Drawing on Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (Brewer, 1991) as applied to workgroup inclusion (Shore, 2011), the current research examines received and exhibited workgroup inclusion behavior among employees. Content analysis of open-ended surveys from 233 employees’ evidence clear themes of involvement, value signaling, interpersonal care, and identity acceptance. One additional theme of advancing equal opportunities emerged from analysis of exhibited inclusion behaviors, which was not apparent among reports of received inclusion behaviors. Our findings advance theorizing by suggesting that inclusion behaviors may be capable of facilitating one’s sense of belonging as well as their sense of uniqueness. We therefore propose a new framework to more accurately capture how one employee inclusion behavior facilitates a state of ‘optimal distinctiveness’. Indeed, this framework accounts for both belongingness and uniqueness pathways simultaneously, rather than treating these pathways as separate processes, as has been previously theorized (e.g., Randel et al., 2018). Recommendations for theoretical implications and future research on employee workgroup inclusion behaviors are discussed.