By Mary Tucker, IAEE Senior Communications and Content Manager
Expo! Expo! IAEE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2023 features a three-day educational journey covering seven diverse content tracks, including this empowering session led by Tara Taylor, MPA titled Top 10 Best Practices for Workplace Inclusion. What is the #1 factor for team success in the workplace? You’ll find out the answer to that question and much more in this engaging session!
Tara will dive into the top 10 best practices for advancing workplace equity and inclusion including how to be a better ally, inclusive language tips, leading inclusive teams, building accountability, and micro-acts of inclusion. These best practices are the foundation for helping organizations build a proactive and positive workplace culture that maximizes employee belonging.
Tara will examine specific workplace examples from various sectors of industry. All attendees will learn to use the ADR Vantage Inclusion Assessment Scale© and leave with a Top 10 Best Practices infographic to help bring the learning back to their own workplace. Leave this session with new ideas and specific how-tos that you’ll be able to implement right away!
Here, Tara shares a preview of how participants will benefit from the information presented at Top 10 Best Practices for Workplace Inclusion.
In this session, you will discuss specific examples of ways to decrease negative behaviors of bias and exclusion and increase behaviors that promote a positive and inclusive workplace. Why is this so beneficial in today’s business environment?
Tara: Right now, there is an epidemic of workplace exclusion, and no organization is immune. Employees across all industries don’t feel valued or that they truly belong within their work environment, which is ultimately leading to lower engagement and less commitment to their individual job role and to the overall success of their organization. In fact, in a recent study by McKinsey & Company, the top three factors employees cite for leaving their jobs are that they don’t feel valued by their manager, don’t feel valued by their organization, and don’t feel a sense of belonging at work. This is especially true in the wake of post-pandemic shifts to remote or hybrid workspaces where it can be more challenging to establish and sustain relationships, good communication and trust.
When organizations work to decrease workplace bias and exclusion, and to increase behaviors that promote inclusion and belonging, everyone benefits. When employees feel they belong – are accepted, included and valued for who they are and what they bring to an organization – they are more likely to contribute, to take risks, to offer opinions and to innovate without fear of negative consequences. Workplace belonging is also directly linked to increased job performance and job satisfaction, higher rates of resilience and innovation, reduced turnover, fewer sick days, and greater team effectiveness. Knowing all that, what business wouldn’t want to leverage the power of workplace inclusion?
You will also teach attendees how to use a unique Inclusion Risk Assessment tool to evaluate what will work in their organization and how to promote individual and organizational diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) growth. What makes this tool so effective?
Tara: The ADR Vantage Inclusion Assessment Scale© is a simple but incredibly powerful tool. The purpose of the scale is to help individuals become more aware of what their organization may be doing, consciously or unconsciously, to cause or perpetuate workplace exclusion and/or inequities. The scale helps individuals to recognize and assess their potential areas of vulnerability or risks, and start to determine what they need to do to more actively and intentionally promote inclusion. It’s a great tool for any organization no matter where you are in your DEI journey!
In addition, participants will learn how to use and encourage others to use simple and highly effective techniques that increase employee belonging and greater organizational effectiveness. What results have you seen among organizations that follow through in this manner?
Tara: Organizations that understand the value of promoting workplace inclusion and belonging can look forward to seeing the benefits almost immediately and even more so in the future. In the short term, companies who implement and build on the top 10 best practices for inclusion that I’ll be sharing in my session will likely notice improved communication and respect among their workforce, less conflict, greater willingness to collaborate and proactively respond to challenges, and a greater alignment between employees and their company’s values. In the long term, those positives will continue, which leads to greater job satisfaction for employees and a greater likelihood of the organization reaching its goals successfully. Greater inclusion and belonging truly is the foundation for workplaces that thrive!
What fuels your passion for this subject, and why is this information so relevant in today’s business environment?
Tara: As a long-time mediator, facilitator, and organizational consultant, I’ve seen the negative impacts of workplace exclusion, bias, disconnection, and inequity that can plague the business environment. When people don’t feel they are valued or that they don’t belong, they struggle and suffer, and so does the organization. Lack of inclusion sews the seeds of conflict, it breeds distrust and disinterest, and ultimately it can chip away at any true business success. On the other hand, when people feel that they are valued and welcomed for who they are and what they bring, they are able to thrive and so does the organization. I’m genuinely excited and inspired when I see organizations place a greater and more intentional focus on promoting workplace inclusion and belonging. It means they are investing in their people, and it really is people that drive your business outcomes.
