CIICPD 2023

Czechia: Škoda Auto University, Mladá Boleslav

Critical Incidents in Corporate Leadership: A model event toward diversity, equity and inclusion

Dagmar Sieglová, Jan Kotík, Miluše Löffelmannová, Vladimíra Soukupová, Lenka Stejskalová Department of Language Training and Intercultural Competences

Summary: Corporations as a direct result of global cooperation must seek modern forms of management and leadership to fully utilise the potential of diversity of their workers. In addition to their diversity strategies and goals, companies need to, therefore, focus on reaching equity to allow fair treatment and opportunities for each individual and implement inclusive processes to achieve optimal dynamics of their teams. The second chapter focuses on unconscious biases in critical incidents experienced by managers in a multinational company in Czechia. Its aim is to help managers to deal with diversity by analysing various situations of stereotypical reactions or behaviours from their management practice to be able to apply modern tools for leadership. Data was collected during diversity management online training sessions for managers from varied ranks of the company leadership who in a series of group activities shared their stories orally in discussion groups or in writing. The training helped them realise their own unconscious instincts and their immediate interpretations and recognise them in the behaviour of others. Nudge management was then introduced as a suitable tool to regulate undesirable behaviours in a workplace through positive feelings triggering internal motivation within teams. Data show the most frequently occurring types of unconscious biases and stereotypical behaviours in the selected company in Czechia and demonstrates their impact on team cooperation as seen by the managers. Excerpts from the participants’ oral or written narratives then show the managers process of realising, analysing and re-evaluating their experience for implementing it into their future practice. Keywords: diversity, inclusion, equity, critical incidents, unconscious bias, nudge management

For detailed analysis and a list of references, see Chapter 2, page 75–108.

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