The fundamentals of culturally inclusive employee engagement

So, you probably already know that I work on culturally inclusive community engagement work. Well, I also transfer these skills into the private sector, using my years of experience working in communications for a range of not-for-profit and commercial brands.

Just as inclusive engagement can have a positive impact on communities, it can also make a difference to retention, productivity, innovation and company reputation.

Culturally inclusive employee engagement can be a strategic foundation for promoting better equity, wellbeing and belonging at work.

Here are 6 key principles to re-shape your employee engagement approach:

🔸 Listen actively: prioritise underrepresented voices and experiences. Listen closely, without judgement, and hold back your biases.

🔸 Recognise and value difference: embrace and celebrate cultural perspectives beyond the mainstream.

🔸 Make internal comms inclusive: use clear, respectful language, and avoid assumptions that everyone shares the same cultural references or norms. Oh, and 'translate' jargon into language everyone can understand.

🔸 Co-create with care: involve employees in shaping solutions and policies. This can be a fun, creative experience for all.

🔸 Challenge the status quo: a truly inclusive culture goes beyond traditional British workplace norms, e.g. favouring 'stiff upper lip' communication styles.

🔸 Gain leadership buy-in: use data, lived experience, and stories to show leaders how inclusive engagement drives performance and psychological safety. When leadership commits to inclusive practice, it opens the door to real change, and a workplace where everyone can thrive.

🔸Valuing intersectionality: it's critical to use comms to providing employees facing multiple challenges in working life due to intersectionality is, at the very least, morale boosting.

Want to nurture your employee engagement strategies? Let's talk!

Drop me a message today: hello@elmaglasgowconsulting.com