From policy to relational practice: organizational climates and neuro-inclusion in the Netherlands

Purpose This study examines how organizational climates shape the relational inclusion and well-being of neurodistinct employees in Dutch workplaces. While the Netherlands has strong regulatory frameworks promoting disability participation, little is known about how formal diversity commitments translate into everyday relational experiences. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on 30 semi-structured interviews conducted in the Netherlands, including 20 neurodistinct employees and 10 HR professionals. Guided by organizational climate theory, perceived inclusion, relational well-being, and care ethics, we analyze how diversity, inclusion, and ethical climates are enacted in practice. Findings The findings reveal a consistent gap between procedural diversity policies and relational inclusion. Neurodistinct employees frequently experienced conditional belonging, subtle misunderstandings, and hesitation around disclosure, despite working in organizations that formally endorsed diversity. HR professionals emphasized neutrality, fairness, and resource constraints, often framing accommodation as individualized adjustment rather than climate-level redesign. Inclusion was strongest where managers actively reinforced ethical norms and normalized cognitive difference. Practical implications The findings suggest that strong institutional frameworks and progressive labor regulation do not automatically translate into relational inclusion. Compliance is not climate. Inclusion emerges through everyday practices that signal recognition, reciprocity, and ethical accountability. For Dutch organizations, the practical implications are clear. Moving beyond symbolic commitment requires: (1) Explicit training on cognitive diversity rather than generic diversity awareness; (2) Embedding flexibility and autonomy into standard job design rather than framing accommodation as exception; (3) Clear managerial boundary-setting against micro-aggressions and subtle exclusion; (4) Reframing neurodistinct inclusion as performance-enhancing rather than resource-draining. Originality/value The study extends organizational climate research by integrating relational well-being and applying it to neurodistinct inclusion in a progressive institutional context. It demonstrates that compliance does not automatically produce relational inclusion and highlights the importance of climate-level redesign for organizational effectiveness.