We have learnt a lot during the last 18 months, on how to adapt to difficult circumstances, on working in new ways, on connecting to people using technology and platforms. For some it has been a struggle, for others an eye-opening opportunity. Our workplaces have changed and so have our attitudes to where and how we may do our work. Over the next few months some of us will revert to our previous ways of working, whilst others will seek to consolidate the changes made.
Wherever and however we work, we continue to face a major obstacle both to workplace efficiency and to human happiness. Simply put, we still have relationships, workplaces, societies where many feel excluded or marginalised and where “being inclusive” is no more than a hollow promise or an over-used mantra. It is not an issue that will go away, nor one that is easily solved. It is endemic and some would say intractable, certainly the theme of exclusion and alienation runs worldwide through time and through geographies. Some things have moved forward, albeit sometimes no more than a tiny and barely imperceptible step, but being inclusive and creating inclusive workplaces still seems to be such an effort.
Why do so many feel excluded?
The rhetoric is there of course. We have the fine phrases and even to some extent an intent to be inclusive. We mean no harm and we would hate to be seen as excluding, prejudiced, judgmental, biased, or narrow-minded in our thoughts, or our actions, or our deeds. But the simple truth is that so many people in our workplaces and in our communities still feel excluded. We are bombarded with uncomfortable truths and are now almost immune in our responses.
Research findings show we have a long way to go:
- 49% of disabled people feel excluded from society [1]
- In 2019, the percentage of board members at FTSE 100 companies from an ethnic minority background fell from 9% to 7.4%[2]
- Recent figures from a survey of over 100,000 LGBT people in the UK found that ‘23% had experienced a negative or mixed reaction from others in the workplace due to being LGBT or being thought to be LGBT’ [3]
- Findings from the CIPD UK Working Lives survey highlight that 22% of employees feel that other team members would judge others for being different [4]
The difference between diversity and inclusion
We see such figures all too often but change is slow. Partly this is because we confuse inclusion with diversity policies. Inclusion is very much more about human behaviour, workplace behaviour and in particular is about “the way people actually do things round here” – our workplace culture. The key difference between diversity and inclusion is that while diversity focuses on the differences, inclusion focuses on involving all these different people. It requires a change of mindset, certainly, at the personal as well as the organisational level, but it also requires visible, tangible and measurable changes in human behaviour, our behaviour, and that is a tough challenge. Enduring behavioural change is one of those major psychological challenges where a great deal of effort often only results in a tiny lasting impact.
The contradictions of human behaviour
We may feel that technology can help. In the last year in particular we have seen how social media as well as workplace media platforms have transformed our ability to connect quickly and easily with each other. Surely this can be a way to bring different people together? At its best it can be a wonderful tool but it does not take the problem away nor does it lessen the challenge of changing our behaviours. For just as social media can bring people together we can also see how it can be destructive, vindictive, incite hatred and perpetuate bullying. We exclaim there is a need to regulate such platforms but are missing the point – what needs regulating more than anything is our human capacity to be divisive and cruel, thoughtless and indifferent.
By all means put in place safeguards, but we cannot shy away from the greater challenge facing all our workplaces and all our societies, how to change human behaviour to not only become more tolerant but to be purposefully inclusive, not just to accept others but to go out of our way to bring them in, include them and value their contribution. We are a mass of contradictions as our recent experiences have illustrated.
On one hand we saw the “all in this together” attitude during the pandemic where people looked out for each other and even deepened relationships as we saw children and pets appearing during on-line meetings and social events at the end of the week with quizzes and other inter-active ways of motivating staff and maintaining morale.
On the flip side during lockdown we saw an increase in reports of loneliness and more and more people feeling tired and alone and the more people felt exhausted, the lonelier they felt. Loneliness, whether from social isolation or exhaustion, has serious consequences on psychological and physical health with one study suggesting that loneliness increases our chance of stroke by as much as 70%.
Inclusivity and workplace wellbeing
Workplaces that are inclusive foster enhanced employee wellbeing [5]. Not only is it the “right thing to do” in a social and moral sense, it is the best thing to do for our own physical and mental wellbeing. Do Something Different research found that wellbeing and openness to change are linked with diversity and inclusion and inclusiveness behaviours; the more inclusive a person is, the better their mental wellbeing, the more open they are to change, including change in the workplace.
Going out of our way to build new relationships plays a particularly important role in wellbeing, going out of our way to speak with a colleague from another team or someone new to the organisation and learn something about them can make a big difference, to ensure they are noticed, to draw them in; inclusion needs all of us at a personal level to actively engage. Going out of our way? That is the key term here. “Inclusion” is not a spectator sport where we can watch admiringly from the sidelines whilst others get involved: it is an activity which challenges us all to change our human behaviour, to literally go out of our way to behave differently. We run the risk of appearing odd, of course, especially at first – but then, “do something different” is all about that, and it’s a small price to pay for enabling someone to feel included, valued, understood, or simply a “part of” something rather than forever on the outside looking in.
Inclusion week, #UnitedForInclusion
This will take place from 27 September – 3 October [6]. Inclusion Week is designed to celebrate everyday inclusion in all its forms. This is the 9th year Inclusive Employers has brought organisations together from across the globe to celebrate, share and inspire inclusion practices.
Can you make it something special this year by becoming actively involved? Most of all, can you take up the challenge to change your behaviour, to “do something different” during that week by taking your own steps to be more inclusive to someone you know works in your workplace who may feel for whatever reason that they are left out? A small step, perhaps, to smile, say hello, invite for a coffee? It could be the start of a behavioural change that can bring benefit to them, and to you.
References:
[1] https://eachother.org.uk/49-of-disabled-people-feel-excluded-from-society/
[2] https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/04/how-diversity-schemes-are-failing-young-people-of-colour-13960176/
[3] Government Equalities Office. (2018) LGBT survey summary report
[4] www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/work/trends/uk-working-lives
[5] Do Something Different|Research|University of Hertfordshire
[6] https://www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk/national-inclusion-week/ for tools and tips.
