Unleashing Excellence through Inclusion: Navigating the Engagement-Performance Paradox

People who feel that they do not belong (or their voice is not heard at work) commonly become disengaged, unproductive, and pessimistic. Inclusive work environments aspire to close these gaps to increase employee satisfaction while reducing absenteeism and turnover. But there is always a job to be done, and under time and resource constraints, democratic approaches can result in reduced quality and unacceptable delays. Teams need actionable guidance to incorporate inclusive practices that will directly impact effectiveness. This paper contributes to the literature on quality and performance management by developing a conceptual model of inclusion that directly (and positively) impacts performance, and identifies eight factors that workgroups must address to create and maintain inclusive, high performing environments.