The Interplay of Inclusive Leadership, Employee Well-Being and Performance

Dear Colleagues,

In today’s rapidly evolving and diverse workplaces, leaders play a pivotal role in fostering inclusion and employee well-being. Inclusive leadership—characterized by openness, accessibility, and availability (Carmeli et al, 2010), along with behaviors that invite and appreciate others’ contributions (Nembhard & Edmondson, 2006), has emerged as a key driver of organizational inclusion (Tang et al, 2015).

Inclusive leadership demonstrates a positive influence on employees’ work attitudes and behaviors. Empirical studies have shown that inclusive leadership can raise employees’ psychological safety (Hirak et al., 2012; Nembhard & Edmondson, 2006), promote voice behavior (Bienefeld & Grote, 2014; Bowers, Roberson, & Parchaman, 2012), and enhance creativity (Carmeli et al., 2010; Echols, 2009). In addition, leader’s inclusiveness can mitigate the negative impact of diversity on turnover (Nishii & Mayer, 2009). However, critical gaps remain in our understanding of the dynamic interplay between inclusive leadership, employee well-being, and performance. For instance,

• How does inclusive leadership directly or indirectly influence well-being and performance?
• In what ways can employee well-being enable or reinforce leaders’ inclusive practices?
• Can inclusive leadership buffer the well-being of technologically disadvantaged groups in today’s digital workplace? 

This Special Issue aims to bridge these gaps by curating cutting-edge research that examines the complex relations among inclusive leadership, employee well-being, and performance, with a focus on theoretical, empirical, and practical insights.

Topics of interest

We welcome submissions that explore, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Theoretical Foundations: New models or frameworks linking inclusive leadership to employee well-being and performance.
• Mechanisms and Mediators: The possible mechanisms and mediators in translating inclusive leadership into well-being outcomes, which, in turn, may influence employees’ performance and leaders’ inclusive behaviours.
• Boundary Conditions: How boundary conditions, such as organizational culture, industry type, employment status, shape the relationship between inclusive leadership, well-being and performance. New phenomena in the digital workplace that shape the relationship between inclusive leadership, well-being, and performance.
• Inclusive Leadership Development: Interventions, training, and tools to cultivate inclusive behaviors that promote employees’ well-being and performance.
• Cross-Cultural and Global Insights: Studies that investigate the similarities and differences of inclusive leadership and its influences on employees’ well-being and performance across regions, sectors, or demographic groups.
• Measurement and Methodologies: Innovative approaches to research design, assessing inclusive leadership, well-being and performance in contemporary work settings.

References

Bienefeld, N., & Grote, G. (2014). Speaking up in ad hoc multiteam systems: Individual-level effects of psychological safety, status, and leadership within and across teams. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23, 930-945. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2013.808398

Carmeli, A., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Ziv, E. (2010). Inclusive leadership and employee involvement in creative tasks in the workplace: The mediating role of psychological safety. Creativity Research Journal, 22, 250-260. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2010.504654

Echols, S. (2009). Transformational/servant leadership: A potential synergism for an inclusive leadership style. Journal of Religious Leadership, 8, 85-116.

Hirak, R., Peng, A. C., Carmeli, A., & Schaubroeck, J. M. (2012). Linking leader inclusiveness to work unit performance: The importance of psychological safety and learning from failures. Leadership Quarterly, 23, 107-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.11.009

Nembhard, I. M., & Edmondson, A. C. (2006). Making it safe: The effects of leader inclusiveness and professional status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in health care teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 941-966. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.413

Nishii, L. H., & Mayer, D. M. (2009). Do inclusive leaders help to reduce turnover in diverse groups? The moderating role of leader–member exchange in the diversity to turnover relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1412-1426. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017190

Tang, N., Jiang, Y., Chen, C., Zhou, Z., Chen, C. C. & Yu, Z. (2015). Inclusion and inclusion management in the Chinese context: An exploratory study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26, 856-874. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.985326 

Prof. Dr. Ningyu Tang
Dr. Chiyin Chen
Dr. Yangchun Fang
Guest Editors

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• inclusive leadership
• inclusion
• employees’ well-being
• performance