Is my workplace inclusive?

Is your workplace inclusive? Fact or Cap!

Does everyone feel welcomed, included, seen, heard, and valued? Then it's a FACT!

If CAP, you might be in a non-inclusive work environment.

What can you do to make your workplace feel like a more inclusive environment?

Look for these signs to see if your workplace is non-inclusive:

Favoritism

• people are treated better or worse because of their background or abilities

• praise and opportunities are given only to the same types of people

• team events and work shifts are scheduled to favor certain employees

Poor Communication

• managers don't listen to employee concerns or ask for their input

• important information and resources are kept away from employees

• colleagues respond to each other in a condescending or patronizing tone

Bullying and Harassment

• verbal abuse, inappropriate comments, gossip, and/or microaggressions

• sexual and gender-based harassment

• deliberate exclusion of one or many employees due to race, gender, etc.

Lack of Leadership & Collaboration

• taking credit for others' ideas and work

• micromanaging tasks and interfering with other people's duties

• singling people out or scapegoating them for mistakes

Unconscious biases are attitudes and stereotypes accumulated throughout life that can influence our decision making, particularly when something must be decided quickly.

Unconscious biases limit the success of a workplace because they can lead to:

• poor diversity in hiring and leadership positions

• incorrect assumptions about people's abilities

• dismissing potentially good ideas in favor of accepted (but not necessarily better) solutions

These blind spots can make employees feel unheard and undervalued. They'll be less willing to share ideas or collaborate on solutions.

You can promote a more inclusive workplace by holding yourself and others accountable to diversity principles.

• Will you speak up if you or your colleagues are being mistreated?

• Will you treat everyone in your workplace with professionalism and courtesy?

• Will you consider a colleague's ideas based on its merits, rather than your assumptions about or experiences with that person?

• When you share your ideas with others, are you willing to get their input and feedback?

• Are you willing to support and promote ideas that aren't your own?

• Can you reflect on your biases and assumptions and not let them get in the way of making decisions?

Are you ready to do the work to make your workplace more inclusive?