The pace of change at work continues to speed up. Strategies are shifting, teams are restructuring, technologies are evolving, and policies are changing. Just when you think you’ve adjusted to the new shift, another curveball comes flying in. During times of change, it’s important to remember to ask ourselves: how are our teams, our colleagues, and our customers, experiencing this moment, beyond just our own experience?
Inclusion Is Key to Successful Change
We often hear that employees need to be “resilient” during times of change, but resilience doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s built on trust, and trust comes from carefully crafted inclusion.
When employees feel included, they’re more likely to:
- Be receptive to changes
- Speak up about concerns
- Try something new
- Offer ideas for how to make the transition smoother
- Stay engaged even when things feel shaky
- Become an advocate
Without inclusion, change can feel like something being done to you. When change occurs in a supportive environment, it becomes something you can move through together. Inclusion provides the emotional infrastructure that change rests on. It says: we see you, you matter, and you belong, even as things shift and work life may feel uncertain and unsteady.
What It Really Means to Feel Seen at Work
Let’s be clear: feeling “seen” isn’t the same as being given a pat on the back or called out in a company-wide email. It’s deeper, more personal, and more holistic.
To feel seen during change means:
- Your voice is part of the conversation, not just an afterthought.
- Your context is considered, including caregiving needs, identities, energy levels, and lived experiences.
- Your reaction isn’t dismissed, no matter whether it’s excitement, grief, resistance, or uncertainty.
- Your history is acknowledged, especially if you’ve experienced harm or exclusion in the past.
- Your value doesn’t suddenly feel conditional.
When people don’t feel seen, they often disengage, not because they fear change, but because they’re not sure they belong in the next phase.
Inclusion in Action: How to Help People Feel Seen During Change
Change can’t be perfectly managed, but it can be humanized. Here’s how to start:
- Name what’s real. Don’t gloss over the disruption. Acknowledge that change is emotional, uneven, and sometimes messy. Honesty builds credibility.
- Ask instead of assuming. People experience change differently. Don’t guess. Ask questions like:
- What would support look like right now?
- How is this change landing for you?
- What concerns do you have that we haven’t addressed?
- Center one-on-one connection. Town halls are fine. But trust is often built in smaller, more intimate one-on-one moments. Take time to check in individually with team members, especially with those who may feel least empowered to speak up.
- Make meaning explicit. People tolerate change more easily when they understand the why. Don’t let assumptions fill the void. Offer clear rationale and connect it to shared values.
- Slow the pace, where possible. Urgency culture creates reactivity, not inclusion. If change is happening quickly, find or build in places to pause, check in, and recalibrate as needed.
- Honor lived experience. Marginalized employees are often fluent in navigating disruptions, but that doesn’t mean the burden should always fall on them to do that heavy lifting. Recognize and respect what they carry, and lighten the load where you can.
What Happens When Inclusion Gets Left Out of Change
Let’s say a company rolls out a new return-to-office policy without consulting caregivers, disabled employees, or those who’ve been working remotely for years. Or, a team is restructured, and the only people promoted are those who match the dominant identity group present in the organization. Or, a change is messaged out in “neutral” terms, but actually requires certain employees to make far more personal or cultural sacrifices than others.
In each case, the result is the same: people feel unseen, unvalued, and unsupported. And many times, what happens in these types of situations is that the proposed change fails. That’s not because people “hate change,” but in large part it’s because they don’t feel safe in the change, and thus are not bought in at any level.
Remember: change is inevitable, but exclusion is optional.
Reflection Questions for Leaders and Teams
- Who might be feeling overlooked right now? How could we shift that?
- How are we acknowledging emotional reactions to change?
- Are we creating space for quiet voices, not just loud ones?
- What assumptions are we making about who’s “ready” or “resistant” to change?
- How can we build trust in this moment, not just the next one?
Want Support Building Inclusive Change Practices?
That’s what we do. At Inclusion Geeks, we help organizations lead with empathy, clarity, and fairness, especially when things are shifting.
If you’re navigating a big transition (or preparing for one), let’s talk. Because no matter what the future holds, your people deserve to feel seen now.