The Relationships Between Inclusion, Authenticity, and Productivity in the Workplace

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has been a hot topic in leadership circles for the past couple of years. Although DEI has always been important, with the most recent emphasis on police brutality and racism in the United States after the death of George Floyd and countless others, it has become obvious that simply talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion is not enough. Although DEI in the workplace might seem unrelated to the larger social issues at play, every conversation, every change in behavior, and every person that is made more aware of their own biases is a step towards greater equity.

While diversity and equity are more quantifiable measures (i.e. we can measure the percentages of marginalized groups within our companies, intentionally hire diverse teams, and pay people equitable salaries), inclusion can be a little more difficult to understand. Inclusion can mean many things and is often defined differently by different people. For myself, I like to think of inclusion as being mindful of others’ individuality and making space for their authenticity. An example of this might be having a quiet room dedicated to allowing employees of various faiths to practice prayer or meditation. Or maybe your workplace allows for a more flexible schedule so that early morning lovers can come in early while parents who need to drop off their kids can roll in a few minutes late. 

Inclusivity starts by understanding authenticity and the importance it holds in the human psyche. For many centuries our culture has expected people to fall into boxes. You are either a morning person or a night owl. A man or a woman. White or black. But as we have begun to discover, it is nearly impossible to categorize people in this way. We are simply too complicated and too unique to expect that one part of someone’s traits demonstrate how that person shows up in the other parts of their life. 

Authenticity is having a place where being completely true to yourself, complex traits and all, feels safe and natural. If we are lucky enough, our families and friends give us the space to be truly authentic to ourselves. The truth is that the majority of people grow up in spaces where being authentic was not encouraged. Maybe members of your family would make fun of something you enjoy or maybe seeing advertisements containing fake models made you feel unattractive or unlovable. There are so many ways that humans are made to feel less than or unappreciated for who they naturally are. This is such a rampant problem that many people struggle to be authentic in public.

Even having one place where you can be yourself has been proven to alleviate stress from social stigma. As indicated by Mark Travers’ article All Mental Health Roads Lead To a Common Destination: Be Your Authentic Self, many people dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression are experiencing these feelings due to a lack of authenticity. Whether they are keeping a secret from a friend or avoiding coming out about their gender identity, people who are unable to be authentic will often find it difficult to focus, engage meaningfully with others, and even purposefully avoid specific conversations or situations. In the workplace, this can often translate to teammates who feel left out or discouraged by work events that are usually meant to bring the team together. Lacking authenticity means lacking cohesion.

As I have discussed many times, the most engaged and productive teams are the ones that feel connected to each other. The ability to live our authentic lives has a huge impact on our connection to those we interact with. When you are in a workplace that does not allow for authenticity, you will often see other issues like low productivity, employee dissatisfaction, and a lack of team bonding. If connection can lead to producing excellent work, and authenticity leads to connection, the ability to support your team’s authentic needs will likely result in better performance outcomes. Nathan Peart writes, “when people are happy in their environment and have a sense of achievement, this then allows them to focus more on the task at hand and apply their unique perspective.” In his article Authenticity At Work: Why It Matters For Millennials And How It Can Improve Your Bottom Line, Peart explains that authenticity “creates a solution-driven mindset, rather than another problem to deal with during the day.” 

So now knowing how authenticity impacts your team’s happiness and engagement with the task at hand, how can we create inclusive environments? The most important way to encourage authenticity at work is to create psychological safety. When leaders use empathy to understand how their staff is feeling in the workplace, they begin to cultivate a safe environment where people can express themselves truly, even if it goes against the norm. Being able to take feedback and grow your understanding of how the diversity of experience creates psychological safety, are critical components to building a culture that encourages authenticity.

 Leaders can take an active role in helping their staff feel authentically appreciated for their individual strengths. For some examples of how to do this, Heather McClean writes for the National Diversity Council in her article Three Steps to Cultivating Environments where Authenticity Can Thrive. By taking strategic steps to ensure that your staff feels authentically included at work, you can harbor more psychological safety. This will likely result in engaged employees who produce excellent work. Authenticity and inclusion matter because they make organizations more successful and resilient in the long run.

Inclusion is often the forgotten cousin in the DEI equation. Because it can be difficult for leaders to see how inclusion contributes to their team’s success, they will often focus on their diversity numbers and pay scales as a way of demonstrating their dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, if we forget to follow up on diverse hiring and equitable wage increases with authentic psychological safety, those diversity numbers will quickly fall away. All three parts of the DEI formula are critical to creating workplaces that thrive.