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.