In many organisations, inclusion is treated as a matter of policy. Diversity strategies are adopted, statements are published, and commitments are made. Yet for many employees, the everyday experience of work tells a different story. The gap between what organisations say about inclusion and what their employees actually experience remains one of the most persistent challenges in contemporary working life — and one that is far from unique to any single country or sector.
More than a policy question
Inclusion at work is not simply about being formally part of an organisation. It is about whether people genuinely feel accepted, heard, and treated as equals. This distinction — between formal membership and a genuine sense of belonging — lies at the heart of much current thinking on organisational culture.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, this challenge takes on a particular dimension. The concept of inclusion in Bosnian society is still predominantly associated with education rather than with working life more broadly. „Inclusion is not simply about being formally part of an organisation,” says Antonio Topalović, a doctoral researcher at the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) and member of the EUPeace Alliance. „It is about whether people genuinely feel accepted, heard, and treated as equals — and that distinction matters enormously in how we design workplaces.”
What employees actually experience
Evidence from the private sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina suggests that employees most commonly experience an inclusive organisational culture through the quality of everyday interpersonal relationships — mutual respect, openness to different perspectives, and a felt sense of acceptance. In other words, people experience inclusion not primarily through policies, but through how colleagues and managers treat them on a daily basis.
At the same time, more formal dimensions of inclusion — such as participation in decision-making, transparency in reward systems, and fair access to opportunities — remain less consistently present in employees’ day-to-day experiences. There is a significant gap between the relational and the institutional dimensions of inclusion, and that gap has real consequences for how people feel at work.
The gap between policy and practice
One of the clearest patterns visible in current research is the distance between formal inclusion policies and lived reality. Many organisations have adopted diversity and inclusion frameworks — but their implementation often remains limited. Leadership behaviour, hierarchical structures, and access to information all shape how included employees feel, sometimes more powerfully than any written policy.
An emerging factor is digital competence: as workplaces evolve rapidly, those with fewer digital skills risk being left behind in ways that compound existing inequalities. Qualitative research has also surfaced subtler forms of exclusion — including the quiet normalisation of ethnic differences in everyday workplace interactions, a pattern that often goes unaddressed precisely because it is so embedded in daily life. „These are the kinds of exclusions that don’t appear in any policy document,” Topalović notes, „but they shape people’s experience of belonging more than almost anything else.”
Inclusion as an institutional responsibility
A key insight from current scholarship is that inclusion cannot be reduced to individual attitudes or interpersonal goodwill. It is also a question of institutional design — of how organisations build their support systems, communication practices, and working conditions. Accessible environments, clearly defined procedures, and systematic support mechanisms all contribute to whether people can participate fully and on equal terms.
This broader understanding of inclusion — one that extends beyond education into cities, workplaces, and public institutions — is increasingly reflected in international research and policy. „What I find most striking,” says Topalović, „is how much the organisational context shapes individual experience. Hierarchical structures, leadership behaviour, access to information — these things determine whether inclusion is real or merely formal.”
Why this matters beyond academia
Workplace inclusion is closely linked to trust, motivation, the quality of interpersonal relationships, and perceptions of fairness — factors that influence both individuals and organisations. The question of what makes working environments more equitable, inclusive, and humane is not an academic abstraction. It affects the everyday lives of people across sectors, industries, and countries.
Evidence-based recommendations — concrete measures, organisational processes, and support mechanisms that translate the principles of inclusion into everyday working life — are increasingly in demand. „My aim,” Topalović explains, „is to bridge professional experience and scientific knowledge, with the goal of contributing not only to a better understanding of workplace inclusion but to practical models that organisations can actually implement.”
EUPeace, as a university alliance committed to peace, justice, and inclusive societies, brings together researchers and practitioners working on exactly these questions across nine partner universities in seven countries. Antonio Topalović’s perspective is one contribution to a broader European conversation about what truly inclusive societies — and truly inclusive workplaces — look like in practice.
