There are organization-wide strategies to manage the policies and programs that support inclusion. Inclusion strategies for leaders are specific actions for individual leaders and teams to implement.
Overview
The statements below come from the Guarding Minds at Work employee survey. They were selected by researchers as indicators of the extent to which employees feel that they belong and are respected in your organization. To improve inclusion you can simply think about how to improve your employee responses for each of these statements. Strategies and resources are provided to help you address these issues. You can take these approaches and adapt them for your team or organization.
People treat each other with respect at work.
A starting point would be a discussion with employees on what a civil and respectful work environment means to them. Consider using the workshop materials, Putting civility and respect on the agenda, to help you facilitate this.
If your team members are unaware of the negative impact their words and behaviours have on each other, you may wish to use the Psychologically safe interactions workshop materials to respectfully bring them to a new understanding.
If your team is unable to express differences of opinion in a psychologically safe way, explore the tips and techniques in Resolving personal conflict with your team and decide the approach you’ll take.
People from all backgrounds are treated fairly in my workplace.
Identify and understand Implicit bias, microaggressions and intersectionality. Identifying it is the first step to eliminating it.
You could facilitate the Implicit bias workshop, which encourages self-reflection. It helps employees explore the attitudes and stereotypes that affect their actions, decisions and unconscious understanding towards or against a particular person or group.
It could also be that your approach to recognizing and rewarding your employees is not seen as fair. To understand your employees’ perspective on this, you can use Putting recognition and reward on the agenda to facilitate a discussion. Included in these materials is the Recognition preferences form which you can use separately or as part of the workshop.
Recognition strategies for leaders includes ideas that you can consider.
I feel I am part of a community at work.
Your actions as a leader are critical for team members to feel a part of a community at work. Psychologically safe orientation strategies help you to begin the employee experience in a way that better supports inclusion. If you’re modelling supportive interactions with every member of your team, it’ll help foster a culture of inclusion. Also consider and address any potential issues of stigma or discrimination.
Use the Putting engagement on the agenda workshop materials to help facilitate a discussion between employees on how they can improve engagement at work. There’s also an optional Creating change workshop that helps decision makers update and develop policies and processes.
Another way to improve your employees feeling they’re part of a community at work is to regularly engage them in Team building activities that can take as little as 15 minutes during a team meeting.
My suggestions are considered at work.
You’ll want to explore whether the issue is that your employees feel their suggestions are not considered by you as their leader, by other team members or by the organization. You may need to clarify rules or regulations that do not allow for change and where opportunities to suggest change could be considered.
You can use the Putting involvement and influence on the agenda workshop materials to help facilitate a discussion between employees on how they can improve involvement and influence at work.
Even when you disagree with suggestions from your employees, you can change whether or not they were considered by using the techniques described in Listening to understand, Distinguish acknowledgement from agreement, and Before you say no, ask why.
People with mental health issues are supported to do their jobs effectively.
Supporting employee success is a process that engages employee and employer to develop solutions that support productivity and well-being. Supporting employee success is for any employee, including those needing accommodation.
For additional leadership strategies related to accommodation, return to work, performance or conflict, see Employee mental health issues.
If you’re supporting an employee with an addiction or impairment issue, there are strategies and processes that could help.
People with physical health issues are supported to do their jobs effectively.
Physical health issues are not always a disability. They can include the need for privacy or breaks to administer treatments. For example, the need to pump breastmilk, change a colostomy bag, or take insulin. Many physical health issues are not readily visible such as chronic pain, side effects of medications or a heart condition.
By opening a dialogue about potential employee needs and your willingness to be flexible, you make it more likely that your employees with physical health issues feel supported to do their jobs effectively. If you’re concerned about your ability to provide the flexibility your employees ask for, you can read Before you say no, ask why to find a solution that works for all parties.
Taking an approach to Performance management that is collaborative and supportive can engage employees to come up with solutions that can help them do their jobs effectively.
Supporting employee success is a process that engages employee and employer to develop solutions that support productivity and well-being. Supporting Employee Success is for any employee, including those needing accommodation.
I am able to do my job in a way that aligns with my values.
