This week I delivered my inclusive language talk to a global, cross-cultural organisation. It is an organisation that is demonstrating the need for inclusion and having a workplace where everyone feels like they belong.
Sadly though, this week I have also spoken to individuals for whom their organisation talks the talk about inclusion but does not walk the walk. As well as individuals who have been the recipients of inappropriate language and behaviour that is not inclusive.
Inclusive language can be described as language that avoids using certain expressions or words that might be considered to exclude particular groups of people and does not refer to individuals or groups of people in an inappropriate or offensive way.
The words that we use have the power to oppress or liberate and it is important that in the workplace language is used that does not exclude. Inclusive language helps people to feel like they belong, and when they feel like they belong, they feel valued and included. Inclusive language also helps to foster psychological safety, enhances performance and creativity, and morally, it is the right thing to do.
Language that is not inclusive excludes individuals or groups of people, it marginalises certain identities, reinforces stereotypes, perpetuates bias, and can be offensive and discriminative.
There are many reasons why people fail to use inclusive language in the workplace including being ignorant, having a lack of awareness of the cultural norms and sensitivities of different cultures, unconscious bias, stereotypes, and prejudices.
Ethnocentrism is another reason. Ethnocentrism is where a person believes that their cultural or ethnic group is better than others, and they lack an appreciation for other cultures. It can limit their perspective and lead to bias.
Language is constantly evolving and many terms and words that were acceptable when I was growing up are now deemed inappropriate. Just as I am sure that many terms or words used today will no longer be considered appropriate in the next few years.
We all need to take personal responsibility to be mindful of not using language that is not inclusive. Oftentimes, the use of such language is done unintentionally and there is a lack of awareness that what has been communicated is inappropriate.
That is why bringing it to the attention of the person is important. Two of the individuals I spoke to this week had involved situations where the use of such banter, words, and images had at one point in time been common and deemed acceptable by society.
However, to certain groups within society, they were offensive. As awareness increased of the offense they caused and the historical context, they became unacceptable. Unfortunately, some people did not get the memo.
Globalisation and advances in technology have increased cross cultural workforces. In such environments, a lack of cross-cultural intelligence can perpetuate the use of non-inclusive language. However, organisations can circumvent this by issuing inclusive communication guidelines that take into consideration local nuances or utilising the guidelines issued by the government for the regions where they are situated.
Oftentimes when people think about inclusive language, they only think about language that refers to those who come within the remit of protected characteristics. But the language we use has the potential to not be inclusive for many other groups.
When it comes to introversion, much of the non-inclusive language that is used invariably arises from misconceptions about introversion. For example, job adverts which state that they are looking for someone who is highly energetic. Another term that is often used in the recruitment process that I have seen someone take a complaint out against the hiring manager for, is ‘hit the ground running’.
I was recently asked whether we have become too woke and whether people are less resilient and take offense by the slightest thing. My thoughts are that if someone is offended by language that is not inclusive, it should not be used.
We may not always get it right, but we should all be intentional about using inclusive language. And when we don’t, acknowledge it, apologise, educate ourselves, and seek to understand what we can do differently going forward.
What can you do to be intentional?
If you would like me to speak in your organisation about inclusive language, send me a message.
First published on LinkedIn.
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