This blog is part of a series that explores the results of a recent Hatch survey with a goal of gaining deeper insight into how people view the impact of employee inclusion on a business, its customers, and its employees. The full report, The Inclusive Change Index 2023, is available here.
Organisations must be adaptable and embrace continuous change to stay competitive. One crucial factor that enables and sustains organisational change, we believe, is employee inclusion. We wanted to test this with a survey of working professionals, from C-suite to junior employees, working in small and large organisations, across multiple industries.
The resulting study, The Inclusive Change Index 2023, found, among other things, that fostering an inclusive culture provides a strong platform for continuous change and empowers businesses to thrive in an ever-changing environment.
Not just change-ready but change-hungry
Driving buy-in through engagement not only propels change forward, but can create an ever-ready, continuous change culture, where a business is equipped with the right tools to undergo any change, in any context. Not just being change-ready, but in fact “change-hungry”.
In our survey, 97% of our respondents agreed that business change is more likely to endure if employees are directly involved in the change that will affect them, and nearly half of them (44%) also claimed that there would be more buy-in to change in the future.
As some respondents noted, “being a part of something bigger” and "having your perspectives taken into account is empowering." With employees “happier and more satisfied” and feeling “connected to their organisation”, the business can flourish.
If individuals in your organisation have been part of the change design, then their thumbprint will be on the change and the chances of accomplishing the goals will be significantly increased. And success breeds success: as you continue to navigate and realise the benefits, your organisation will become hungry for more.
Change champions at every level
Inclusive cultures foster an environment where individuals at all levels of the organisation can become change champions. When employees feel included and empowered, they are more likely to embrace change and take ownership of driving initiatives forward. This distributed leadership approach ensures that change is not limited to a select few but becomes a collective effort, accelerating the pace of continuous change.
Deep engagement is at the heart of Inclusive Business Design
Deep engagement opens up minds and dialogue to get to better outcomes that people believe in. It facilitates the identification of areas for improvement and drives the continuous change necessary to stay ahead. Diversity of thought and perspective enhances problem-solving capabilities and enables organisations to adapt to changing market dynamics more effectively.
When individuals in your organisation feel a strong connection to change, and have been able to put their thumb print on it, the likelihood of successfully accomplishing goals is significantly increased.
Inclusive workplaces cultivate an environment where open dialogue is encouraged and diverse perspectives are valued. This creates a culture of transparency and trust, allowing employees at all levels to voice their opinions, share ideas, and provide feedback. The best inclusive workplaces are ones in which diverse voices contribute to the design and decision-making of organisational change, putting teams at the heart of the change and not just the recipients of it.
Our survey showed that 75% of our respondents agreed that this would lead to employees feeling more engaged, allowing their ideas and experiences to shape the change itself.
If you’re interested in accessing the 2023 Inclusive Change Index to gain more insights, you can do so here.
We would love to hear your views or compare experiences. Please feel free to get in touch for a chat over coffee.
