Inclusion and commitment as key pathways between leadership and nonprofit performance

• Date: 01 September 2019
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21368
• Author: Kim C. Brimhall

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Inclusion and commitment as key pathways between

leadership and nonprofit performance

Kim C. Brimhall

Department of Social Work, College of

Community and Public Affairs,

Binghamton University—State University

of New York, Binghamton, New York

Correspondence

Kim C. Brimhall, Department of Social

Work, College of Community and Public

Affairs, Binghamton University—State

University of New York, 67 Washington

St., Binghamton, NY 13902.

Email: brimhall@binghamton.edu

Funding information

University of Southern California

Management, Organizations and Policy

Transformation Research Cluster;

University of Southern California Suzanne

Dworak-Peck School of Social Work; U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services

Agency for Healthcare Research and

Quality, Grant/Award Number:

1R36HS024650-01

Abstract

Given the projected growth of workforce diversity in the

United States and the fact that heterogeneous workforces

result in both positive (increased retention and perfor-

mance) and negative (increased conflict and turnover)

organizational outcomes, nonprofit leaders are faced with

the challenge of effectively managing their workforces.

Findings ways to ensure positive workplace outcomes,

such as employee commitment (an emotional attachment

to the organization) and performance, is especially critical

for the overall functioning of nonprofit organizations.

Using longitudinal multilevel path analyses, this study

examined whether transformational leadership influenced

work group performance through both creating a climate

for inclusion and increasing employee affective commit-

ment in a diverse nonprofit health care organization.

Results indicate that transformational leaders help increase

perceptions of inclusion, which improves employee com-

mitment to the organization, and ultimately enhances per-

ceived work group performance. This suggests inclusion

and affective commitment as key factors for how leaders

can increase nonprofit performance.

KEYWORDS

affective commitment, climate for inclusion, nonprofit organizations,

performance, transformational leadership

Received: 22 December 2018 Revised: 2 May 2019 Accepted: 3 May 2019

DOI: 10.1002/nml.21368

Nonprofit Management and Leadership. 2019;30:31–49. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nml © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 31

1|INTRODUCTION

Nonprofit leaders and managers face significant challenges in the United States regarding the rapidly

changing demographics of the workforce (Osula & Ng, 2014). Population projections indicate that

by 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older; by 2044, more than half of all Americans will be

members of a racial and ethnic minority group; and by 2060, nearly 20% of the nation's population is

projected to be foreign born (Colby & Ortman, 2014). Although workforce diversity can lead to ben-

eficial workplace outcomes, such as increased commitment and performance (Mor Barak et al.,

2016; Roberson, Holmes, & Perry, 2017), organizational diversity has also been found to lead to det-

rimental outcomes, such as increased employee conflict and turnover (Mor Barak et al., 2016; Nishii,

2013). Finding ways to ensure positive workplace outcomes is especially critical for nonprofit orga-

nizations that strive to increase employee commitment and performance (Erdurmazli, 2019; Vecina,

Chacon, Marzana, & Marta, 2013). Due to many nonprofit organizations relying on volunteerism

and having limited resources to provide competitive salaries for workers (Erdurmazli, 2019; John-

son & Ng, 2016), increasing employee commitment (i.e., identification with organizational values

and goals; Allen & Meyer, 1990) to the organization may be one of the most effective tools for

increasing retention (Erdurmazli, 2019; Vecina et al., 2013) and ultimately performance in nonprofit

organizations (Erdurmazli, 2019).

Creating a climate for inclusion, or the shared employee perceptions of the extent to which the

organization helps its members feel valued for their unique personal characteristics and appreciated

as important members of the group (Shore et al., 2011), may be an ideal avenue for channeling diver-

sity into positive workplace outcomes (Mor Barak et al., 2016), thereby increasing employee com-

mitment and overall work performance in nonprofit organizations. Although some research has

supported climate for inclusion as an effective means for managing diversity (Mor Barak et al., 2016;

Nishii, 2013; Shore et al., 2011), limited research has examined this approach in the context of non-

profit health care organizations.

The current study aimed to examine whether transformational leadership (TFL), one of the most

widely studied leadership approaches in the organizational literature (Ng, 2017; Van Knippenberg &

Sitkin, 2013), and climate for inclusion, a relatively new concept in the nonprofit organizational liter-

ature (Mor Barak et al., 2016), may be important factors for increasing employee commitment and

ultimately performance in a diverse nonprofit health care organization. Considering the organiza-

tional context is especially critical when examining how leadership may increase commitment and

performance in diverse nonprofit organizations (Fredette, Bradshaw, & Krause, 2015; Joshi & Roh,

2009). More specifically, a climate of inclusion may be a key factor in helping leaders increase

employee commitment and performance in diverse nonprofit work contexts. Thus, workforce diver-

sity is part of the unique context of the study, whereas inclusion is seen as a potential organizational

factor that may influence employee affective commitment and performance.

The study sought to make several contributions. First, examining whether TFL and climate for

inclusion increase nonprofit employee commitment and perceived performance in diverse workforces

highlights new avenues for how leaders may improve nonprofit performance. This can provide non-

profit leaders and managers with a promising approach to managing diversity and facilitating positive

organizational outcomes (i.e., increased employee commitment and performance). Second, the study

examined whether employee perceptions of work group-level TFL (direct supervisors and managers),

climate for inclusion (feeling valued in immediate work groups), and employee commitment (emo-

tional attachment to immediate work groups) have different effects on perceived work group perfor-

mance relative to employee perceptions of department-level TFL (top department leaders), climate

32 BRIMHALL