Culture | Activate the five pillars of belonging at work

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.