Belonging creates thriving workplaces

Global consulting firm Deloitte’s body of HR work represents some of the longest-running and most comprehensive studies on workplace topics ever conducted.

Upon the release of their 2021 Global Human Capital Trends report, one trend stood out more than any other: the influence of belonging at work.

Deloitte’s researchers define “belonging” as workers feeling comfortable at work, including being treated fairly and respected by colleagues, feeling connected to the people they work with and the teams they are a part of, and feeling that they contribute to meaningful work outcomes. They describe belonging as one of the most important issues for attracting, retaining, and activating employees in today’s workplace.

The importance of belonging in the modern workplace is backed up by employee feedback and research across the globe.

McKinsey found that a lack of belonging is one of the top three reasons people quit a job post-pandemic, with 51% of employees citing it as the primary reason they left.

Nearly as many workers cited the desire to find an environment where they can “work with people who trust and care for each other.” As McKinsey put it, employees want stronger relationships, a sense of connection, and to be seen.

In a global study from Cognizant, 92% of respondents said it was important to “feel like you are appreciated for who you are and what you can contribute,” and 62% said belonging was more important than salary.

Indeed’s Work Happiness Score research revealed that belonging is the top driver of wellbeing for employees and an essential driver of happiness at work, ranking higher than pay.

A 2019 Harvard Business Review article also identified the value of the belonging at work; researchers found that just one incident of exclusion can lead to an immediate 25% decline in an individual’s performance on a team project.

Yet, when companies get belonging right, workers produce demonstrably better results. In the same study, belonging was linked to a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days.

In Ipsos’ 2022 Workplace Belonging Survey, nearly all employees (88%) at the companies surveyed agreed that a sense of belonging led to higher productivity at work. From a cost perspective, a focus on belonging could result in annual savings of over $52 million for a ten-thousand-person company.

“Belonging is not a program or initiative, it is an experience related to social connectedness, feeling included, and being accepted,” said Dr.Rumeet Billan, who commissioned the Ipsos Workplace Belonging Survey.

“It’s not just about inviting everyone to the proverbial table. What happens when they get there? Now, more than ever, companies and employers must take a more human-centered approach to how they support, communicate, and engage with their employees.”

The proliferation of research that shows the impact belonging can have on employees makes one thing clear: employers of all sizes must attend to belonging to remain viable.

Doing so is a foundational component of becoming a destination workplace. Let’s explore the strategies and tactics organizations must embrace to nurture belonging in their workplaces.

Making workplaces comfortable for all

Belonging has proven to be such an integral part of the employee experience that in recent years the letter “B” has been added to the commonly used D,E&I acronym.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) describes the broad efforts, policies, and strategies organizations use to ensure each team member has equal opportunities to do their best work and feel valued.

To increase belonging in the work- place, organizations must work to make all employees feel comfortable.

Resist the temptation to apply a casual definition of the word “comfortable” to what you should endeavor to create for your teams.

For our purposes, “comfortable” doesn’t mean the absence of stress or that work should never be anything but easy. When we discuss belonging and making workplaces comfortable for all, we’re attempting to create an environment where employees don’t experience exclusion.

That is to say, we must work to prevent employees from feeling marginalized or disqualified for who they are; Deloitte found that organizations that establish this kind of culture are twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets, three times as likely to be high-performing, six times as likely to be innovative and agile, and eight times as likely to achieve better business outcomes.

Dr Shirley Davis has worked as the chief diversity and inclusion officer for several Fortune 100 companies. She was previously the VP of global diversity, inclusion and workforce strategies for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Dr Davis says that reducing exclusion starts with education; “If you haven’t had some level of training or development or coaching on this, that’s the first thing. Leaders have to bring teams together—teams that have a diversity of perspectives, ideas, and ways of working—so they can better serve their customers and communities.”

Training for both leaders and team members is key. Davis adds: “Team members need to be able to not only work from the way they see the world, but also to understand and lead from another person’s perspective as well.

“You’re not vacating who you are or your own identity, beliefs, and values. You’re recognizing that your way is not the only way of seeing the world and working with people.”

Establish psychological safety

Ultimately, leaders must create psychological safety. This term refers to the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.

One benefit of psychological safety is that it allows teams to open a dialogue—which at times can be awkward and uncomfortable—about the different backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and needs people have. “

We haven’t always given people the permission to even talk about these tough and uncomfortable conversations,” says Dr Davis. “But you’ve got to have an environment that allows people to feel safe and share their stories.”

From there, Dr Davis encourages leaders to model inclusive micro-behaviors that prioritize curiosity over judgment when learning about people or to explore differences.

“It’s about listening, asking questions, and being curious about the way people think, work, and believe, and not being quick to pass judgment. But also, look for common ground and shared meaning. There’s something you have in common with every single person you come into contact with”, according to Dr Davis.

Celebrating people’s differences

In the long run, the goal is to foster the kind of environment that celebrates the differences we bring to the workplace.

One of the biggest obstacles to nurturing this kind of culture is team members who would sabotage belonging. It’s not uncommon to discover—among organizations whose employees report the absence of belonging—that someone on the team could be described as toxic.

This person engages in back-channel communications, public or private criticism, cliques, keeping score, demeaning or dismissive comments, and pitting people against each other, among other troublesome behaviors.

Because of how they show up, they’re not just sabotaging belonging, they’re sabotaging the engagement of your entire workforce, the results they are there to produce, and therefore, the mission and stability of your organization.

If this list of behaviors made you think of a specific employee where you work, that’s an obvious sign that there’s a toxic presence sabotaging your organization.

If that’s the case, one thing is clear: they must change or go. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that the good things they bring to your organization—like experience or a specific skill set— outweigh the damage they inflict. That’s almost never the case.

When organizations approach me about doing staff development work or team retreats because of a lot of team drama, I always ask this question: “Is there one person on the team, or maybe two, who by leaving today and never coming back would make most of these problems go away?” The answer is always yes.

That’s when I ask a second question (gently, of course): “So your employees, culture, and performance have been suffering for months (usually years), costing you who-knows-how-much in lost time, productivity, and retention, and now you’re about to spend tens of thousands of dollars on training and consulting to try and fix what they’ve caused. Do you mind me asking…why is this person still there?”

There’s almost never a satisfactory answer that justifies the circumstances.

This piece is adapted from Joe Mull’s forthcoming book Employalty: How to Ignite Commitment and Keep Top Talent in the New Age of Work.

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