The Importance of Being Able To Reach Out Your Hand

Our June 2026 guest blog, written by Helen Bailey, of Coruscate Training.

 “Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?

Have you ever felt like you could disappear?

Like you could fall and no one could hear?”

These lyrics are taken from the song, “You Will Be Found” from the musical, ‘Dear Evan Hansen’, which I recently went to see. Watching it inspired me to write about inclusive culture – not that I need much inspiration, as colleagues will tell you, it is one of my favourite topics!

I wonder how many people find themselves working in organisations who feel forgotten and want to disappear? The latest Gallup ‘State of the Workplace Report’ suggests that there may be a few, with global employee engagement sitting at 20%, and 13% in Europe experiencing daily loneliness – potentially a contributing factor to the engagement score. Wouldn’t it be great if we could create an inclusive culture where everyone feels involved and is engaged in the workplace?

But what is an inclusive culture? The CIPD defines it as a place which, “….Allows all people to thrive at work, regardless of their background, identity or circumstance.”

The idea of people thriving rather than surviving at work is important – it enables people to do their best work. Timothy Clark in his work on The Four Stages of Psychological Safety talks about the importance of people feeling safe to be who they are i.e., live their identity, experience and circumstance. He goes further to suggest that feeling able to ask questions, give and receive feedback and air views all form part of this.

As noted in the definition background, identity and circumstance are all important – however we need to embrace the concept of intersectionality that’s articulated so brilliantly by Kimberle Crenshaw. People are more than just one part of their lives – black, or lesbian, or manager, or neurodiverse. They are a combination of these things – I myself am white, married, 55 and each of these contributes to how I experience the workplace.

The key question here is how do we create an inclusive culture? Well, a good place to start is the government’s framework, which includes a number of elements including evidence-informed practice, and regular review of interventions and processes.

The key here is to use data to know where you are starting from and identify what are the things that are useful for you. There is, or shouldn’t be a one size fits all, cookie cutter approach to this. And most of all it isn’t enough to define what this looks like at the top – you need to think about what both the culture and climate of the organisation look like.

Culture and climate are defined by Benjamin Laker as culture being set at the top of the organisation in the values and ways of working established, including treating people how you like to be treated, and respect for the Individual. Climate is essentially the lived experience of individuals i.e., how does it feel in practice? Often there is a disconnect between the two – I have worked in an organisation where ‘Respect for the Individual’ was a value, yet I was being paid less than other managers because I worked in L&D rather than in the operation.

So, how do you find out what you have got? A good start would be the Inspiring Cultures (Group) Ltd culture assessment quiz – use your data to find out your truth and use this as your starting point.

As an L&D professional it would be remiss of me not to point out that one of the interventions regularly used in inclusion, is training, often with a focus on ‘What is diversity?’ and  ‘What is inclusion?’ which is great if you want people to focus on the definitions. We need to be braver and more courageous and have discussions about what this feels and looks like in practice. One of the greatest conversations I had the joy of being involved in at work was around weddings in different cultures, with the team sharing experiences and asking curious and respectful questions to find out more. Talking about the lived experience and what it feels like means we can enable individuals to feel safe having conversations which previously have felt risky.

Similarly, let’s work with our leaders and managers to help them understand what inclusion looks and feels like in practice. Last year, I had the privilege of delivering the ILM Level 4 ‘Managing Equality and Diversity in your Organisation’ with a brilliant group from Haven, and during the programme we had some deep discussions and reflections on what this looks like in practice. My favourite part of this qualification? It enables people to reflect on what they have at the moment and make recommendations for the future which ultimately impact the organisation.

Ultimately you cannot truly have an inclusive culture unless examples of non-inclusive behaviour are challenged. This in my experience is one of the most difficult things to do. MHFA research notes that 1 in 3 employees have experienced a microaggression at work. Potentially in your organisation over a third have had this experience. How many of these do we think were challenged? Given that in the CIPD Good Work Index the top response to conflict at work by some margin was to let it go, probably not many. Creating a culture which empowers people to have these types of conversations is key. Jennifer Freyd (cited in Radical Respect) refers to this as, “Institutional courage which is a leadership commitment to seek the truth and take action on behalf of those who trust or depend on the institution – even when it’s unpleasant, difficult and costly.”

There has always been a strong moral case for inclusive organisations but let’s not forget the clear business benefits, as identified by the Diversity Council, which include better decision making, more innovation and higher employee satisfaction.

Wouldn’t it be a better place to work if, in the words of “You will be Found”

“When you don’t feel strong enough to stand,

You can reach, reach out your hand.”

Recommended Resources

Benjamin Laker: Understanding the Distinctions Between Culture and Climate

CIPD: Good Work Index 2024 Building Inclusive Workplaces

Diversity Council: How Inclusive Workplace Enhance Business Success

Gallup: State of the Workplace Report 2026

Gov.uk: Report on the Inclusion at Work Panel’s recommendations for improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) practice in the workplace

Kimberley Crenshaw Ted Talk: The Urgency of Intersectionality

Kim Scott: Radical Respect

MHFA: Toxic Workplaces

Timothy Clark: The Four Stages of Psychological Safety