From the beginning of time, we have always valued togetherness. When you spend one-third of your life at work, feeling like you belong can make all the difference in not only our wellbeing, but diversity, equity, and inclusion as well.
When employees feel like they belong, your bottom-line can benefit. High belonging was linked to a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days.
It’s easy to create a sense of belonging when everyone is similar but as we create and benefit from diversity in our teams, we must work hard to ensure everyone is part of the in-crowd. Being able to connect with your team goes beyond just getting a job done. When coworkers have the potential to turn into friends and family, fostering a sense of belonging is essential to wellbeing at work.
Belonging: I feel valued
Belonging is about forming and maintaining positive relationships and feeling accepted and valued by others. Feeling a sense of belonging at work significantly increases employee satisfaction and reduces stress while fostering a psychologically safe and inclusive environment at work helps promote our sense of community, boosting engagement and performance. When people feel out of place, their sense of belonging is threatened, and the resulting discomfort, burnout, and self-doubt can have far-reaching effects.
Nurturing belonging in the new world of work
We all know that exclusions hurts, and a global pandemic didn’t help. In the early days of the pandemic, quarantining and isolation were hard hurdles to clear.
Now post-pandemic, it’s still easier than ever to fall into a state of isolation, especially if working from home. It could lead to reduced physical activity and a greater risk of depression. This is particularly true in hybrid and remote working for people who historically never felt excluded and “cut out” of major decision-making conversations.
Creating inclusive hybrid cultures and ways of working which boost our sense of engagement, inclusion and belonging will help counter this.
Wellworking™ with MindGym
MindGym’s team of behavioural scientists have crafted our Wellworking™ solution based on the five drivers of wellbeing: certainty, competence, autonomy, belonging, and purpose to create a science-backed approach that focuses on developing the right conditions at work so organisations can succeed in helping their people to flourish.
Contact us to learn more.