Facilitate the Identify your values team activity to have employees articulate their core values to identify goals and understand behaviours. This activity asks the participants to choose their top 3 work-related values and consider how they impact their role at work. The intention is to be able to articulate core values to better understand behaviours.
My employer makes efforts to prevent harm to employees from discrimination.
Discrimination at work is a human rights violation. See Potential legal concerns for some suggestions about how you might address it.
Discrimination prevention and inclusivity also offers some strategies and examples of discrimination to help you better understand the issue.
What you consider discrimination and what is experienced as discrimination by your employees may be different. Identify and understand Implicit bias, microaggressions and intersectionality. Identifying it is the first step to eliminating it.
You could facilitate the Implicit bias workshop, which encourages self-reflection. It helps employees explore the attitudes and stereotypes that may lead to discriminatory behaviour.
It is safe to speak up at work.
There could be several reasons why people feel unsafe to speak at up at work. It could be how you as a leader respond to them, and you can learn to do this differently with the resources in Strengthening leadership skills. It could be the way the team interacts, and this can be addressed through Psych safe teams. If you have believe that there are trust issues, you could look at the information in Building trust for leaders. There’s the Mistake meeting team activity which is intended to help employees feeling safer when speaking up, and it requires you as a leader to share mistakes or challenges that you’re dealing with. By setting this tone, you encourage others to be open as well.
You can use the Putting psychological protection on the agenda workshop materials to help facilitate a discussion among employees about how you can better protect them from harassment, bullying or discrimination.
My employer makes efforts to prevent harm to employees from bullying. And I am being bullied at work.
If your team members are unaware of the negative impact their words and behaviours have on each other, you may wish to use the Psychologically safe interactions workshop materials to respectfully bring them to a new understanding.
Conflict response for leaders can help you facilitate a more effective way to improve difficult working relationships between two people.
Harassment and bullying protection includes strategies and processes that can help you with prevention and intervention.
I am currently being treated unfairly at work because I have a mental illness.
Unfair treatment related to a disability may be a human rights violation. See Potential legal concerns for some suggestions about how you might address it.
There is a lot of information and resources available around employee mental health issues. This can help you think about your legal duty to accommodate, accommodation strategies that support employee success and how to manage co-worker reactions.
I am currently being harassed (verbally, physically, or sexually) at work.
Harassment is a Potential legal concern requiring specific procedures for prevention and investigation. It could also be a workplace culture issue which can be changed by facilitating a process such as Psychologically safe interactions workshop or On the agenda’s organizational culture workshop.
You can use the Putting psychological protection on the agenda workshop materials to help facilitate a discussion among employees about how you can better protect them from harassment, bullying or discrimination.
I am currently experiencing discrimination at work.
Discrimination at work is a human rights violation. See Potential legal concerns for some suggestions about how you might address it.
Discrimination prevention and inclusivity also offers some strategies and examples of discrimination to help you better understand the issue.
What you consider discrimination and what is experienced as discrimination by your employees may be different. Identify and understand Implicit bias, microaggressions and intersectionality. Identifying it is the first step to eliminating it.
You could facilitate the Implicit bias workshop, which encourages self-reflection. It helps employees explore the attitudes and stereotypes that may lead to discriminatory behaviour.
I feel lonely when working.
One of the risks of isolated or remote work is employees feeling alone while working. Hybrid teams has several suggestions for addressing this. Mentoring is one of those suggestions, and a free toolkit is available if this is a solution you want to explore more.
If none of your team works remotely and feeling lonely at work is still a concern, you may want to provide more opportunities for social interaction at work. Team building activities or the On the agenda workshop series help you facilitate discussions among your team members about creating the kind of workplace they want to be in.
I am recognized for good performance.
Negative feedback can overshadow any positive recognition of performance, making the employee feel that their effort was not valued. Psychologically safe communication and collaboration has information to help you improve your ability to give feedback effectively. Performance management offers an approach that is both collaborative and supportive.
To understand how your employees wish to be recognized for good performance and effort, you can use Putting recognition and reward on the agenda to facilitate a discussion. Included in these materials is the Recognition preferences form which you can use separately or as part of the workshop.
Recognition strategies for leaders includes ideas you can consider.