How Companies Build the Business Case for Inclusive Leadership Development
How a Fortune 500 retailer used the IDI to ground leadership development with documented outcomes
The Budget Conversation Companies Are Having Now
Leadership development budgets are always under review, and that’s become even more true as some of the language around this work has become politically sensitive. HR and talent development departments need to explain why continued investment in these programs matters, focusing on the skills people build, how they grow as leaders, and the benefits they provide for their organization.
How a Fortune 500 Retailer Used the IDI
A Fortune 500 international retail company took this approach when it incorporated the Intercultural Development Inventory into leadership development for roughly one thousand director level employees. The full details are in our case study on the retail company's leadership program.
The assessment gave each participant a personal read on how they currently approach cultural difference, delivered through a debrief with a trained Qualified Administrator, along with a development plan tailored to their results. The aggregate data across the cohort also informed the company's broader equity audit, giving leadership a documented baseline to work from rather than an assumption about where the organization stood.
What the Data Shows About Manager Relationships
The results reflect a pattern seen across research on the assessment more broadly. Higher IDI scores predict higher quality interactions with managers, as rated independently by their own staff, along with greater curiosity about difference and stronger cross-cultural working relationships. These are not soft claims. They come from research the IDI has built over more than two decades, drawing on a dataset based on more than one million assessments across more than four thousand organizations. More studies are available through the IDI's Research and Publications library.
What the IDI Is Not
What makes this framing useful for a business case is what the IDI explicitly does not claim to do. It does not sort employees into fixed categories, and it cannot be used to make hiring, promotion, or termination decisions. It is a developmental tool, built to identify where an individual or team currently stands and to give them a concrete path toward greater effectiveness.
For a leadership team trying to defend a training budget without wading into contested political territory, that distinction matters. The conversation shifts from asking whether an organization should have a stance on identity to asking whether it wants its leaders to work more effectively with people who see the world differently than they do, which is a considerably easier case to make. For a plain language look at what the assessment actually measures, see our explainer on intercultural competence.
Starting Small and Scaling Up
Companies considering this approach do not need to start with a thousand person leadership cohort. Many begin with a single team or department, use the results to establish a baseline, and expand from there once the value becomes clear to key stakeholders. The retail company's experience suggests that individual development and organizational measurement do not have to be separate initiatives. Handled well, they reinforce each other.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can companies measure the ROI of leadership development spend?
By pairing a validated pre and post assessment like the IDI with documented outcomes, such as improvements in manager and staff interaction quality, rather than relying on training completion rates alone.
Does the IDI sort employees into categories or types?
No. The IDI identifies a current developmental orientation and a path forward. It is explicitly not a personality or categorization tool.
Can IDI results be used in hiring or promotion decisions?
No. The IDI is a developmental tool and is not intended or validated for use in hiring, promotion, or termination decisions.
How many employees need to participate for results to be meaningful?
Even a single team can benefit from establishing a baseline. Many companies start with one team or department, then expand once the value becomes clear.