Belonging translated to numbers
‘If workers feel like they belong, companies reap substantial bottom-line benefits. High belonging was linked to a whopping 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days. For a 10,000-person company, this would result in annual savings of more than $52M’
When I hear the term belonging, I think of a soft and fluffy quality – the word ‘caring’ comes to mind … and people switch off. This is why I started this article with the numbers, to get your attention, because belonging matters when we are endeavouring to cultivate a work environment where people can thrive and do their best work and deliver results for the organisation. Belonging translates to engagement which translates to better quality of work, which in turn translates to numbers like those quoted above.
Why belonging makes a difference
We have a primal need to belong in our environment – think back to the Stone Age when we needed each other for protection and safety – if we did not belong, our lives were literally in danger. Our fear of rejection persists today and whilst it might not lead to physical danger, it leads to psychological danger. A feeling of not belonging triggers anxiety due to our deep-rooted primal hard-wiring and this puts us into a state where we simply cannot do our best work. Owen Eastwood wrote really well about this in his fascinating book ‘Belonging’. In a recent article in the Guardian (which describes his work with the European Ryder Cup Team in 2023), he is quoted as saying:
“Belonging has a profound effect on behaviour … We have this need to belong. If the need is fulfilled, it becomes quite profound in terms of managing your own stress. We have a capacity to communicate at a much higher level. Our communication skills, particularly for males, are much better when you feel you belong”
When most people think of ‘belonging’, they think of the multitude of Diversity and Inclusion efforts which abound these days. Issues of inclusion or exclusion are really important and are certainly part of the story, but there is more to it than this. Our connection to purpose, to our shared story and living our shared values is what binds us together to deliver for a common goal.
Connection to Purpose
As Simon Sinek says:
Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do what they do. When Simon asks WHY, he’s not referring to making money—that’s a result. Your WHY is your purpose, cause, or belief. WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care about the work you do?
Many organisations make the assumption that people inherently know their organisation’s purpose, but in my experience this is frequently not the case, particularly in corporate type environments. It reminds me of a great scene in the movie Moneyball, where the selectors of the ‘Oakland A’s’ baseball team are discussing their picks for the season and this breaks into a discussion on ‘what’s the problem?’ and whilst everyone thinks they understand the problem, they are mostly working with an outdated and narrower definition of it. Myself and a colleague have used this movie to explore this idea of having a common purpose for over the years and it regularly breaks into a row about what the real purpose in the scene is – even those watching can’t agree!
In order to truly engage the people in our organisations and our teams, we need to be very explicit in understanding, explaining and illustrating the purpose of our work. Not only does it ensure that people are aligned and working in the same direction, but it also adds to this feeling of belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
How we work together
Alongside people feeling a connection to a sense of purpose, another key factor in belonging is how people behave with each other on a day to day basis. Organisations can put lots of work into creating and displaying shared values, but if they are not also ‘lived values’ they do more harm than good and it undermines psychological safety – a core foundation of high performing teams. Psychological Safety is situated and can be measured at team level, because our experience at work is determined by all of our small day-to-day experiences, which typically relates to our experience interacting with our immediate colleagues. Professor Amy Edmondson’s work has been ground-breaking in this regard and the Psychological Safety Scan has through seven simple questions provided a means of having a productive dialogue at team level about what’s working and not in terms of team behaviours and best of all it can simply be measured again after a period of time to see the dial shift. It is rare to be able to see solid measurable behavioural change in organisations, but this approach provides really tangible and meaningful outputs.
Connection to how we got here
Every team and organisation has a story, the story of its founders, why it exists, the good times and the not so good times and the learnings along the way. As each new person joins they become part of a story but are not necessarily aware of what has gone before. In Owen Eastwood’s book Belonging, he advocates the importance of remembering and sharing these stories. He gives a powerful illustration of the ‘All Blacks’ going to Donegal in 2005 to visit the ancestral home of the team’s first ever captain, Dave Gallaher, to honour him. The team realised the importance of tracing back their ancestry and integrating this into who they are now as part of their shared story and using it to propel them forward as a unit.
Organisations and teams are founded because there is a gap or a need or a desire to do something differently. These sparks are often forgotten and if revisited, along with pivotal moments along the way, can provide a means of connecting the team or organisation to its origins as well as provide learnings which can be beneficial to the way forward.
In Conclusion
We have a primal need to belong to whatever group we are a part of and can only contribute our best when we feel like we belong. Paying attention to employees’ need to belong makes both sense in financial terms for an organisation as well as for the wellbeing of employees.
Communicating the shared story of a team or organisation creates a powerful shared emotional connection to the past. When this is coupled with a very clear sense of purpose and positive work behaviours at team level, an organisation or team has laid very important foundations which will enhance a sense of belonging, increase engagement and ultimately improve team or organisational performance
Recent Comments