This article was written by Carol Franceschini, Senior Behaviourial Scientist, FSCB and Alex Maloftis, Senior Data Scientist, FSCB
Previously available only to member firms, the full member briefing – Meetings can promote inclusion at work – is now available to all to download.
FEELING EXCLUDED AT WORK IS NOT JUST A FEELING
When we hear that an employee feels excluded at work, the reference to feelings may give the impression that they are airing an opinion or a subjective emotion.
However, feelings do not happen in a vacuum. They are the result of very material practices in the workplace: things that keep employees silent when they have something to say, keep them out of the loop on key decisions or mean they miss out on development/ progression opportunities. Sometimes, employees’ feelings of exclusion can relate to situations that would not necessarily come to mind when they are asked to think about whether or not they feel included (see why measuring exclusion matters).
In 2021, the FSCB Survey showed that 5% of the 35,000+ employees in UK financial services felt excluded by their colleagues at work. These employees were then asked to elaborate on what contributed to these perceptions of exclusion and to share an example. About 2,000 free-text responses shed light on various organisational practices and interactions among colleagues that have excluded employees from realising their full professional potential.
‘Meeting’ was one of the most used words. 185 employees detailed how team meetings and the social dynamics surrounding them can result in exclusion at work.
WHO’S INVITED
The most prevalent issue related to how meetings are planned and the invitation list. About one third of the responses mentioned being kept out of the loop in decisions that impacted their role or team. In most cases, it was the result of not being invited to relevant meetings or copied in email trails. Understandably, employees resented being expected to deliver on tasks that were decided without their knowledge. When that happened, their views were not factored in, and they had to chase key information to be able to do the work.
Other issues involved team dynamics and colleague interactions that happen inside and outside of team meetings.
PRE-POST SOCIALISATION. Team members who knew each other longer or had similar interests would sometimes get advanced buy-in from colleagues and expand the discussion with the rest of the team only afterwards.
Figure 1: Overview of findings from free-text analysis
WHO SPEAKS/ IS LISTENED TO. Employees can feel ‘invisible’ in the room if they see that some voices carry more weight than others. For example, when their concerns are dismissed whilst ideas and challenges from others are taken into consideration. Another problem arises when managers exercise non-transparent, judgement of who is assigned to visible projects or has access to development opportunities.
TONE AND RESPECT. In some cases, raising ideas or challenges was directly punished, ridiculed, or alienated by team leaders and teammates. Respondents told of being talked over, bullied, or discriminated against for having a different point of view. Raising grievances through formal channels sometimes made matters worse.
It is sometimes helpful to state the obvious: Bullying, rudeness, name-calling, especially after an employee has raised a concern are unacceptable behaviours. Organisations must ensure that there are safe channels in place to protect employees who are disrespected in the workplace, to trigger remediating actions and prevent recurrences.
PROXIMITY BIAS. 11% of the responses said that working remotely resulted in being excluded from meetings, across-desk conversations and more social events. This bias can also worsen the problem of pre-post socialisation. Additional difficulties came from having connectivity issues. Colleagues with disabilities can be particularly impacted when reasonable adjustments are not actioned, for example, by giving enough time for colleagues who need to speak slower.