Recent studies of organizational satisfaction reveal that employees stay in organizations that synergize with their value system. They also emphasize the need for belongingness and psychological safety.
To foster such an environment, an organization should ensure employees feel included and heard within their teams. However, some employees often feel excluded because of the actions of their colleagues and leadership.
Workplace exclusion can happen in numerous ways, and its impact can harm the employee’s mental and physical well-being. It can also harm long-term organizational productivity and harmony.
Here’s how workplace exclusion occurs within many organizations:
- Using employee smoke breaks to discuss project-related issues, where only some employees take part.
- Having important discussions during the after-office parties, where some team members may not be available.
- Forming of informal groups within organizations, based on language, religion, identity, caste, etc.
- Repeatedly interrupting a person at meetings and discussions
- Ignoring a colleague at office mess, social gatherings, meetings, and other scenarios.
Workplace exclusion as discussed above, tends to have serious implications on the mental health of employees. While initially, it may show up as irritation or anger, repeated exposure to exclusion may even lead to fear and self-isolation. Such a situation is not only encountered by employees in the margins but by any employee who is unable to ‘fit in’. It may even cause an increase in allostatic load, leading to severe mental or physical distress which may become the basis for further discrimination and isolation. Also, people with disabilities and pre-existing mental health conditions may suffer more because of such exclusions, leading to their health deteriorating further.
Consider a scenario, where an employee is being looked down on for not being a part of smoke breaks and after-office drinking. The employee is touted as being high and mighty for refusing to drink and smoke. They are not even able to express their discomfort to the team leader, as the leader themselves is part of the out-of-office hour partying. The employee stops enjoying their work and begins to feel unsafe at the organization. Yet, they are not able to quit on account of financial need. The situation finally causes the employee to suffer a mental breakdown at the organization.
What Could the Organization Have Done to Avoid this Circumstance?
Fostering an inclusive work culture, where no employee feels excluded is the responsibility of every organization. But how can an organization ensure inclusivity for every employee? Isn’t it a herculean task? Enabling inclusivity within the organizations has to be a collaborative effort of every employee, the leadership, and the management. Training at both employee and leadership levels should ensure awareness of diversity and inclusion. Additionally, organizational policies should be in place to deter any form of workplace exclusion. The creation of employee allies and employee support groups coupled with a buddy system or mentoring system is essential for organizations to sustain an inclusive work culture on a long-term basis.
How Can a Leader Ensure Inclusion in the Workplace?
As a leader, it is necessary for every team member to feel a sense of belonging and safety within the organization. A leader should think about the well-being of their team and not only prioritize organizational productivity. The leader should identify the unique talents and skill sets of their team. They also need to ensure that every team member has a say in project discussions and execution process. Exclusionary behavior, like employee isolation and, discrimination should be avoided by the leadership. Even microaggressions such as, “You will never change”, “You are so traditional”, and “You are technologically challenged”, etc should be avoided by employees, and the leader should model inclusive behavior by not partaking in such activities.
Final Words
Employee well-being is a vital metric of a healthy organization. Leaders and management who value their employees will always thrive better in terms of loyalty as well as productivity, than their counterparts who don’t. An important trait that every employee in the organization should nurture is empathy and mutual respect. If a leader can inculcate these traits in their employees, then evils like workplace exclusion can be combated with ease.
