‘I’m The Youngest Person In My Office And I Just Don’t Fit – Do They Need To Change Or Do I?’

In a world of in­spi­ra­tional memes and #girlboss In­sta­gram posts, it’s easy to for­get that we all get stuck at work, or feel like we can’t find a way for­ward at times. Sue Uner­man is the Chief Trans­for­ma­tion Of­fi­cer at Me­di­a­Com and Kathryn Ja­cob OBE is the Chief Ex­ec­u­tive at Pearl and Dean. To­gether they wrote The Glass Wall: Suc­cess Strate­gies For Women At Work And Busi­nesses That Mean Busi­ness{ =nofollow}. Their new book Belonging, The Key to Transforming and Maintaining Diversity, Inclusion and Equality At Work is out on now. Each week an­swer your work ques­tions with prag­matic, hon­est ad­vice that’s proven to work…

Q: I’m the youngest person in our team at work by a long way and I find the office environment frustrating. The pace of change is so slow, and I never really seem to click with the rest of the team who have such different outlooks and priorities to me. I just feel like we could be doing better work if we took more risks and embraced innovation more!

Kathryn: Yes there is a difference in attitudes as we get older, as familiarity with being at work tends to train you into certain habits and attitudes. You’ve turned up with fresh eyes and a different perspective, and what seems obvious to you, may just feel like accepted behaviour to people who have been there longer.

Sue: This doesn’t mean that your outlook is wrong though, or that everyone else cannot or will not change. Our new book Belonging, the key to transforming and maintaining diversity, inclusion and equality at work, delves into the whole subject of how included everyone feels. The point we make, is that only if everyone in the workplace feels they belong there, can the real benefits of diversity be achieved. If anyone, and we mean anyone, feels like a misfit or an outlier, then the company is lesser than it could be. You can make a difference to this, by sharing your outlook in a way that means that others can buy into it.

Kathryn: The key thing is to have empathy and to look for others that you can help. For example, in your office there may be a woman who has experienced bias in pregnancy or as a new mum, who is now feeling isolated and that she doesn’t belong. She may be keeping her own head down as she feels vulnerable. Could you look around your workplace and notice colleagues who may feel distanced and disenfranchised by the way that your office is working and can you champion them?

Sue: Our unique research for our new book, carried out by Dynata, shows that younger people at work in the UK are much more likely to feel excluded or marginalised at work because of their beliefs, personal circumstances or identity. Furthermore one in three people under forty-five have personally experienced bias, harassment or inappropriate behaviour in a work situation. Now while this kind of experience is widespread the workplace cannot feel a safe environment where you can bring all of your abilities to work. This is not just your experience therefore, and while some businesses do much better than others, there is room for improvement everywhere. So how do you get the workplace to change?

Kathryn: So how do you get the workplace to change? Good question. You get the workplace to change when individuals such as yourself become champions for belonging for everyone. If you act with empathy, if you develop trusted relationships you will help people to be heard and to feel that they belong, which in turn makes the workplace better for you.

As we say in the book, it is the responsibility of everyone to create a belonging workplace. So by taking everyone with you, you will create the belonging workplace that you seek implicitly by your question.

Sue: Our answer is don’t feel as though you need to be more patient necessarily. But equally don’t feel as though it is someone else’s sole responsibility to create change. By acting with kindness and inclusiveness, you can help everyone to find their own contribution. One of the forewords for the book was written by Karen Blackett OBE and she points to the importance of having really diverse points of view in the team so that you can get to the best decisions.

Kathryn: There is widespread proof that diversity drives profit. Boston Consulting Group states that companies with more diverse management deliver 19% more revenue, and McKinsey say companies in the best quartile for diversity deliver 35% better returns. So it isn’t just the right thing to do, it is better for growth.

Sue: And in a year such as this, everyone needs to focus on growth for their company and for the people who work there.

Kathryn: We are all on a journey whatever our age and experience and in the book we talk to Dan who took active steps in his very senior role to change the way his immediate circumstances operated by asking that all of his meetings had a diverse representation of people from within the company which would properly represent their customers and the audiences that they serve. He admits that this was a big change for him, and he could have stayed comfortably with the old ways of working but he knew it was the right thing to do for him and for his colleagues.

Sue: You don’t mention what sector you work in, but it is more than likely that the business you work for has a significant customer base who are of a similar generation to you. So, it would be unhealthy for your business to ignore your experiences and contribution. Very good luck with your career and remember that by helping everyone in your workplace to be heard and to belong, you will make their experiences better, your business stronger and your own experience better too.