Continuing our blog series on developing excellent line management skills to help your apprentices thrive, Workwhile's head of programmes and impact Kevin O’Neill considers inclusive communication and what this means in the modern day workplace.
I'd like to kick off this blog by defining what 'inclusive communication' means to me. Inclusive communication means understanding other people’s experiences, thoughts, and feelings; it is respectful, accurate, and inclusive of all, thus enabling everyone to contribute diverse perspectives and feel that they belong. Inclusive communication involves listening to others with an open mind and being able to put yourself in their shoes.
As I discussed in the first blog of the series on inclusive leadership, inclusive communication is important as it allows all members of our team - and in this context our apprentices - to feel as though they belong and are valued. This in turn creates a culture whereby everyone feels they can make a positive contribution, and therefore be motivated and engaged.
It is important to consider that we communicate in a variety of ways and situations. Communication ranges from the baby that’s crying, communicating to us they are unhappy with something and need our help, through to the CEO communicating to 1000s of employees about a major upcoming change. I'm focussing somewhere in the middle here, thinking about how we communicate with our apprentices.
We start communicating before we meet our apprentices, with the recruitment cycle (a blog for the future perhaps but in the meantime some tips on inclusive recruitment are here courtesy of the CIPD). However, by now you’ve been through that and have an apprentice to manage and communicate with. You’ll be communicating in a variety of ways. Thinking solely of your apprentice, there will be: the formal settings of meetings in person; the meetings online; emails; teams messages; conversations together on the commute maybe; conversations during the working day; WhatsApp messages. It’s a long and certainly not an exhaustive list of different ways - so how do we be inclusive in all of these methods?
The starting point is in our language, both spoken and written. The words we use are going to have an impact, and can be very excluding if we aren’t aware, so let’s ensure both are positive. Firstly consider how you are addressing your apprentice: are you clear on how to pronounce their name, are you aware of the pronouns by which they wish to be referred? Don’t make assumptions here, ensure you have asked.
You should also be culturally aware. For instance, young people can be regarded as particularly tech savvy, but this won’t be the case for those that haven’t had the benefit of a wide exposure to technologies. A comment of ‘you’re young and will know about this stuff, can you fix up the IT for us for this virtual meeting we’re having later’ can be particularly excluding and pile pressure on a young apprentice who hasn’t been trained in setting up the IT.
A really simple step to follow to begin with is to consider how you start a meeting, or group discussion. How many times have you heard ‘Right guys, let’s get this started’? Immediately in this comment non male members of the group have been excluded. It may not and probably won’t have been intentional, but that’s the effect it can have, whereas ‘right everyone, let’s get this started’ is more inclusive and everyone feels included and therefore more likely to make a positive contribution to the meeting or discussion that is about to take place.
That example is a more formal situation, but you are communicating with your apprentice in all of your interactions, so we should again ensure these are inclusive. This can be through acknowledging all in the room as you enter, not just those in ‘your group.’
Consider the use of nicknames - is it appropriate to give one to somebody? Certainly not without permission, and if you become aware of one. ask if they are comfortable with you using it before you do. In essence, continue to educate yourself, stay abreast of evolving inclusive language practices.
Throughout these blogs I have encouraged you to be cultivating a culture of openness, enabling an environment of trust where your apprentice can feedback to you. This again is important here, and you should actively seek feedback on the inclusivity of your communications.
My final tip if in any doubt and in particularly for your written communications is to embrace the use of AI. Most tools will check for inclusivity and currently they are a free so do the make the most of them to help you to continually improve the inclusivity of your communications.
If you'd like to dive deeper into this and many other ways to develop leadership skills that enable apprentices to thrive, find out more about our DevelopMentor training. Fully funded places are available to SMEs based in London with start dates throughout the year, including a cohort for Early Years professionals in August, and an open cohort in September. Contact us to find out more and book places.