This is the best tactic for creating an inclusive workplace, according to survey

The average worker will spend 13 years and two months of their lifetime at work.

That’s why many people place a premium on feeling included at the place they choose to spend their working hours — to feel like they belong.

And while it’s easy for organizations to say they strive to build an inclusive work environment, it’s become evident over the past several years that lip service about valuing employees isn’t enough for a workforce that is more transient than ever.

Inclusion vs. diversity

Inclusion is often neatly packaged alongside diversity and equity in organizational commitments to building a better workplace. Following the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing civil unrest, Americans began demanding more from employers on overdue commitments and workplace transformation, such as racial and ethnic diversity in hiring and promotions.

But where promises to increase diversity are easily measured — commit to hiring X number of employees with diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds — inclusion is more difficult to quantify.

Yet inclusion is the more important ingredient in creating meaningful change within organizations.