Supervisor Training and Developing a Culturally Proficient Team

Date of Award

8-1-2024

Degree Name

Ed.D. in Leadership for Organizations

Department

Department of Educational Administration

Advisor/Chair

James Olive

Abstract

The front-line supervisors and managers at Unnamed University (UU) are predominately White males. To build and lead diverse teams, leaders need to be able to create a welcoming team environment for all people, no matter their gender, race, culture, religion, or ability. Currently, supervisors are not provided training or education to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively hire or lead a diverse, inclusive team. The leadership development training within facilities management does not include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) terms or tools. Integrating DEI into leadership development programs will equip supervisors and managers with the terms and tools needed to create a welcoming environment and support effective recruiting, hiring, and retention of an inclusive team. In this mixed-methods action research study, the author determined that front-line supervisors and managers have an overall realistic view of diversity in the workplace and want more diverse, equitable, and inclusive language and tools integrated into the leadership development program. The action plan developed from this study creates a foundation for a new approach to facilitating leadership development programs through the effective integration of more equitable and inclusive language and tools. Using a continual improvement approach to the implementation of the action plan allows for stakeholder feedback and adjustments to be made as the plan is rolled out. Ideally normalizing the use of equitable and inclusive language and tools results in an overall culture shift for the organization.

Keywords

Cultural Proficiency Inclusion and belonging Welcoming team Supervisor training workplace diversity and inclusion leadership development DEI integration belonging

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2024, author.

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