Human Capital Management
How to Improve Belonging at Work
The workplace is more than just a location where business happens. It’s also where people spend much of their time during the week and their lives as a whole. With those points in mind, workplace culture matters profoundly. At the core of that culture is the feeling of belonging, something all human beings desire. As an executive or HR representative, you carry a unique power to improve belonging in the workplace.
Why Does Belonging Matter at Work?
In almost every company, a variety of people come together to work toward common goals. This dynamic can naturally create differences when people interact with each other — and sometimes, the differences can lead to negative experiences. Depending on the situation, an employee may start to feel excluded based on their job role, personality, identity or other factors. Someone who doesn’t feel like they belong can become isolated, listless or even bullied, and their experience at work will suffer as a result.
As a result, it’s up to leaders to drive change and encourage belonging so every team member feels like they have a place in their team and the company overall. When people feel like they belong, they feel welcomed and desired in a given space and can connect with the people around them. This kind of connection at work can result in a powerful sense of purpose, decreased stress and improved productivity across entire departments. In many cases, employees even look forward to going to work if they know they’re appreciated and valued as part of the team.
Ways to Foster Belonging in the Workplace
Learning how to improve the sense of belonging at work doesn’t have to be complicated. While belonging is a subjective experience, you can take actionable steps to make the workplace more accepting and inclusive for yourself and your entire team.
From policy to behavior, you can always find room for improvement. Here are six ways you can do just that.
1. Assess Current Issues and Opportunities
Before you take any steps forward, it’s important to understand your current position. Take time to identify existing challenges and communicate with employees about their workplace experiences. Meeting one-on-one and in team settings can foster different levels of honesty and open communication depending on the organization, so be open to your team’s needs. You might also consider creating an anonymous reporting or feedback system so people can bypass existing social pressures or stigmas.
2. Leverage Leadership Positions for Change
Creating a genuine sense of belonging requires active participation on all fronts, but leaders in management and HR are uniquely positioned to make policy changes and facilitate conversations about the state of the workplace. As such, it’s important for leaders to consider how they can use their positions to foster a sense of belonging at work. However, leadership must also be mindful that change can’t occur on their behalf alone — employees must be included in the process to achieve real, relevant change.
3. Create More Inclusive Meetings
Those experiencing “unbelonging” at work often feel ostracized or silenced in group settings. They worry their experiences will be invalidated or those around them will make assumptions about them. Running an inclusive meeting — one that makes room for everyone to speak without being talked over and acknowledges biases and cultural differences — can help counter this feeling of unbelonging.
4. Plan Community-Building Events
Odds are you’ve attended a work get-together that didn’t go as planned. Pizza parties and events like them are great in concept, but it’s easy for them to become unenjoyable if people aren’t sincerely invested in them and each other.
Instead, involve your team in creating community-building events everyone can appreciate. Allocate a system for employees to submit event ideas and vote for their favorite concepts. When your team has a say in how they spend time together, they’re more likely to invest in the event and each other, giving them space to connect and build a sense of belonging.
5. Take Time to Recognize Accomplishments
Whether in meetings or email blasts, it’s important to highlight the accomplishments of employees and thank them for their hard work. This recognition shows you understand and appreciate the contributions of team members, and it can foster a culture where employees both feel supported and support one another. Belonging and camaraderie can thrive under these circumstances.
6. Invest in Training
Education can make a huge difference in building belonging across your company. Gaining knowledge through training can close gaps in understanding and help everyone feel they belong in the workplace.
By giving everyone a chance to learn and ask questions, you make space for everyone to grow and find healing, whether they have experienced unbelonging or have played an unconscious part in facilitating it. These training programs come in a variety of forms, meaning you can tailor the experience to your team.
Tools for Tracking Workplace Belonging
Creating a culture of belonging in the workplace is a lengthy process. As a result, it’s important to invest in tools to help you understand each team’s dynamic and track your progress over time. This way, you can fully understand the steps you’re taking to improve and can make adjustments as necessary. For example, you might try:
- An inclusive culture alignment tool: This tool can help you assess different dimensions of your company so you can understand its current relationship with inclusivity and belonging. It also highlights growth opportunities and connects you with professionals with whom you can discuss potential challenges and solutions.
- Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) surveys: DEIB surveys can offer insights into individual experiences across the company. This zoomed-in perspective can help you address specific challenges faced by employees from historically marginalized groups that may have been missed or ignored previously. By keeping in touch with those experiencing unbelonging, you can more readily address each team member’s needs.
- Employee experience surveys: Employee experience surveys provide valuable data that can be used to identify key areas of focus. This allows organizations to create intentional action plans to address areas in need of improvement as well as build on areas of strength.
It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you’re making such comprehensive changes across the workplace. Tools like these make balancing the process much easier while turning instincts and suspicions into data you can see and measure. From this position, you can try new strategies, see if they’re effective and adjust your business’s approach accordingly.
Build Belonging With Help From Exude Human Capital
Whether you’re starting a journey toward belonging or are already on your way there, you don’t have to do it alone. At Exude Human Capital, we want everyone to experience a sense of belonging, no matter their department or cultural background.
Our team of professional consultants offers a holistic understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging that can foster significant change in the culture of your workplace. We can help you discover how to create a sense of belonging in the workplace and implement the right strategies to make noticeable changes for your team.
Submit a general inquiry today to get in touch and start building a business where everyone can belong.
