Empowering D&I Strategy
Belonging is a feeling and therefore a far more powerful force than any D&I strategy could ever be. It’s a fundamental human need, a word that translates across any language or culture, and a feeling that every human is wired to want. The best thought-out D&I strategies will go so much further in cultures where people feel they belong because when we’re seen and valued for who we really are — our own unique and authentic selves — we thrive, and so do the people around us. Anita Sands – March 26, 2019 for her article in Medium
During this webinar:
0:00 – 3:59 Introduction
4:00 – 7:37 The role the feeling of belonging plays in the workplace
7:38 – 15:12 How people experience belonging and not belonging
15:13 – 34:40 How the feeling of belonging can be collected as actionable data
34:41 – 50:16 How using emotional data can change culture at scale
Related Resources Mentioned
Design Thinking Workshops
2019 Employee Experience Index
One global study of more than 23,000 employees found that “supportive co-worker relationships are also an important driver of a positive work experience. When those relationships are present in the workplace, employees report a much more positive employee experience than when that support is absent (77 percent compared to 35 percent).”
When employees feel like they belong, their ideas and suggestions matter; they are more than twice as likely to report a positive employee experience than those who don’t (83 percent versus 34 percent).
Diversity and inclusion aren’t what matter. Belonging is what counts.
Put another way, diversity is a fact (the numbers are what they are), inclusion is a choice (you decide whether to include someone or not), but belonging is a feeling that can be enforced by a culture that you can purposefully create.
Why it’s time to add a ‘B’—for belonging—to workplace DEI strategy
Belonging, simply put, means existing in a culture that invites people to be themselves: that encourages anyone to feel comfortable in their own skin.