How can we all Belong?

Belonging is a basic human need

Today, Megan Markle inspired us. Her powerful speech as ‘mother, wife, woman of colour and as your sister’ illustrates this sense of Belonging. Addressing a township of teenage girls she provided kinship, establishing trust and rapport with women.

Recently I’ve been pushing myself to pause and dig into the tougher times in my life.

As the Head of Talent Acquisition (a new role) leading on the D&I agenda at TfL, thinking about our future leadership pipeline, this introspective reflection has been very necessary. 

It’s been hard emotional work, but it’s essential if I want to grow as a human, remove my own barriers, but also think about why some of our own talent struggle to advance….

As part of my journey, I’ve been volunteering to speak at large recruitment industry events, most recently at the RL100 (representing the top recruitment leaders across the industry). I have been forcing myself to feel ‘uncomfortable’ and not prematurely walk away from opportunities.

This was an emerging pattern in my life! I’m sure I’m not the only one who has wrestled with the same feelings of imposter syndrome, self doubt and a deeper sense of not belonging. 

At the RL100 leaders summit, THREE words, not two, struck me: 

Diversity, Inclusion & BELONGING. Such a simple word for a huge concept. 

What does belonging mean? 

Belonging means acceptance as a member or part. A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter. Feeling that you belong is most important in seeing value in life. According to Google Jobs, in the past week, over fourteen roles have been advertised that include Belonging; Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Head of Diversity & Belonging, Engagement & Belonging Lead. These roles talk about organisations craving communities, the feeling of belonging and thriving together.

The summit shone an important spotlight on the under-representation of BAME across the recruitment industry, typically led by ‘middle aged, white males, atheists and privately educated’.  

Most importantly, the summit led me to importantly question whether I belong to an under represented group…… 

Throughout my life as an individual with ‘duality’ of heritage, I’ve struggled with the concept of ‘belonging’. Living at the intersection of different identities and cultures has most definitely been like stumbling around in a forest in the dark. I have racial imposter syndrome ??. There, I’ve said it – a big gulp…..

According to an article published in the International Journal of Behavioural Science, approximately 70% of people experience impostor feelings. 

For our next generation, these ideas are going to get harder. Social media has created a whole host of new problems. Our duplicitous online lives can come across as shallow and fake. When we only showcase our best moments, it can give the impression that our lives are better than they are and that there’s a danger of being seen as a big phony. 

We’re at the tip of the Ice Berg!

At the RL100 summit, I talked about the ‘Diversity Ice Berg’ revealing how leading recruitment based diversity initiatives can not be the only solution to the whole problem. It’s a salve but our TfL journey has taught us that we need to dig deeper and look within the many layers of the organisation across generations, beliefs and culture. 

Let’s imagine

Diversity Ice Berg

If we all imagine ourselves within the organisations that we represent as an ice berg. We can see visibly one tenth (above the waterline) of traits such as age and gender with assumptions on ethnicity. Below the waterline, co-exist nine tenths of invisible traits, such as beliefs, education, social class, heritage, skills, values and culture. These are hard to detect and less visible. Assumptions tend to be made.

These characteristics are difficult to change as passed on from colleague to colleague, deep rooted and become ways of working. Organisations can now be seen through a kaleidoscope of differences and similarities that we can only attempt to join through an inclusive culture of Belonging. The Ice Berg changes shape as other powerful forces are at play, such as Gen Z’s – think Greta Thurnberg.

According to Forbes, 77% of Gen Z’ers say a company’s diversity would be a deciding factor, 70% of prospective employees look at company reviews on Glassdoor for a sense of societal purpose. 

EY has shown that when people feel like they belong, they are more productive, motivated and engaged as well as 3.5 times more likely to contribute to their full, innovative potential. 

If we’re still not convinced about the business case for Diversity?

Take for example, Gucci, now heralded as a digital native in the luxury space. 62 % of their $8bn sales last year came from consumers below the age of 35. Enlisting a shadow committee comprising of Gen Z and Millennials enabled the brand to pivot to Instagram earlier than any competitors.

What role does talent acquisition play in making sure your business is diverse?

The future is Belonging

This idea of ‘Belonging’ is the key and an output of true inclusion. Organisations can not just rely on TA to recruit diversely; they will need to create environments that enable talent to thrive bringing your whole self to work. Recruiting diversely, without really thinking about the lives of minority groups within the organisation may lead to tokenism and attrition.

That’s not to say that our initiatives from talent acquisition aren’t crucial. As D&I becomes an even more important role of any employer’s value proposition, we need to equip our TA teams to become valuable brand ambassadors.

We can only do this though through leaders and stakeholders that enables us to create a level playing field for all talent ensuring diversity of thought, inclusion and belonging.

Last week, the RL100 summit provided a platform for likeminded organisations to come together to discuss the D&I agenda. We came together like a community, sharing ideas and a great sense of belonging the same problem. Our mission is now to take full responsibility to lead on the D&I agenda within our own recruitment industry. If we are to enable change across our organisations then we need to be equally representative of society.

What can I do?

• Follow the RL100 and our journey
• Read blogs about D&I & Belonging
• Positively challenge your organisation if diversity is not represented, speak up
• Positively challenge your suppliers if diversity is not represented
• Become a diversity ally - champion, mentor, coach, sponsor someone who is unlike you thinking of all demographics
• Upon recruitment, think about potential and use strengths based assessments Really question whether you need technical skills (apparently skills have a shelf life of 4 years anyway) so you’ll be required to retrain
• Embrace change and hire talent that challenges your thinking, be bold and hire on motivation
• Evaluate employee data and make sure that everyone is being treated equally – this will help retention!
• Encourage yourself and your team to think differently and don't forget to ask about well being and general life outside of the job!
• Think about how activities can be done differently and smarter ways of working