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Introduction
Public organizations have a long history of implementing diversity policies. At first, these diversity programmes focused on affirmative action and equal employment opportunities (AA/EEO) to enhance minority groups' representation in the public workforce. By conducting diversity policies, with the focus on representativity and fairness, public organizations emphasized their exemplary role and improved their legitimacy (Groeneveld and Van de Walle, 2010; Selden and Selden, 2001). More recently, however, traditional AA/EEO policies which focus on recruitment and selection processes are increasingly replaced by policies with a focus on the business case of diversity, also in public organizations (Groeneveld and Van de Walle, 2010; Kirton and Greene, 2010; Wise and Tschirhart, 2000). Diversity management is used to attract, retain and effectively manage a diverse workforce in order to contribute to the organization's performance and, as such, can be considered an aspect of strategic human resource management (HRM) (Ashikali and Groeneveld, 2015; Benschop, 2001; Groeneveld and Van de Walle, 2010). In this view, diversity management is about changing organizational practices and climates for that is the only way to realize the potential of a diverse workforce (Ely and Thomas, 2001; Roosevelt Thomas, 1990).
Diversity management in public organizations is increasingly aimed at creating an inclusive organizational climate to elicit the possible positive effects of diversity and to alleviate the negative effects of diversity (Pless and Maak, 2004; Mor-Barak and Cherin, 1998; Nishii, 2013). Within an inclusive organizational climate differences as well as similarities are recognized, valued and engaged. It enables employees to maintain their "otherness", while they simultaneously identify with their organization or work group. In such an environment an individual's uniqueness is valued, while at the same time he or she is treated as an insider (Pless and Maak, 2004; Shore et al. , 2011; Nishii, 2013). Through creating an inclusive work climate diversity management would benefit all and would therefore boost positive attitudes and behaviour of all employees.
Previous research on HRM outcomes has been based on social exchange theory which argues that the organization's and management's investments in HR practices and the organizational environment will elicit positive work attitudes and behaviour (Gould-Williams, 2007; Gould-Williams and Davies, 2005; McClean and Collins, 2011; Nishii and Mayer, 2009; Van de Voorde et al. , 2012). The argument...