6 reminders for more inclusive internal comms

You might be surprised how much exclusionary language can sneak its way into your workplace comms.

Even the formal, written stuff. You don’t have to be a social justice fanatic for these topics to matter, either. Inclusion is a business differentiator, and talented employees (especially of younger generations) won’t stay in environments that they find to be offensive or out of touch for long.

Here are a few tips to make your language more inclusive:

1. If it doesn’t affect the message, don’t use it as a descriptor.

Many people highlight the marginalized features of someone’s identity, like their race, sexuality, gender, religion or disability status, when telling stories or describing events when it is not necessary to do so.

When we unnecessarily mention these factors, but don’t do so with less marginalized identities, we implicitly signal that the marginalized identity is “abnormal.”

Be especially vigilant with this when speaking, as slipups of this nature are more likely to occur during a townhall than in a newsletter.

So, if it’s not pertinent to the story that the person is gay, Black, disabled, trans or Hindu, don’t mention it.

2. Remove ableist idioms.