The three components in Burke’s Causal Model for Organizational Performance, individual needs and values, motivations and systems, play a critical role in the DEIJ conversation because organization’s placement on the intercultural competence continuum hinge on these components (Bennett, 2014). If organizations have a monocultural mindset, ethnocentric stage, then there is a belief that all humans are humans and thus have the same innate needs, values and motivations. Whereas with an intercultural mindset, ethnorelative stage, organizations support complex perceptions, experiences and cultural differences (Bennett, 2014). For example, for motivation, if humans are humans, then motivation is a dispositional quality and/or choice, leading to the idea that unmotivated employees are just “lazy”. This bleeds into a self-fulfilling organizational stereotypical narrative and perception, when the system is failing certain individuals. So, by making the differences of individual’s needs, values and motivations explicit, organizations have laid the groundwork to spread the DEIJ lens to other components in the model, starting with systems.
Designing systems, policy and procedures, blind through the majority lens mean individuals aren’t being seen, and therefore can’t be heard. The system is an important for aspects of DEIJ because:
Diverse: How is talent identified, sourced and interviewed? Ex: certain social classes are unable to do summer internships due to financial strain.
Inclusive: How the language of policies and procedures effects individual’s ability to access system benefits? Ex: language of parental leave vs. maternity leave effects LGBTQ parents.
Equitable: What behaviors and actions is the system rewarding? Ex: rewarding assertive behavior would be unfair to those that have different cultural and dispositional norms but still add as much value to the firm.
Just: Who has input into designing the system?
Starting with understanding individual needs, values and motivations, the micro, will trigger effective macro design by helping companies hold multiple perspectives, thus acting as a positive domino effect for DEIJ initiatives.
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