Whose interests matter? The role of participation in inclusive organizational behavior

In the context of working from home triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, we theorize on inclusive organizational behavior (IOB) as a participatory practice to use diverse interests as a resource for developing a long-term working mode. We adopt a mixed-methods design to examine qualitative data from four companies and quantitative data from a company survey. In the qualitative study, we identify four IOB approaches (blighting, silencing, balancing, and harmonizing) employed by various organizational actors (HR/managers, employees, and their representatives). These practices concern organizational culture, structures, and everyday interactions in dealing with diverse interests. In the quantitative study, we examine the relationship between heterogeneity of interests, participation, and organizational experiences with working from home. We integrate our findings in an IOB model and show that a higher degree of participation fosters positive experiences with working from home, as well as opportunities for learning. Addressing diverse interests through participatory practices may involve challenges and lengthy negotiations yet offers the potential to learn from diversity for future working modes. Our research contributes to the conceptualization and practical implementation of IOB by emphasizing the importance of participation in co-creating opportunities for learning from given and potentially emerging interests in a constantly changing world of work.