It Was Never About the Letters, Part 2

 How in the world did the word include become so divisive…so volatile?

Maybe because emphasizing the importance of including something or someone requires acknowledgment that something or someone is currently excluded.

When it comes to people and specifically,  “different” people, i.e different from either white male able-bodied and heterosexual or maybe just different from you, acknowledging that we live in a world that  presumptively excludes is hard without also, somehow questioning whatever part you might have played in that exclusion, overtly or covertly.

Or maybe we honestly don’t see a world where anyone is excluded. Like seriously… We. Just. Don’t. See. It…

So might ask how could that be? How could you live in the United States in 2024 and genuinely honestly authentically not see exclusion from Systems, exclusion from access, exclusion from rights, exclusion from belonging, exclusion from presumption of mattering, exclusion from options that give you a better life and a increased economic mobility. There are people who honestly don’t see this. I would opine that it is primarily because of the circles in which we run, the places we grew up, the conversations we heard our parents talk about when we were kids, this is particularly true of people who grew up inside of segregated systems and communities or cities. Your life has never might have never given you exposure to the lived experiences of others at least not in an ongoing way, which is breeding ground for people to genuinely and honestly assert. They don’t see how people can claim a life of exclusion. I live in a city like that, and even if you don’t, I bet several in your leadership ranks at your workplace also live in a city like that or grew up in an environment like that.

Maybe that’s why it’s hard for us to talk about just the concept of inclusion when it comes to people…different people.

I suppose if you compound this with our societal understanding of what I call the inevitability of opposites meaning, if someone is included, then that must mean someone else must be excluded.

If a team is winning, that means another team must be losing.

If a person is deemed good and worthy then someone else must be regarded as bad and unworthy.

We just don’t know how to contemplate a reality where we can include without excluding. Where one must mean the other.  

And yet in the context of work and workplace that’s exactly what we must contemplate.

We can include and include.

We can win and win.

We can be good and worthy while others are good and worthy.

Getting past the word inclusion is as big of a challenge as getting to the work that inclusion requires.

At Harper Slade, we see Inclusion as THE employee engagement strategy of our lifetime.

Inclusion is your employee engagement differentiator. Given the advancing demographics (who’s available to work) and psychographics ( what they want from to feel and experience from work, the inclusive employer is the more viable employer. 

Inclusion asks the question: How do I feel about Work AND how does work feel about me? 

Yup… you heard that right … feel. 

Your employees feelings matter because feelings ALWAYS compel action or inaction.

So that means your supervisors and managers must actively think about how does it feel to work here and be:

• Black and Male

• Hispanic and Female

• White and Disabled

• Asian and LGBTQIA+

• …and all of the contemplated combos….

There is a direct correlation to feelings and:

-Productivity 

-Employee engagement 

-Workplace safety incidents 

-Discretionary effort and innovation 

From whom is that feeling derived?

Your employee’s direct manager or supervisor, first, the  organizational culture, second. 

You know that your managers are the culture and your supervisor are the company, right?

RIGHT????

Not only do your managers and supervisors represent your company, legally, they also are the manifestation of your “brand” as an employer. How I feel about work and how work feels about me is ALWAYS first understood by my cumulative experiences with my leader. 

My leader is the culture. 

The question becomes how well do they carry that responsibility and how well have they been prepared to do so?

Myth About Inclusion: That inclusion just sort of happens and/or is the employee’s responsibility to grab. We also erroneously inclusion applies to a subset of employees 

The Fact About Inclusion: There is no such thing as strong employee engagement without a strong and concentrated strategy around inclusion; inclusion applies to ALL employees 

Inclusion is a Verb

At Harper Slade: 

• Our team of public and private sector Human Resources executives have worked all around the world helping organizations deeply understand what inclusion is and how to get there

• We know how to make these principles less daunting and more attainable for your leaders and your workforce 

• We support your leaders to help them build muscle in this work so that inclusion becomes a lens that informs their work and not a tactic that’s ancillary to it. We help them build that muscle… think of us as personal trainers!

What better way to start the New Year?

It’s possible to actively seek to become an inclusion embracing employer. Start (or reignite) your journey HERE.

-Nikki Lanier