The reason inclusion is so important is simple: When everyone matters and everyone knows he or she matters, employees are happy to come to work, and they're eager to give you their energy, creativity, and loyalty.  On the other hand, when people don't feel included, they become apathetic and perform at less than their full capacity.  To put it simply, all people want exactly what you want.  You want to be included, listened to, respected, and involved, don't you?  You want to be asked your opinion and have it taken seriously.  You want to feel valued.  And you want to be known as an individual and treated as such.  Well, so does everyone else.  That's why great leaders make sure that everyone in the workplace-no matter the rank or position-feels included and no one feels left out.

-Lee Cockerell, Creating Magic

The message from Lee Cockerell is simple: inclusion is so important and has such a powerful effect on your entire team that serious effort needs to be devoted to making each employee feel respected and valued as an individual.  The big question is the "how."  Ask yourself: how can we do this at our company?  How does everyone want to participate in the workings of the company and share opinions?  

Consider the use of the word "want" in the previous sentence.  Such a policy will only reap the biggest benefits if people are able to contribute to the team in the ways they are most comfortable.  Some employees will be more forward with their contributions, while others will need to be explicitly asked for their opinions and more assertively brought into the team.  Any policy (or policies) need to take your employee's specific preferences into account.  A management team determining an inclusion policy without consulting employees of all levels on what this policy should look like is the exact opposite of inclusion.