BelongingatWork

EssentialtoEmployeeEngagementandInclusion

decisionwise

Introduction

AtDecisionWise,wehavecollectedover50millionemployeesurveyresponsestounderstandtheextenttowhichemployeesareengagedintheirwork.Ourresearchhasconsistentlyrevealedonekeyelementasthemostimportant

driverofemployeeengagement–asimplesix-wordstatement:

“IfeellikeIbelonghere.”

Whenemployeesindicatethey“agree”or“stronglyagree”withthissentimentonengagementsurveys,wenearlyalwaysfindaccompanyinghighlevelsofemployeeengagementthroughouttheorganization.

Belongingatworkisaboutfeelingaccepted,comfortable,andconnectedtotheorganization'sculture;itmeansfeelingexcitedandpositiveaboutone'splacewithintheorganization–bothcurrentlyandinthefuture.

Inthecurrentlandscapeofsocialmediaproliferation,manymistakenly

assumethatbelongingissimplyamatterofparticipatinginanorganizationwithsocialsupportorworkingamongagroupoffriends.

Ourresearchtellsusthatbelongingismorethansocialconnectiontoone’s

teamorteammates.Itisasenseof“membership”totheorganizationasa

whole.Anemployeeexperiencesbelongingwhentheorganizationgivesthempurpose,path,andplace.

Tobetterunderstandtheconceptofbelonging,weconductedanextensivestatisticalreview1.Wefoundthatasenseofbelongingatworkisacrucial

driverofemployeeengagement.

1Ourcurrentresearchshowsthatpositiveperceptionsofone’steamis

moderatelycorrelatedtoimprovedengagement(CorrelationCoefficient=0.555).However,whenanemployee’sperceptionoftheirteamisnegative,wefindtentimes(10x)thenumberoffullydisengagedemployeesthanwouldbeexpected.Whenanemployee’sperceptionoftheirteamisonlyslightlynegative,wefind

morethanthreetimes(3x)thenumberoffullydisengagedemployeesthanwouldbetypical.

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

2

?8015156500

belonging

BelongingintheWorkplace

Belongingisvitalintheworkplace,andwhyitmatterscan'tbeoverstated.

Peoplespendoverhalfoftheirproductivehoursatworkandbuildmanykey

relationshipswithcoworkers.Theemploymentrelationshipisuniquebecauserelationshipsareestablishedfortheemployeebytheorganization,includingthefrequency,duration,andqualityofinteractions,whicharegovernedbytheorganization'sculture.Despitehavinglesscontrol,employeesstillneedtofeelasenseofbelongingintheirworkenvironment.Belongingiskeytosuccessfulemployment,anditdoesnotdisappearwhetheranemployeeisphysicallyorvirtuallypresent.

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

3

?8015156500

belonging

BelongingasaFundamentalHumanNeed

Wehavelongunderstoodthatinterpersonalconnectionisafundamental

humanneed.Inhisacclaimed'hierarchy,'AbrahamMaslowstatedthatour

socialneedsmustbefulfilledbeforewecancontemplatehigher-orderneeds,likeesteemorself-actualization.In1995,ProfessorsRoyBaumeisterandMarkLearyadvancedfurtheronthisidea,scientificallystudyingandrecognizing

what,untilthen,mostconsideredaself-evidenttruth:peoplehaveaninherent

needtobelong(Baumeister&Leary,1995,p.497).Baumeister&Learyreferredtotheirtheoryas“belonginess.”

[H]umanbeingshaveanall-encompassingimpulsetoformandsustainat

leastaminimumamountofpositive,long-term,andmeaningfulinterpersonalrelationships.…[A]greatdealofhumanbehavior,emotion,andthoughtis

drivenbythisbasicinterpersonalmotive.”2

Theynotethatbelonginesshastwoessentialaspects.Firstly,individuals

requireregularinteractionsfromaknowngroupofpeopletheytrust,and

secondly,theyneedtobepartofasteady,lastingcultureofbelonging.

(Baumeister&Leary,1995,p.511).3Thislatterpointisofparticularinterestasweseektocomprehendbelongingatwork.Putdifferently,inpractice,whatdoesacultureofconcernlooklikeinsideamodernworkforce?

2Baumeister,R.&Leary,M.(1995).Theneedtobelong:Thedesirefor

interpersonalattachmentsasafundamentalmotivation.PsychologicalBulletin117(3),497-529.

3OurindependentresearchentirelyconfirmsBaumeisterandLeary’sargumentsandtheory,andwenotethattheirthesiscontinuestofindongoingempirical

supportfromotherstudiesandresearchers.Seealso,Geere,J.&MacDonaldG.(2010).Theneedtobelong:Anupdateoftheempiricalcasefortheneedtobelong.JournalofIndividualPsychology66,93-115.

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

4

?8015156500

belonging

Belongingand

EmployeeEngagement

Ouranalysisofemployeeexperiencesurveyresponsesrevealedthe

importanceofbelongingintheworkplaceforemployeeengagement.

Employeeengagementisapositiveemotionalresponsetotheemployeeexperience,whichcanresultinincreasedmotivation,improvedkey

performanceindicators,higherretentionrates,andincreasedsatisfaction.Ouraimwastoidentifywhichelementsoftheemployeeexperiencehadthegreatestinfluenceondevelopingemployeeengagement.

Wefoundthestrongestpredictorsofengagementbylookingattheresultsofover600organizational-levelregressionanalyses,eachpredictingthetopinfluencersofengagementforitsrespectiveorganization.

