Sr. Director of Employer Brand & Culture | Head of DEI Practice at Blu Ivy Group. Building magnetic employer brands and cultures.
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The pandemic has reminded us that, at our core, we all crave connection. In fact, without connection, we see an increase in things such as depression, anxiety and a myriad of health issues. It’s no surprise, then, that when people feel connected to others and that they belong, the results can be powerful. Not only is this true in our personal lives, but it also applies in the workplace.
Belonging Is Key To DEI
At the heart of the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement is the premise that all individuals have the right to be treated fairly and to participate fully in the workplace. While many organizations believe in the value of DEI and make amazing efforts to implement programs and policies to support it, the reality is that many organizations fail to see the results of those efforts. In fact, a recent Harvard Business Review article says 40% of workers today feel isolated at work, despite the fact that, in the U.S. alone, "businesses spend nearly $8 billion each year on diversity and inclusion (D&I) training," according to research from Mckinsey & Company.
So, why do so many organizations prioritize DEI but fail to move the needle? It's simple — you can increase diversity in the workforce, treat people fairly and even include them, but if they still don’t truly feel as though they belong, your efforts miss the mark. That’s why studies show that belonging is one of the most powerful predictors of DEI efficacy in the workforce. When employees feel that they truly belong at work, they feel more connected and committed. How people feel, and whether they feel as though they belong, is truly the key to DEI and connection.
Belonging Is Key To Engagement
If an increase in feelings of workplace connection isn't enough to get you to buy into belonging, here's another interesting fact: Belonging isn't just key to DEI; it's also the key to employee engagement.
This is where things get interesting. Studies have found that organizations with high levels of belonging also have higher employee net promoter scores (eNPS), which measure employee satisfaction and ambassadorship and are known to correlate with employee engagement. These same organizations also see improvement with respect to retention, intention to stay and measures of teamwork effectiveness, which are all important to organizations and impact the bottom line. This should make intuitive sense though. When people feel as though they’re accepted and part of something, they’re more willing to support one another and the goals of the organization.
However, this is probably one of the biggest blind spots in the field of human resources, where organizations haven't yet woken up to the value of belonging as a critical part of employee engagement and, for that reason, most organizations don't measure it on their engagement surveys. Or, if they do, it's seen as a pure engagement measure and is rarely included on a DEI scorecard, which typically focuses on diversity metrics alone. This is what we need to solve for in the year ahead: the siloed approach to DEI and employee engagement.
The Value Of An Integrated Approach To DEI And Engagement
What are the key takeaways?
1. Belonging is one of the most critical factors of individual and organization success today. Not just because of the increased need for connection stemming from the isolation of the pandemic, but because humans need to feel connected, and once they feel connected and accepted, that’s when they feel like they belong.
2. The best organizations will realize the value of belonging and take an integrated approach to focus on belonging.
So, although DEI is typically a discipline with its own measures and objectives, usually focused on increasing diverse representation and not on how engaged that diverse talent actually is, what I'm suggesting is bringing together DEI and engagement experts to focus on DEI and engagement in a more holistic and effective way.
Start by looking at employee engagement by demographic to uncover whether there are differences in the employee experience and in levels of engagement. Then look at the engagement levels of your most vulnerable demographics. How are you doing from that perspective? These will be your first clues as to whether you have a DEI problem.
Then, consider adding a measure of belonging to your engagement survey and, once again, look at how it differs by demographic. Rather than looking at overall engagement or belonging scores, which is what's most commonly done, looking at those measures by demographic is a more meaningful way of telling whether you have a DEI problem. That, complemented by your diverse representation targets, will tell you whether people feel as if they belong in your organization and if your DEI and engagement efforts are succeeding or need to be revisited.
By embedding meaningful measures of belonging into your DEI and engagement scorecards, you can align both causes and ensure that both succeed. It's time for us to stop measuring progress by action because simply taking action isn't good enough if it isn't effective. Let's instead hold ourselves and our peers to a higher bar and measure ourselves by impact, by whether our efforts help people feel as though they belong. If we don't solve for belonging, we risk missing the mark with both DEI and employee engagement.
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