Abstract

Inclusion has been defined as “the removal of obstacles to the full participation and contribution of employees in organizations” (Roberson, 2006, p. 217). This construct has received increased attention in the organizational literature, as it has been associated to a variety of desirable outcomes at different levels in organizations (e.g. stock value, creativity, innovation, engagement, satisfaction between others) (Roberson, 2006; Shore et al., 2011). As such, the focus on the processes and antecedents of inclusion has proliferated. For instance, Bilimoria, et al. (2008) propose the role of climate, leadership and human resources practices might affect the perceptions of employees about inclusion in organizations. However, does it all relays only on leaders and human resources processes? What is the role of followers in fostering inclusion, in facilitating an inclusion climate that promotes a more diverse range of leaders to emerge? Most discussion about organizational inclusiveness emphasizes the role that leaders (inclusive leaders) play in modeling and promoting inclusive workplaces, particularly fostering inclusion of followers (Gotsis & Grimani, 2016; Hollander, 2009; Nishii and Mayer, 2009). Inclusive leadership is defined as “a respectful relational practice that enables individuals and collectives to be fully part of the whole, such that they are directed, aligned and committed toward shared outcomes, for the common good of all, while retaining a sense of authenticity and uniqueness” (Booysen, 2014, p. 322). It has been proposed as a mechanism that stimulate inclusion in the workplace, which results in several positive outcomes, such as promoting employee creativity (Carmeli, Reiter-Palmon, & Ziv, 2010) and employees’ engagement (Choi, Tran, & Park, 2015) and job satisfaction (Hollander, 2009). Researchers have conceptualized this phenomenon taking a relational perspective, and operationalized it as the extent to which followers perceive their leaders to be open, available and accessible to them (Carmeli et al., 2010; Hollander, 2009). Thus, the construct of inclusive leadership and the important role that leaders play in this process are well established in the literature. However, the role that follower has been mostly overlooked in the research looking at inclusiveness in organizations.