improve public management services. Most contemporary government work focuses on improved efficiencies and outcomes. Simultaneously, the government workforce demographics have broadened, and inclusion is fundamental to an organization's core values. Inclusion refers to employees' perception that they are part of the organization and its processes. In this paradigm, the employee participates in decision-making, employee work is essential to the team, has adequate access to organizational information, and commands the resources needed to achieve the organization's mission and goals.
Massive public management policy changes are taking place in public organizations and societies more generally. Yet, many employees express concern efforts to ensure inclusive practices in public management lack genuine commitment to fostering shared-decision-making, open-communications, trust, fairness, and the ability for employees to contribute to the organization. Inclusive management has emphasized the importance of inclusiveness for the advancement of the workforce in the future. There is limited historical knowledge about how public managers share their practices and learn from experiences of inclusiveness.
The existing literature examines the need for managers to practice inclusiveness in the workplace. Additionally, researchers addressed the need for employees to have a sense of belongingness and uniqueness. Despite these queries, relatively little is empirically known about how public managers enact inclusive practices in public management. This exploration seeks to close this gap. Specifically, the inquiry sought a deeper understanding of eight participants' expertise, activity, and knowledge in relational encounters related to inclusive practices. A primary objective is to create a more powerful narrative around the many aspects of the participants' individuality.
The results of this study suggest inclusive practices such as inclusive leadership, open-communication, managing workplace challenges, and valuing employees as an asset helps shape the perception of how managers think about and understand inclusiveness. In this study, participants emphasized promoting employee engagement through trust, fairness, and equality for all workplace employees. The study provides a better understanding of inclusive practice patterns that align with existing literature related to inclusive management, diversity, inclusion, and other inclusion literature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/110369 |
| Date | 07 December 2020 |
| Creators | Spencer-Gallucci, Jessica Lee |
| Contributors | Government and International Affairs, Dull, Matthew Martin, Roberts, Patrick S., Khademian, Anne M., Hult, Karen M. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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