Is paying attention to how employees feel important?
It is if a leader wants to retain existing talent, create a truly inclusive environment, or build sustained high performance. Belonging has been proven to deliver material results and is highly correlated with employee engagement and wellbeing.
What exactly is belonging?
A sense of belonging means an environment in which employees truly feel safe, secure, and supported. They have no fear of sharing their ideas, they feel their leaders and colleagues support them, and they feel truly valued for their contributions.
Creating a work environment that purports to value inclusion, ideas and individual contribution is one thing. Creating a work environment in which people actually feel included and valued for their ideas and work is another thing entirely.
Here’s why this is so exciting. High employee belonging has been linked to spectacular improvement in core business metrics, including:
- A 56% increase in job performance
- A 50% reduction in turnover risk
- A 75% reduction in sick days.
And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Research from Bain shows a very high correlation between belonging and employee engagement – itself a powerful improver of business performance and outcomes. According to Bain, only 20% of employees who feel they don’t belong are engaged, versus 91% of those who feel they do. Bain’s conclusion: “A sense of belonging not only meets your employees’ basic needs, it inspires their work and drives better business results.”
Take a deep dive into the Era of Belonging with the new whitepaper brought to you by our partner Engagement Multiplier. You can download ‘The Era of Belonging’ white paper here, and we’re happy for you to share it with your colleagues and clients.
Webinar Recording: Stefan Wissenbach on the Era of Belonging
Stefan Wissenbach, founder and CEO of Engagement Multiplier, discussed the research behind the new paper on a recent webinar. In case you missed the event, you can watch the webinar recording at https://youtu.be/HV2Av4QEu0c.
When you read the paper, you’ll see why Engagement Multiplier’s Marketing Director has started calling belonging a “superpower.” It’s the basis upon which trust, inclusion, and engagement are built, and is crucially important at this moment, as organisations plan their workplace strategies moving forward.
HR Support
For more articles relating to the pandemic, visit the HR Solutions‘ dedicated page ‘Coronavirus Advice and Guidance for Employers’.
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