Introduction

How people interact with each other in the workplace is fundamental to community cohesion.

"Workers who spend eight or more hours together, five or more days a week under commonly imposed conditions will generally find both the opportunity and the need for interaction. Their shared experiences (of accomplishments and oppressions) create a sense of connection, mutual support and collectivity" Working Alone, The Erosion of Solidarity in Today's Workplace, Charley Richardson, New Labour Forum 17 (3), pp. 69-78, Fall 2008

  

The workplace may sometimes be the only place in which people from different backgrounds, ages and abilities are able to interact and begin to come to terms with difference - and a principal route by which society can become 'more at ease' with itself. However, the workplace often simply reflects wider social divisions based on long-standing rivalries of culture and class - and inequalities.

Tackling these divisions is likely to improve both organisational problems and help to alleviate some of the divisions within the wider communities in which the workforce live and socialise. Indeed, with the right support and commitment, workforces may well be able to play a much more positive role in bringing different groups together, promoting understanding and tolerance and help to avoid community conflict and disorder.

This toolkit is aimed across the public and private sectors and at leaders of organisations, HR professionals, managers, leaders and trade unionists. The toolkit aims to shift attitudes and cultures of organisations and offers practical steps to embed cohesion across the workplace, for the benefit of staff, the business and the wider community.