The Inclusive, Empathetic, and Relational Supervisor: Managing Diverse Employees Through Interpersonal Relationships

Supervisors are the bridge between line employees and middle/upper management. Therefore, they must effectively communicate across the organization to be responsive and thoughtful leaders. With work being more global, organizations are taking advantage of remote work, and the workforce is now more diverse and decentralized, making the workplace more dynamic and complex. However, diversity can be one of the most controversial and least understood business topics because of the issues regarding quality, leadership, and ethics (Anand & Winters, 2008).

An inclusive supervisor will ensure that their direct reports are treated fairly and respectfully but never made to feel less than anyone else. They will be a critical success factor in supporting the business case for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B) as a critical strategy in a globally competitive market.

This book builds on the belief that people are the most valuable resource and that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. The authors will provide tools to self-assess intrapersonal/interpersonal communication, develop a positive work environment, and evaluate listening skills.

A list of competencies to be an effective communicator will be provided. Key concepts such as cross-cultural competence, generational cohort, critical race theory, emotional intelligence, emotional contagion, social exchange theory, and interpersonal competency will be explored.

This book provides strategies for building solid relationships with team members; uses positivity as a foundational practice to lead and encourage other employees; provides guidelines on how to hold employees accountable and set high expectations; presents strategies to engage, coach, and develop employees by creating a positive environment to influence attitudes and behaviors; and offers various approaches for managing time and increasing productivity.

Behnam Bakhshandeh, Ph.D., MPS earned a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development (WFED) with a concentration on Organization Development (OD) and Human Resources Development (HRD) from the Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in Professional Studies in Organization Development and Change (OD&C) from the Pennsylvania State University, World Campus, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix. He is also the founder and president of Primeco Education a coaching and consulting company working with individuals, teams, and organizations on their personal and professional development since 1993. He has authored and published numerous books in the personal and professional development industry. His previous book is Performance Coaching for Managers: A Step-by-Step Approach to Increase Employees Performance & Productivity (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2022), and before this title, he published Organization Development Intervention (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021). The other two titles are Anatomy of Upset; Restoring Harmony (Primeco Education, 2015), and Conspiracy for Greatness; Mastery of Love Within (Primeco Education, 2009). Besides these books, he has designed and facilitated 17 coaching modules for individuals, couples, the public, teams, and organizations, 9 audio/video workshops, 16 articles on personal and professional development topics, and 21 seminars and workshops.

William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPLP Fellow, is the President of Rothwell and Associates, Inc., a full-service consulting company that specializes in succession planning. He is also a Professor of Learning and Performance in the Workforce Education and Development program, Department of Learning and Performance Systems, at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus. In that capacity, he heads up a top-ranked graduate program in learning and performance. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited 300 books, book chapters, and articles―including 64 books. Before arriving at Penn State in 1993, he had 20 years of work experience as a Training Director in government and in business. As a consultant, he has worked with over 50 multinational corporations―including Motorola, General Motors, Ford, and many others. In 2004, he earned the Graduate Faculty Teaching Award at Pennsylvania State University, a single award given to the best graduate faculty member on the 23 campuses of the Penn State system. His train-the-trainers programs have won global awards.

Aileen Zaballero, Ph.D., CPTD, CPLP (Author), is a senior partner of Rothwell & Associates and has been a Certified Professional in Talent Development since 2009. Aileen has over 25 years of experience in the learning and development field and more than ten years researching what adults learn, how they know it, and the value placed on types of knowledge. As an instructional designer and learning consultant, she created various educational and training materials, including online videos and webinars. As a practitioner and researcher, Aileen believes it is critical to bridge academic discourse in workforce education (theory) with industry best practices (application) to address complex issues. She led a project to examine instructional design competencies; was a researcher and subject matter expert (SME) in competency modeling for the Advance Commercial Building Workforce (ACBW) project, funded by the US Department of Energy, which aimed to develop a competency model and career map, and she was part of the team that developed ATD’s Talent Development Framework.