Inclusive behaviors.

Employees play an essential role in advancing inclusion. Let’s dive into three ways they can make their behaviors more inclusive and contribute to an inclusive culture:

  1. Mindset & role.
  2. Make communication inclusive.
  3. Make meetings inclusive.

Action 1: mindset and role

Action 1: Mindset & role.

  • An inclusive mindset.

An inclusive mindset means you want fairness for your colleagues. But you also want them to be seen, heard, valued, and celebrated for who they truly are.

Burdening minority groups or underrepresented employees with carrying the DEI change is a pitfall. Inclusion is everyone’s business: minority and majority.

The necessary change should always be a shared responsibility!

  • Daily inclusive behaviors.

Once you have mastered the inclusive mindset, consciously change your behaviors to make them more inclusive.

Find inspiration in the list below or define which behaviors you would personally like to show more to increase inclusion at work.

  1. Ask for feedback, especially from people who are different from you.
  2. Share a compelling and personal story about why being inclusive is important to you and the business.
  3. Deliberately seek out differences by inviting different people to the table and interacting with a broader network.
  4. Check your impact to see if people are copying your role modeling. For example, does a more diverse group of people share ideas with you?
  5. Check your biases, stereotypes, and prejudices regularly.
  6. Use your privilege to speak up for others who can’t.

Define more desired inclusive behaviors with your team.

Discuss which ones are most relevant and beneficial to your work and collaboration with others. Link the behaviors to common biases, stereotypes, reoccurring frustrations, miscommunications, or even conflicts about differences between colleagues.

Use the Quick Start Guide to start the conversation. You can find it here.

  • Your role in advancing DEI.

Besides changing your behaviors to be more inclusive, you can take on an active role in advancing DEI in your organization.

Each role needs representation to create a good buzz around DEI and, more importantly, make cultural change.

It is possible for employees and leaders to take on multiple roles at once or to switch between roles depending on the DEI topic or situation at hand.

  • Commit & hold each other accountable.

If you require employees to act inclusively, do not expect their behaviors to change overnight. The changes take ongoing conscious effort and will often slip people’s minds in the daily rush at work.

It is not easy to constantly check your behaviors. Regular reminders and feedback from colleagues and leaders are needed.

Action 2: make communication inclusive

Action 3: make meetings inclusive

Become a DEI expert.

This is a collection of articles that allows you to take a deep dive.