In75%oftheregressiontestsweperformed,thephrase"IfeellikeIbelonghere"wasthetoppredictorsofengagement.Moreover,inalmosthalfofthecases,itwasthemostinfluentialpredictor.

Theseresultsdemonstratethatbelongingisperhapsthemostimportantelementinunderstandinganddrivingemployeeengagement.

500

400

300

200

figure1

Belongingisa

predictorofoverallengagement

100

Table1:FrequencyofEngagementDrivers

465

415

283

224

193

IfeellikeIbelong

Ifindenjoyment

Myjobprovides

Iamconfidentthat

Thisorganization

here

inthejobthatI

mewithasense

thisorganization

caresabout

perform

ofmeaningandpurpose

hasasuccessfulfuture

employees

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

5

?8015156500

belonging

OtherBelongingFactors

Toaugmentourunderstanding,wealsoperformeda

Table1

FactorAnalysisResults

Thisanalysissuggeststhatemployeeswhofeellike

theybelongintheorganizationfeelthattheirwork

isvalued,theyarecomfortableintheorganization's

culture,theycansharetheirideasandopinionsfreely,theyhaveopportunitiesforprofessionalgrowth,andtheorganizationtrustsandcaresaboutthem.This

informationcanbeusedbyleaderstoidentifyareaswheretheorganizationexcelsinfosteringasenseofbelongingandareaswhereimprovementisneeded.

factoranalysison40,000responsesinourdatabase.TheresultsshowedthatstatementsinTable1arepositivelycorrelatedwiththestatement“IfeellikeIbelonghere.”

IfeellikeIbelonghere.

IfeelthatIcansharemyideasandopinionswithoutfearofnegativeconsequences.

Myworkisvaluedbythisorganization.

Iamsatisfiedwiththeopportunitiesformyownprofessionalgrowthinthisorganization.

Thisorganizationvaluesemployeeinput,feedback,andsuggestions.

Thisorganizationtrustsemployeestodotheirjobs.

Ifeelcomfortableinthisorganizationsculture.

Thisorganizationcaresaboutemployees.

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

6

?8015156500

creatingculture

CreateanOrganizationalCultureofBelonging

Tobegintheprocessofcreatingasenseofbelongingattheorganizationallevel,wesuggestfourbasicactionitems.

1.CultivateaCultureofCaringfromtheTopDown

2.EmpowerEmployeesThroughBelonging,Path,andPurpose

3.ValueEmployeeVoice

4.BuildaConnectionthrough"RidingfortheBrand"

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

7

?8015156500

creatingculture

1

CultivatingaCultureof

CaringfromtheTopDown

Ourresearchshowsthatcreatingasenseofbelongingcannotbeachievedbysolelyfocusingonindividualteams.Havingagreatmanagerandateamwithpositivesocialinteractionsdoesnotguaranteeanengagedworkforce.Asenseofbelongingisachievedbyhavingahigh-qualityteamexperiencecombinedwithafeelingof"membership"inthelargerorganization,acultureofcaring

thatstartsfromthetop.Thisiswhatwemeanbygivingemployeesa"place"tobelong.

8

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

?8015156500

creatingculture

2

EmpoweringEmployeesThroughBelonging,Path,andPurpose

Tofosterasenseofbelonging,employeesneedbothapathandapurpose.

Theyneedtoseehowtheyfitwithintheorganizationandhaveaclearpath

forgrowthanddevelopment.Employeesneedtofeelthattheorganization

providestherightenvironmentforthemtothriveandbecomethebest

versionsofthemselves.Thepathmustalsoshowhowtheycanmakean

impactandcontributetotheorganization'ssuccessandthatofitscustomers.Thishelpsemployeesovercomeoneoftheircorepersonalchallenges:Are

theymovingforwardorregressingbackwards?

9

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

?8015156500

creatingculture

3

ValuingEmployeeVoice

Employeevoiceiscrucialincreatingacultureofbelongingatwork.Employees

mustfeelheardandacceptedtoexperiencebelonging.Employeevoice

allowsemployeestobetheirauthenticselvesandfeelthattheirideasandcontributionsmatter.Belongingcannotexistwhenemployeesfeellike

nobodycaresaboutwhattheyhavetosay.Belongingrequirestwo-waycommunicationanddialogue.

?DecisionWise,AllRightsReserved

10

?8015156500

creatingculture

4

BuildingaConnectionthrough"RidingfortheBrand"

Managersplayacrucialroleinbuildingbelongingatboththeteamand

organizationallevels.?Weusethemetaphorof"ridingforthebrand"fromthefrontierwest.Whenacowboysignedonwithacattleoperation,theywere

taughtto"rideforthebrand."Thismeantthatthecowboyssawthemselvesasareflectionoftheentireoperationandwerethebrandintheeyesofthetownspeople.Similarly,managersarethebrandintheeyesoftheemployees.

However,managersshouldnotbehigh-pricedcorporatecheerleaders.They

shouldvaluetherelationshipemployeeshavewiththelargerorganization

andcommunicatewiththeteamwiththeintentionofbuildingconnections

withotherteamsandorganizationalleaders.Managersshouldfosterasharedsenseofpurposewithotherteamsanddepartmentsandhelpcreateafeelingthateveryoneispartofthesamelargerorganizationalteam.

?Inastudyweconductedwithover15,000managersfrom100different

organizations,wefoundthatwhenamanagerh