Workplaces Have Become Less Inclusive & Ethical, Say Employees

Employees believe that their workplaces have become less inclusive and less ethical in the past year, according to a new study.

The Workplace Culture Report 2023, from e-learning and analytics tech firm Emtrain, showed that employee sentiment has gone backwards in almost every important measurable category. The report looked at how more than one million employees in the last three years felt about 16 essential workplace social Indicators, needed to generate respect, inclusion, belonging, and ethics within an organisation. In almost every case, employee sentiment about these skills dropped.

For example, the number of employees who had positive responses to questions about how their organisation handled cultivating authenticity dropped 5.14%. There were also significant drops in the number of employees who thought their company did a good job in advancing allyship (down 4.21%), demonstrating integrity (down 3.86%), and nurturing trust (down 3.48%).

WORKPLACE CULTURE DATA

Other findings from the report revealed that:

• There was a 20% drop in the number of employees who said people in their organisation act as allies when the situation calls for it.
• There was an 8% drop in the number of employees who said their senior leaders lead by example when it comes to making decisions that put the interests of the organisation first.
• There was a 12% drop in the number of people who said their coworkers saw the value of creating respectful work relationships.

“We are in the middle of turbulent societal shifts set against the backdrop of an economic downturn and budget cuts. The employer pendulum is swinging away from the employee experience and towards the corporate balance sheet. When that happens, inclusion and ethics take a hit,” shared Emtrain CEO Janine Yancey. “These findings should serve as a reminder for business leaders to balance the near-term goal of the bottom line with the long-term value of a healthy workplace culture. A short-sighted approach typically causes greater financial risks in the future in the form of employee attrition, low productivity and increased legal claims.”

INCLUSION TIPS FOR 2024

The report outlines four key areas people leaders can focus on to help prevent further declines in workplace culture heading into 2024. They include:

1. Shifting from employee experience to employee enablement.

Encouraging managers to coach employees to embrace challenges as growth opportunities and to proactively seek help when needed from workplace leaders or other colleagues.

2. Developing an allyship muscle.

Allyship is a skill, which leaders demonstrate when they use their privilege to create an opportunity for someone who likely faces bias and/or has fewer opportunities than the ally. Developing an allyship muscle does not cost any money, and it infuses diversity, ethics, inclusion, and belonging into a workplace culture.

3. Being intentionally transparent and providing context for clarity.

There are no effective shortcuts to communicating with employees and sharing business needs and expectations. Don’t just tell employees “the what”; paint them a picture of “the why”.

4. Nurturing trust

Trust is the connective tissue between co-workers, employees, managers, and the organisation. Trust is earned through people’s actions over time. Coaching and reminding people that everyone’s actions impact others, and that people in an organisation are interconnected and need each other to achieve shared goals, are critical to nurturing trust.

The report is available to download here.

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