3 Ways to Create a Culture of Belonging at Work

Belonging is the feeling of being accepted for who you are, recognized for your unique contributions, and connected to people and purpose. You feel you belong when you feel like you are part of a community that values you. Our sense of belonging helps give our lives meaning. The same is especially true within our workplaces. As employers, we all want to make sure our employees are happy at work. When your employees feel they belong, they will work harder, become more invested in your success, and stay with you longer.  

Why is belonging important?

Let’s dive into the numbers.

In two studies conducted by Vityl, more than 1,300 full-time employees in every state, including 500 senior leaders and people managers were surveyed, helping us discover the following benefits of belonging:

• Employees that feel they belong are 24.7x more likely to feel satisfied with their job.
• Employees that feel they belong are 8.8x more likely to feel “very engaged” at work.
• Employees that feel they belong are 13.2x more likely to recommend their employer to friends and family (eNPS or employee Net Promoter Score).

Put simply, belonging is vital and a foundational element of employee satisfaction, fulfillment, and unfettered creativity.

3 Ways to Foster Belonging in the Workplace

Interested in fostering feelings of belonging on your team or in your workplace? Read on for inspiration.

Develop interpersonal relationships among teams

Developing interpersonal relationships among members of a team can actually be fun and exciting. As a result of building personal relationships, cohesion and unity within the team is strengthened. It is important that employees reach out to other employees in different departments in order to share knowledge, participate in meetings or casual social events with new colleagues, and offer to work with them when possible.

Create a safe space for employees to be vulnerable

Vulnerability in the workplace is the foundation for genuine leadership and meaningful relationships. Unmasking is difficult for all of us, but it is particularly challenging in the workplace where the expectations of keeping a friendly but professional distance with our colleagues and projecting confidence and infallibility are deeply ingrained. When people show their vulnerability and allow others to do the same, they feel more comfortable, develop stronger social bonds, and are willing to take risks at work knowing they won’t be judged.

Develop avenues for successful and collaborative communication

Collaboration can be one of the most effective ways to solve problems in the workplace. The best way to find innovative solutions to complex challenges is to brainstorm with colleagues with different backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas. Teams can solve problems more efficiently and effectively when they collaborate. Foster collaboration among your team members by enhancing channels of communication (email, Slack, whiteboards, shared drives, etc.). Determine where teams overlap and identify areas where they can work together to solve problems. Unplanned interactions such as these often lead to enhanced collaboration and innovation.

How Vityl can help

At Vityl, we’ve created a platform built to take teams to the top. Through surveys, nudges, and visual dashboards, companies can better grasp how their employees are feeling from an individual and overall perspective. Our extensive research drives how we approach belonging in the workplace and the tools we create that work to foster more productive, engrained, and collaborative work environments. Vityl helps you identify issues in your workplace faster, and work towards a more encompassing, positive culture. 

Belonging is the ultimate force multiplier for today’s teams and organizations. To learn more about Vityl and unlock the power of belonging, visit the Pricing page.