‘Inclusive’ is an action: Why culture and community will drive your business forward

My name is Carly Steiman and I’m an entrepreneur, licensed electrician, systems thinker, and community builder. I’ve spent nearly two decades walking through the doors of companies across industries – film, construction, trades, tech – observing what works, what doesn’t, and what quietly costs businesses more than they realize.

In an era of shiny new things, competitive contracts, and shrinking margins, the juice worth the squeeze is your people. Specifically – how included, seen, and connected they feel at work.

I learned this early. Working in film, jumping crew to crew, spending 12–16 hour days side by side with people from every background imaginable, I noticed something consistent: the people who got called back weren’t always the most technically skilled. They were the ones with attitude, kindness, and genuine curiosity to listen and learn. Culture wasn’t a perk on set – it was the product.

The trades are no different. Construction, electrical, mechanical – these are industries built on trust, communication, and showing up for each other under pressure. The companies that thrive long-term are the ones that understand inclusion isn’t a checkbox or a poster in the break room. Inclusive is a verb. It’s something you do, repeatedly, in the small moments and the big ones.

Here’s some suggestions to move the needle:

1. Hire an Employee Success Manager. This might be the single highest-leverage hire a growing company can make. Not HR. Not a project manager. An Employee Success Manager is someone whose entire mandate is people – building community, designing belonging, and making sure every person on the team feels connected to something larger than their job description. This role instills a genuine sense of belonging through intentional community-building activities, and the downstream effects are measurable: deeper trust, stronger buy-in, higher retention, and a referral pipeline that brings great people to your door before you even post the job. Culture doesn’t scale on its own. This person scales it for you. 
2. Boots-on-the-ground employees are often left out of culture. Golf tournaments, winter socials, leadership workshops – these tend to reach the same people. The crew, the apprentices, the people doing the physical work that keeps the lights on, need a seat at the table. 
3. Paid annual education changes lives. Give employees a budget and a curated list of courses, workshops, and development opportunities. Let them choose what’s relevant to them. The ROI isn’t just skill-building – it’s loyalty, engagement, and a signal that you see them as whole people with futures worth investing in.
4. A monthly catered lunch-and-learn builds belonging. Make it the last Thursday of every month. Bring in a speaker, share a company update, celebrate a win. Feed people. Create a ritual. Belonging is built in repetition, not one-off events.
5. Wellness and mental health aren’t soft – they’re structural. Create a wellness budget. Conduct mandatory on-site mental health check-ins. These aren’t luxuries anymore. They’re the infrastructure of a team that can sustain high performance without burning out.

Community doesn’t happen by accident. It’s designed. And the companies that design it intentionally – that build containers where people feel safe, valued, and genuinely connected – are the ones that attract talent, keep it, and build something worth showing up for.

These investments will get employees to stay, tell their friends and help the company thrive.