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The past two years have brought enormous challenges and changes — new ways of working, distance from team members, and opportunities to find new ways to drive success.
Today, as the shift to remote or hybrid working has become the new normal, it’s not just work that’s different, employees have changed too, and this all has a considerable cultural impact on HR and business leaders.
You have likely seen belonging at work become increasingly a topic of conversation for HR and business leaders. ‘Belonging’ ranked at the top of the Deloitte 2020 Global Human Capital Trends survey, with 79% of organisations considering it important for their success. A significant amount of academic research into belonging shows that employees who feel a sense of belonging at work have higher overall work engagement. More specifically, these employees are more likely to experience greater job satisfaction, better mental health, higher levels of productivity, and lower levels of both.
What’s more, global research carried out by Achievers Workforce Institute found belonging to be a key driver of individual and organisational success. People with a strong sense of belonging are twice as likely to be engaged — and they’re also twice as likely to be productive, resilient, satisfied, and committed.
On the other hand, people with a low sense of belonging are only a quarter as likely to say that they’re engaged and express much lower levels of commitment, enthusiasm, productivity, and resilience.
Building a culture of belonging
But it wasn’t enough for us to say “this matters”. We also needed to answer the question, “how do we get there?”
That’s where the five pillars of belonging come in. When your employees feel welcomed, known, included, supported, and connected, then you can be confident they feel a strong sense of belonging at your organisation. Many of the HR tools and programs you already have in place support one or more of these pillars. In fact, these pillars offer a clear framework for assessing HR technology and training by ensuring it aligns with at least one pillar.
How to activate the five pillars of belonging at work
1. Welcomed
“Introduced to, and incorporated within, the organisational culture and community.”
Consistently implement thoughtful, structured organisational onboarding
Provide an introduction to unique organisational culture
Invite to culture and team building events and activities
2. Known
“Understood, motivated, and celebrated as an individual.”
Use and integrate culture, values, or personality testing
Customise style of meetings, coaching etc. to support unique wiring
Encourage social events to create personal connections, both in-person and online
3. Included
“Valued and accepted without reservation.”
Regularly gather employee feedback and share results at the team level
Encourage a wide variety of social clubs or events and ensure everyone is invited
Introduce and support Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to serve all employees
4. Supported
“Consistently and meaningfully nurtured and developed.”
Encourage regular, meaningful manager contact
Empower managers to provide coaching to meet specific employee needs
Ensure employees have the development and resources they need to succeed in their role
5. Connected
“Developing and maintaining relationships across a diverse population.”
Prioritise the development of a diverse employee body
Facilitate cross-functional relationship building
Utilise connection tools to break down silos across function, location, and level
Belonging is the next frontier for HR and business leaders. If you can foster a strong sense of belonging at work, you will see engagement, productivity, and turnover improve. You can learn much more about belonging with Dr Natalie Baumgartner, Chief Workforce Scientist from Achievers on demand.
