What Would Work and the Workplace Be Like if People Felt that They Belonged? (6 Strategies to Create a Sense of Belonging)

Without fear of generalizing, I think it is safe to say that my own professional experience with work has been similar to everyone else's: some positive, some neutral, some negative.

We've had work experiences that we remember with love, fondness and longing, others that were just "meh", and some others that we just want to forget, forever.

I and most of us know that every work and bosses can leave a strong legacy in us, either positive or negative. And I wonder, do an organization and its leaders ever think about how they want to be remembered in the long run? Do they think about the legacy they want to leave in people?

One thing I reflect about when I think about my past negative or neutral work experiences is this: what could my job, my workplace and me have accomplished, together, had I felt a sense of belonging to that organization? What would it all have been like if my past bosses in those negative work experiences, instead of intentionally or inadvertently creating the conditions for me and my colleagues to feel so detached from the organization, would have been more aware of the power of belonging and would have purposefully built a workplace culture to make people feel welcome and that they belonged?

In short, how much better could it all have been?

Have you ever had a thought like this one: "if we could measure how much of their creative potential and full talents people use at work for the purpose of making their organizations more successful, what percentage would it be? Are organizations really getting 'the best' from their people by harnessing their unlimited capacities, or, with their actions (or omissions) are they preventing people from giving their best and, therefore, harming their chances of success while also harming people? What would happen if people gave their best at work instead of dreading going to work?"

If you have thought about this, I am with you. The questions above are not rhetorical, they are consequential to the transformation of work and the workplace. And I think about them very often, especially every time that I see those frameworks and insights about how to transform work that only focus on how to make the organization more efficient, while dehumanizing the work experience. Those models and the people behind them are missing the point big time. They are perpetuating the old belief that people are cogs in a corporate machinery who give labor in exchange for money. And that's far, far, very far from what the work experience should be and feel like.

Organizations are missing out on MOST of the value they could receive from people by intentional actions or painful omissions. It is not just that letting people unleash their full creative potential and talents is a powerful to improve people's lives as they will feel more accomplished, happier, satisfied, joyful and with a deeper sense of purpose, it is that organizations can also unleash an almost infinite source of value in doing so. People and business success are two sides of the same coin.

Now, how can you unleash their creative potential and talents of your employees? There are many answers, but a strong one of this: by creating and increasing their sense of belonging to the organization they work for.

Belonging refers to what people and groups feel when they are accepted in the community of the organization for who they are and with their specific traits and needs. People and groups who feel that they belong also feel that they can be authentic.

People are CRAVING for meaningful connections to communities and "tribes". They want to feel that they belong to "something" that values them and gives the opportunity to thrive. Belonging is not only natural to humans, it is a powerful driver for happiness and joy.

Why, then, organizations so often miss out on creating a culture of belonging.. to their own detriment? Why is it that so many workplaces are "content" with getting a little bit of value from their people instead of getting the best of the best by creating belonging?

I may never understand why... but we know that it's possible to create and increase people's sense of belonging to their organizations and improve their lives while delivering for the business. This isn't a paradox. The possibility of doing both is real, tangible and consequential.

Going back to my original question in the title of this article: what would work and the workplace be like if people felt that they belonged?

It would never be like a family. That's the most ridiculous and nonsensical analogy. Instead, it would be a community of people committed to helping the whole succeed. When people have a sense of belonging, they know that when the whole succeeds, they individually succeed as well, because they are together, whole, with the organization and everybody in it. They care, because they are cared for. The organization matters to them, because they matter to it. C-suite leaders and shareholders do not think of people as cogs in a corporate machine who need to be squeezed out of time and energy in a transactional relationship that gives them money for time, all in pursuit of higher company revenues. They are, instead, integral part of a community with a shared purpose and goals, where everyone strives to achieve their individual goals to realize higher outcomes. In this kind of organization, people don't give a little bit of them to work, nor do they have to be asked to give their "100%". They just do it. Naturally and organically.

Can we build that kind of organization. You bet we can. Check out these six strategies to create a sense of belonging at work.

Strategy 1: Create Psychological Safety at All Levels

Psychological Safety is the gateway to creating and increasing people's sense of belonging at work. Only when employees feel that they will not be "punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes". (which is the definition psychological safety at work) will they have a sense that they truly belong to the organization they work for. Without safety there is no belonging.

Strategy 2: Do Everything to Make People Feel Included

Go out of your way to make sure that people feel included. Inclusion isn't a random one-time or every-now-and-then act that occurs because the organization spouses "inclusion" as a value. Inclusion is intentional and created on purpose, everyday, in all actions. You have to operate, act and behave inclusively in everything you do in the organization for others to feel included. Inclusion begets belonging.

Strategy 3: Become Mindfully Curious About People

In multicultural workplaces, being curious about people is a most beautiful way to meaningfully connect with them, understand them better and act more appropriately based on that understanding. When you are curious about people in a meaningful, kind and compassionate way, you build a very strong bridge of trust with them. You don't have to know all about them and their culture, you just have to be more mindfully curious to help them feel included and that they belong.

Strategy 4: Inspire People to Build Meaningful and Organic Connections with Others

Belonging doesn't just happen between people and the organization. Belonging also happen at the team level and even on one-on-one connections. Workplaces are not families, they are communities. For people to feel that they belong to a community they must also connect meaningfully with the individuals in that community. This doesn't mean that they have to be "friends" with their coworkers, but that they are accepted and respected.

Strategy 5: Show Gratitude and Appreciation, and Give People Credit for Their Work

The true power of belonging at work can be harnessed when people's lives are improved at work and, consequently, they deliver higher value to the organization. It's essential to celebrate and recognize people's work (in terms of efforts and results) when they become higher performers and more productive. Particularly, belonging continues to increase when you show people gratitude and give them credit.

Strategy 6: Create Metrics of Belonging Success, the Impact at Work and Keep Leaders Accountable

It isn't enough to say "we are an inclusive organization and people feel that they belong" and then let luck take over. A culture of belonging is intentionally built. Every action to create and increase people's sense of belonging must be done on purpose. That's why it is fundamental to measure leaders' effectiveness in creating a culture of belonging with indicators and metrics and connecting their performance with the achievement of those metrics.

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By Enrique Rubio (he/him) , founder at Hacking HR