Inclusion safety aims to satisfy the basic human need to connect and belong. Whether at work, school, home, or in other social settings, everyone wants to be accepted. In fact, the need to be accepted precedes the need to be heard.
What is inclusive safety
Inclusion is a state of being valued, respected and supported. It’s about focusing on the needs of every individual and ensuring the right conditions are in place for each person to achieve their potential.
Inclusion should be reflected in an organization’s culture, practices and relationships that are in place to support a diverse workforce. This will eventually create a working culture and environment that recognizes, appreciates, and effectively utilizes the talents, skills, and perspectives of every employee.
Of course, a vital part of inclusion is diversity. In broad terms, diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. It means respect for and appreciation of differences.
However, it is more than this. Everyone brings diverse perspectives, work experiences, life styles and cultures, as diversity includes a range of similarities and differences each individual brings to the workplace, such as:
- National origin
- Language
- Race
- Color
- Gender
- Age
- Religion
In order to ensure workforce diversity, someone must look for a collection of individual attributes that coexist on a working environment, that together help pursue organizational objectives efficiently and effectively.
Are you safely included?
In order to understand if you have inclusion safety, a good hint would be “being invited”. More specifically, when others invite us into their society, we develop a sense of shared identity and a conviction that we matter.
As a result, ensuring inclusion safety allows us to gain membership within a social unit and interact with its members without fear of rejection, embarrassment, or punishment, boosting confidence, resilience, and independence.
On the other hand, when we are deprived of that basic acceptance and validation as a human being, then this activates the pain centers of the brain. As a matter of fact, granting inclusion safety to another person is a moral imperative, and only the threat of harm can excuse us from this responsibility.
Do You Practice Inclusion?
Ask yourself these questions and evaluate how you are doing in putting Inclusion Safety into practice:
- Do you treat people that you consider of lower status differently than those of higher status? If so, why?
- How do you acknowledge and show sensitivity and appreciation for the cultural differences that exist on your team?
- Do you feel superior to other people? If so, why?
- Is the moral principle of inclusion a convenient or inconvenient truth for you?
- What conscious bias do you have?
- Where do you exercise soft forms of exclusion to maintain barriers?
- What individual or group are you having a hard time including even if they are doing you no real harm? Why?
Inclusion safety at work
Once we have understood what inclusion safety is, then the next step would be putting concrete behaviors into practice. These behaviors are examples of how to increase inclusive safety, such as:
#1 Teach inclusion as human right: Teach your team members to approach each other with the understanding that we all have a human need to be included and we’re entitled to it. It’s a human right.
#2 Introduce yourself at the first opportunity: Be proactive to introduce yourself to those who are new or you don’t know. Most people are shy and reluctant to take the first step. If you do it, they feel a sense of relief.
#3 Learn peoples’ names and how to pronounce them: When a new person joins the team, learn their name immediately. If you don’t know how to pronounce it, ask.
#4 Physically face people: Nothing communicates validation more powerfully than when you turn to face directly the person with whom you’re talking with upright and forward posture. Looking in the eyes is also a vital part.
#5 Listen and pause: Listen with intent to understand rather than the intent to respond. Do this by listening, pausing to reflect, and then responding thoughtfully.
#6 Ask more than you speak: Teach your team members to approach each other with the understanding that we all have a human need to be included and we’re entitled to it.
#7 Meet a person in their physical space: Don’t make them come to you. This sends a clear message that you value them, their time, and their input because you are extending yourself on their behalf.
#8 Hop on, hop off tours: When someone joins your team or organization, assign a member of the team to be that person’s personal guide. Have the personal guide conduct social tours during the first week to accelerate relationship-building.
#9 Move to mutual discovery: Ask your team members questions to discover their personal interests and find common ground. This is a natural bond-building skill that you can practice and improve.
#10 Avoid comparisons: Focus your efforts on making meaningful connections with your team members. Identify and recognize the strengths, talents, and abilities of each person and point them out.
