Cultivating a Sense of Workplace Belonging

There’s a popular slang expression (or two) that people are using nowadays to describe what they feel about a place experience or people.

If they feel off or negative they’ll often chalk it up to “bad vibes” or “bad juju.” 

If the vibe or juju is good everything clicks in place. When they are vibin’ you know the person feels an overwhelming sense of belongingness. 

“This is the place; these are my people” and that’s exactly the sentiment you want your potential new hires or employees to associate with the workplace.

Belonging in the workplace

Employees feel like they belong at work when they believe their company and coworkers value their individuality. So how do you achieve that?

Being able to feel safe and bring one’s entire distinctive self to work comes from daily encounters that make one feel like one belongs.

Belonging goes deeper than just making employees feel valued for their work or their part in the company.

Employees treated with respect and given incentives to maintain their individuality within the workgroup experience a strong sense of belonging.

This entails giving value to the numerous facets of a worker’s identity such as being a parent being a member of a particular race or having a specific sexual orientation. In this regard inclusion and variety are near relatives of belonging.

The concept of belonging at work expands on the hierarchy of needs developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow.