Building a Culture of Belonging: What Does It Take?

During these turbulent times when the police are abusing African Americans, Asian Americans are experiencing spikes in hate crimes, and Georgians are trying to get equal voting rights. What it means to “belong” in American society and the workplace has come into question.

Across the board, CEOs, corporate boards, investors, consumers, and employees are pushing for a more robust racial equality in the workplace – where every employee belongs, regardless of their race or ethnicity. 

However, obtaining widespread support can be challenging. In addition, DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) variations of work can be a particularly contentious issue, as we’ve seen in the past year.  Specific initiatives that target one identity group, such as African American employees, can feel as though those efforts risk harming the career interests and workplace well-being of other minorities. To ensure support and manage complex change, it is crucial to foster a sense of belonging among all employees, regardless of their background. 

Belonging is an essential part of human existence. Psychology experts rank the need for belonging at the same level as the need for love. Since the need to belong is universal and fundamental, focusing on it can pull in the entire workforce, even those feeling threatened by DE&I conversations at present or excluded from them. Successful companies emphasize a culture of belonging, increase empathy, and inclusion for marginalized people in the workplace. They do so by engaging everyone and holding a time slot to speak freely about our shared humanity.

Leaders must clearly understand what “belonging” at work means before creating such a culture and reap the benefits for both employers and employees. Coqual conducted extensive research in helping to develop a quantifiable definition of what it means to “belong” at work:

To obtain an accurate picture of the educational attainment of college graduates, Coqual conducted a nationwide survey in February 2020 and held focus groups and interviews with many others. In May 2020, they conducted a second survey to capture employee attitudes during the pandemic. As they analyzed the data, they found that a sense of belonging provides employers with a competitive edge: Employees who scored high on their 10-point belonging scale were significantly more likely to be loyal and promote their company as a great organization to work for.

Several differences were observed in “belonging” scores, showing that much remains to be done to cultivate a culture of belonging for all. Asian and black women have the lowest median scores, while white men and white women have the highest median scores. People’s tendency to label “others” can have devastating consequences, as the recent rise in hate crimes against the Black and Asian communities demonstrate. 

 

Even though belonging is challenging to build, it is vital for healing and galvanizing support across all DE&I work. Organizations that seek racial equality and justice should close these belonging gaps so that they can bring their employees together in a shared mission and retain and engage all employees. The study showed that men who believe in DE&I who belong to their companies score higher on belonging than those who do not. Working on a team to include others fosters a robust sense of citizenship and association to their employer.

At every stage of our careers, we can foster belonging. Employees with high belonging and low belonging are most likely to receive different benefits from their workplace. The following concrete steps are listed based on Coqual’s findings for leaders, managers, and coworkers to take to enhance belonging at work:

  • Make role models the focal point of your organization. It is rewarding for employees to identify with their leaders and feel seen, supported, connected, and proud. People often say that “representation matters” because it is so true. It would be best to highlight the diversity you have in your leadership and look for ways to diversify your team. Senior leaders must discuss topics that make them unique and are relevant to employees.
  • Be inclusive as a senior leader. Building inclusive teams and setting a good tone for the organization will reflect the company’s values. Your experiences with cultivating a diverse range of perspectives will help you become a better leader. Ensure inclusive behavior by being empathic and listening to your team members, especially from those who feel labeled as “others.” Be transparent about your values and engage with the entire organization, including junior staff.
  • Respond to employee concerns, show appreciation, and empower employees. A company’s team leaders reflect an organization’s culture. Reward employees’ good work and provide honest feedback. If you can spare some time, be sure to send each team member a quick feedback email after a project closes to let them know what was done well and what needs improvement. The feeling of being seen and supported goes a long way.
  • Provide feedback and be supportive as a colleague. When colleagues respect each other’s nonwork commitments and communicate positively about the substance of one another’s work is the path to success.

In the past few years, many companies have stood up and are committed to changing their work practices, making the future of work fairer and more unprejudiced. There is a sense of excitement among some employees, but there is also a sense of trepidation. The key to success is tapping into each employee’s need to belong and encouraging them to do the same for those around them. When we work together to adjust processes and attitudes to increase the sense of belonging, we can keep ourselves on track to improve equality and harmony for a better future.