How to tackle resistance to cultural change in the workplace
In the second article in our Equality in the Workplace series with Think Global Women keynote speaker Mark Freed from Men for Inclusion, Marianne Curphey finds out how we can accelerate change in the workplace and how culture change can benefit both men and women.
16 December 2024
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Men are often unaware of the daily challenges women face in the workplace and some do not really understand women’s lived experience at work, says Mark Freed, managing director of Men for Inclusion. Combined with a narrow focus on their own career goals, some men therefore question why women need help and why men should be part of the movement to drive change.Mark is an advocate for transforming workplaces into truly diverse environments. Men for Inclusion was launched in 2021 after frustration at the pace of change towards delivering a more inclusive and diverse financial services industry. While acknowledging some men are already very active in supporting and encouraging female colleagues, Mark says there is also a cohort of men who see equality as something that does not concern them or even something to be actively resisted.How to raise awareness of women's challenges
Mark calls these two groups of men “Passives” and “Resistors” because they are either indifferent to or actively opposed to culture change. They can be found in many organisations. One reason why successfully embedding diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) principles can be a challenge in some workplace settings is because this group of men is unconvinced of the merits of change, even after taking part in equality training programmes.“The mindset of the Passives and Resistors comes from being blind to women’s experiences and a feeling of ‘why should I care?’” he explains. “These men might feel that they are at the same level as their female colleagues and they face their own pressures as a man to get a promotion and a big job. They have the mindset of ‘why should I help you? What's in it for me?’“Some are participating because they feel they need to meet targets. We try to engage them in conversation, but by calling men privileged, biased and aggressive or setting them targets and then telling them to be allies we are not providing them with a great sales pitch or motivation.”Conversely, those men are already motivated to become more aware of DEI and want to understand and solve these issues and are often more aware of workplace inequality at a personal level. “They are actively engaged because they understand that cultural change is beneficial to them as well,” he says. “Quite often, they have been inspired by the women in their life: their mothers, their wives, girlfriends, partners, daughters or indeed sons. They want to see change, to change the world and change the culture.”Read related articles
- Join Us for Think Women 2025: Taking Action on International Women’s Day
- How to achieve true equality in the workplace
- Rethinking DEI? Women, equity and work
Engagement strategies to tackle resistance
To make more progress, Mark emphasises the need for men to be motivated by understanding the benefits of DEI for themselves and their organisations, rather than being forced into it. Men are often just as confined by social and cultural constraints as women and taking away some of these pressures can be just as liberating, he says.“When we look at the Resistors and the Passives, we have to understand that there is still a variety of views about the role of men and women. As long as those views aren't hindering colleagues in the workplace, then I should respect them, but there is a group of men who are so entrenched in old-fashioned ways of doing things that they are going to be very resistant to change.“Once you start engaging with those men and talking about inclusion, rather than just men and women, and address the culture instead, you find that men too want to work in meritocracies and don't want to work in environments with bullying and aggressive bosses. They too don't want to be interrupted in meetings or have to behave in certain ways or be denied time off to be with their family. If we start engaging with men at this level, rather than sending them off on another unconscious bias training course or giving them targets, then you start to see real change.”By focusing on diversity and talking about inclusion in the workplace, he says organisations can start to change the tone of the conversation.How to raise awareness of DEI in the workplace
Mark says there are key steps organisations can take to start the journey of inclusion and cultural change. These include:- gathering inclusion and lived experience data
- raising awareness and engaging men
- building capability through workshops
- addressing gender stereotypes early
- changing meeting dynamics so all voices are heard.
Transformational change for long-term impact
The responsibility for embedding transformational change and ensuring long-term impact lies with senior leaders who must become knowledgeable, credible and authentic role models of inclusive behaviours, Mark says.He advocates training 10% of the workforce as inclusion champions who can be supported in their role as agents of change. “These agents of change have the authority to call out poor behaviours and support good behaviours,” he says. That said, it is important to be sensitive to individual backgrounds and cultural nuances when confronting stereotypes and outdated views on gender roles. Instead, a healthy workplace is an environment where people are known and valued as individuals.“A good start is to begin by setting out agreed behaviours and language, which can help foster a culture of inclusion and mutual respect,” he says. “We can change things. We can call things out. We can move forward together in a world without gender conflict.”Mark Freed’s tips for a more inclusive workplace:
- Analyse the business case for diversity and inclusion and make sure senior leadership teams buy into the benefits
- Ensure that diversity and inclusion efforts go beyond just recruiting and retaining diverse talent and focus on creating an inclusive culture and behaviours
- Examine the reasons behind the disproportionate number of men receiving international assignments and address any unconscious biases or assumptions that may be leading to this
- Engage men in discussions about inclusion by focusing on how it benefits them, rather than just telling them they are ‘privileged’ or need to be ‘allies’
- Train 10% of the workforce as inclusion allies who can help support more inclusive behaviours across all strata of the organisation.
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