Six tips to make team members feel included

Around the world, there has been something of a backlash against EDI in recent months. Despite this, most organisations are still determined to foster inclusion and be great places to work.  

• How should managers combat resistance to EDI?

Against this backdrop, and with the Employment Rights Bill coming into force in the UK, CMI brought together a group of prominent leaders, including members of its Everyone Economy committee, to discuss inclusive management. 

The event built on CMI’s groundbreaking 2024 report, Walking the Walk? Managers, inclusivity and organisational success. As CMI chief executive Ann Francke OBE CMgr CCMI put it: “When you have inclusion at the heart of your company strategy, that's when you really get practical and achievable results.”

Gain valuable insights from the full Inclusive Management: It’s Time to Walk the Walk discussion

How managers make a difference

Event host Sir Trevor Phillips OBE CMgr CCMI, co-founder of Webber-Phillips and chair of Green Park, highlighted the role of managers who find themselves “constantly looking for ways in which we can meet that challenge [of inclusivity] more effectively, practically and cost-effectively”. 

At the end of the rich and insightful session, Sir Trevor asked each panel member to share one practical action they've seen implemented in the workplace that “radically helped colleagues feel more included”. 

Here’s what they said…

Allow reasonable adjustments – and don’t ask for a reason

Diane Lightfoot, CEO of the Business Disability Forum, recalled a trust-based approach to workplace adjustments that she’d seen in action at GSK. If an employee there needs an adjustment, such as assistive technology, they can order it without giving a reason.  

Diane described seeing a team from GSK give a presentation on the award-winning approach. Someone asked whether they worried about the system being abused. GSK’s response: the company designs its systems for the 99.9% of people who won't abuse them. 

Public-sector bodies have applied GSK’s trust-based approach to their own assistive tech, Diane said. 

“After a year, one found that their costs hadn't gone up. People hadn't started asking for stuff they didn't need. The turnaround time was so much better and there was a cost saving in not referring people needlessly to occupational health.”

• More on workplace adjustments