As contemporary organisations become increasingly shaped by global migration, leaders are required to foster psychologically safe environments within culturally diverse workforces. Psychological safety plays a critical role in enabling learning, collaboration, and employee engagement; however, employees’ perceptions of leadership behaviours are not formed in a cultural vacuum. This Organisational Psychology Discussion session explored how migrant employees’ levels of acculturation—the extent to which they adapt to and maintain heritage and host cultural orientations—shape their interpretation of inclusive leadership behaviours toward psychological safety. Drawing on findings from a two-wave quantitative study, the presentation examined whether acculturation influences the relationship between inclusive leadership behaviours and leader-related psychological safety. Particular attention was given to how different dimensions of inclusive leadership may be differentially effective across acculturation levels. The implications for leadership practice in culturally diverse workplaces were discussed and the importance of culturally attuned leadership in fostering psychologically safe environments for migrant employees was highlighted.

A condensed version of this presentation was delivered at the 14th Aotearoa New Zealand Organisational Psychology and Organisational Behaviour Conference (ANZOPOB) in 2025, where it received the Professor Michael O’Driscoll Best Paper Award.

Phoenix (Mohammad) Soleymani Ashtiani is an organisational psychology practitioner and International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with an interdisciplinary background spanning engineering, coaching, and psychosocial facilitation. With over 16 years’ lived experience as a migrant in New Zealand and professional exposure to culturally diverse technical environments, his work focuses on psychological safety as a foundational condition for collaboration, learning, and sustainable performance in multicultural workplaces. Drawing on organisational psychology research and applied behavioural science, he supports culturally diverse professionals and organisations in navigating workplace dynamics shaped by language, cultural norms, and leadership expectations. His research examines how migrant employees’ cultural adaptation (i.e., acculturation) influences the relationship between leadership behaviours and psychological safety in diverse workforces, particularly within technical industries (e.g., engineering) where communication and collaboration may be interpreted through a stronger cultural lens.

Slides

The upcoming professional development for the year can be found here on the carousal