Inclusion is foundational to a healthy workplace. It’s table stakes for employee retention but also in ensuring productive and impactful work outputs. The meaning of inclusion has stayed constant – creating an environment where all feel welcomed, accepted, and respected as individuals – but the ways in which to achieve and practice inclusion have evolved tremendously. 

These days it's common for inclusion to be used interchangeably, or even solely associated, with diversity efforts. While inclusion is foundational to building a diverse workplace, there are other elements of a modern inclusion strategy that need to be incorporated to enhance employees’ sense of “belonging.”  

One area that has been a taboo topic until more recently, but important to employees feeling respected, is workplace safety – both at a physical and psychological level. A recent Traliant survey found that 1 in 4 employees have witnessed workplace violence in the last five years and only 44% feel they are part of a speak-up culture. The report also found a direct correlation between workplace violence – including harassment – and employees’ mental health. State legislatures are also seeing workplace violence as a growing concern given California just implemented the nation’s first Workplace Violence Prevention law, which went into effect July 1, 2024. 

This shows that employees need more out of businesses’ cultural and inclusion efforts, including one that prioritizes diversity and other important factors such as safety. Here are some ways that leaders can put that into practice, ensuring they’re creating an inclusive and safe workplace. 

Re-defining inclusion

The foundation of an inclusive workplace is recognizing and embracing its evolution. That means re-defining inclusion organization-wide to instill a more modern and all-encompassing mindset.

Workplace violence and harassment is an ongoing concern with nearly two million U.S. workers experiencing these incidents every year, according to OSHA. Traliant found in its own research that 56% of employees fear retaliation if they were to report it, and only one-third would report violence or harassment issues if they could do so anonymously. Not only do these statistics indicate that workplace violence is on the rise, but also that organizations aren’t including, or even considering, employees’ concerns in safety discussions and strategies. If any form of retaliation exists in the workplace, employees’ voices will never feel welcomed or even encouraged. This is, in fact, the opposite of inclusion.

A modern inclusion strategy unblurs the line between employees’ sense of safety and inclusivity but also ensures that employees are educated on what inclusion means and properly trained. 

The best ways to build and execute on this strategy is:

• Assess existing inclusion programs to include modern factors, such as workplace violence and harassment. Ensuring employees know what to report is a critical first step to encouraging them to report.
• Routinely train employees on how to report. This includes establishing anonymous reporting mechanisms – such as hotlines and websites – where employees can confidentially voice their apprehensions or report wrongdoing without fear of reprisal. 
• Incorporate open discussions about ethical dilemmas into reoccurring company meetings and manager one-on-ones so that this mindset is instilled from the top down. 

Implement inclusive training, especially for management 

Tolerating or ignoring harassment will typically breed more throughout an organization as there are no consequences for negative behavior. This goes for all types of misconduct as leaders that do not act on unethical or even dangerous incidents, inherently create a culture of impunity that is toxic to both employees but also the business at large. 

Establishing safe reporting channels is important to promoting a speak-up culture, but it’s equally important to thoroughly train employees on those resources so that everyone knows what, how, and where to report. Most importantly, establishing and training on these types of reporting resources shows that it’s acceptable to come forward with concerns, and that all voices are included and taken seriously, no matter the circumstance. 

Managers especially must embrace inclusive management training so that they can set an example for others but also have the resources and knowledge to properly guide employees when in need. These leaders also need to ensure that they’re consistently complying with policies and protocols themselves to protect the trust needed to keep these processes in place. For instance, if a manager experiences, or even hears of a misconduct incident, they should be one of the first to address, speak up, or begin the remediation process. “Practice what you preach” is an important mantra to inclusive management and allows employees to see and understand what is expected of them. 

Broadening employees’ sense of belonging is the catalyst for embracing inclusion’s evolution, and that means creating an environment that fosters all levels of safety. When a modern inclusion strategy is implemented, organizations can support the reduction of unethical or violent incidents in the workplace while also seeing a cascading effect where employees shower higher levels of respect, collaboration, and productivity. The bottom line is that the meaning of inclusion will never change, but mindsets around its context and the way it is practiced certainly can.