How should HR teams respond to concerns about DEI? Businesses are feeling the need to limit their exposure to DEI policies, potentially affecting employees’ opportunities. HR managers, caught in the middle, are mindful of recruitment and retention. They can perhaps find a way forward that is acceptable to all by reframing inclusivity – focusing not on DEI but on wider challenges in wellbeing.
Lately, DEI has been the subject of some pretty wild claims. References to the ‘death of DEI’ come hard on the heels of political pressures and threats of litigation, though in truth DEI was running low on support even before the present administration.
Competing opinions have created a divide between diversity and equity on one hand, and meritocracy on the other. There is lingering support for diversity. Equity, however, is seen as levelling the playing field for individuals and is regarded by some as undermining meritorious peaks and achievement, though meritocracy is not without its own challenges either.
All of which leaves us with inclusivity, which can be reframed in a way that is potentially helpful to everyone on all sides of the debate. This approach steps beyond DEI and recognizes inclusivity’s value not just to individuals but to teams too. It is a key component of belonging, the glue that binds cohesion and teamwork. Inclusivity, therefore, plays a central role in workplace wellbeing.
Reframing inclusivity
Wellbeing at work drives engagement and productivity. Engagement, however, is in crisis. Research by Gallup (April, 2025) shows that global employee engagement fell to 21% in 2024. This is only the second time engagement has fallen in the past 12 years – a worrying sign for organizations already struggling with productivity.
Presenteeism and quiet-quitting – two sides of the same coin – lead individuals to turn up for work without actually doing much when they get there. Others, particularly younger generations, struggle with attention spans and skills in critical thinking.
At the request of corporate clients, we looked into engagement challenges and effective solutions. In particular, we found four causes that often go unrecognized:
- Doing more with less: The financial crisis of 2007/8 slashed budgets, trimmed workforces, and required people to do more (work and hours) for less (pay and recognition). Echoes of this linger on.
- Lack of workplace humanity: Uncompromising interpretations of efficiency, that encourage hard-nosed focus at the expense of human interaction, can lead to inefficient alienation and disinterest.
- The rise of tech: people are more connected than ever, yet messaging and online platforms erode attention spans and critical thinking, and can leave individuals feeling isolated and disconnected.
- Lack of employee autonomy: Process-heavy, tech-focused workplaces monitor people through spyware or micro-manage them through apps, squeezing the sense of agency that people thrive on.
The need for effective wellbeing
How can HR managers persuade the business to invest more in protecting people’s wellbeing? The answer to this begins with encouraging leaders to recognise the scale of the problem.
The American Psychological Association found that 92% of workers said it is important to them to work for an organization that values their emotional and psychological wellbeing. Large companies spend approximately $11m per year on wellbeing initiatives. Yet something’s not working.
According to Gallup, in the first quarter of 2024 engagement among US employees dropped three percentage points to 30%. Gallup noted that “this decline represents 4.8 million fewer employees who are engaged in their work, marking the lowest reported level of engagement since 2013.”
Workplace wellbeing initiatives are perhaps failing for two reasons. Firstly, only a small percentage of the workforce actually use them. Secondly, of 90 typical programs assessed by Oxford University researcher Dr William Fleming (in 2024), all but one (volunteering) were found to be ineffective.
Wellbeing cannot be regarded as a nice-to-have for the few individuals who want it. Initiatives like fitness sessions, mindfulness, yoga, or gym discounts are all well and good in their own right. But as an effective wellbeing strategy, they’re not fit for purpose. What would be a better alternative?
To protect productivity, businesses may want better wellbeing options. Many companies, however,
may deny they are the cause of workplace stress. Consequently, individuals are left to take responsibility for managing the impact of stressful workplace practices. But perhaps, rather than leaving it to individuals, it’s better to embed wellbeing in company culture – which benefits everyone. What would this type of culture look like?
Introducing social wellbeing
In looking to understand how company culture might benefit individuals and teams, we considered research by academics, writers, and businesses published over the last 30 years. We wanted to know how to protect wellbeing effectively, increase engagement, and support productivity.
From Google’s Project Aristotle to Paul Zak’s work on trust, we found that many of these papers shared remarkable overlap. They all advocated one or more of a small set of values, specifically trust, respect, psychological safety, and belonging. These values advocate an approach to wellbeing that brings people together – a concept we call social wellbeing.
Social wellbeing fosters a sincere sense of belonging, cohesion, and teamwork. It tackles poor working practices and builds better engagement. It relies on the support of everyone, from the board to the interns, and in turn it benefits all involved – all of which makes it inclusive.
For us, inclusivity allows everyone in the room to give their opinion free from fear of humiliation. It ditches annual appraisals that look back to past mistakes and commits instead to ongoing feedback about future objectives. And by giving leaders the confidence to encourage psychological safety and emotional intelligence, inclusivity allows groups to benefit from everyone’s input which in turn leads to higher collective intelligence.
Courses that train people in how to become an inclusive leader should be marketed in a way that explains their value while keeping them out of the political fray. Without inclusivity, businesses stand to lose the confident input of individuals they employ. With it, stronger collaboration and cohesion help to boost competitive edge, which – whatever your politics – is always a sound investment.
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