Belonging Elevates, Top Organizations Get It

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As mental wellness and personal disengagement evolves in the workplace, I’m beginning to think that belonging will garner even greater attention and be applied more intentionally.

It is a human condition and a deep need to belong. The research is overwhelmingly convincing. (Read our Belongify newsletter as an example).

The latest research by Gallup and others also reinforces the ever increasing importance of friendship to employee retention, belonging and thriving. Intuitively, this makes sense.

So the surprising outcome of this may be increased obligation and responsibility of organizations in rethinking the commitment to employee retention and personal thriving.

It is feasible to imagine public policy reinforcing the need for 100 percent employment for our collective well being. Beyond that, it is considerable that organizations get more public scrutiny on creating conditions for belonging. Organizations that are merely transactional may be subject to paying more tax of some kind?

As historical places for belonging (church, clubs, traditional extended families, etc.) become less impactful, society may reinforce the need for the workplace to be that primary place.

It is possible that organizations will be either incentivized and/or penalized based on their ability to create conditions for high thriving and Belonging. The days of capricious mass layoffs and/or termination may need to be reconsidered as acceptable from a public policy perspective? It may become incumbent on employers to navigate business models in ways that make termination of any kind a very last resort. Why? We do not want to remove people from an ecosystem of belonging. A recent study from the UBC suggests that employers underestimate the negative impact of layoffs over all. Financial algorithms relative to mass layoffs are evolving even without adding the negative impact and damage to Belonging.

This may sound like weird socialism at best, and a heavy handed limitation on businesses that must be agile and profit driven. On the other hand, we as a community cannot afford to have a society that is fragmented by increasingly isolated individuals, where loneliness and disenfranchisement translates into severe mental illness.

Almost all of us want to be part of, accepted, and able to contribute and thrive. Where we work and who we work with is a vital component to this. So the question is, “how might we create those conditions and recognize that loneliness is just not affordable?”

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: This could be viewed as a tricky predicament, however, what a great opportunity for self-accountability. Why on Earth would historical places for belonging become less naturally acceptable? They haven’t really gone anywhere. Yet it takes our individual effort to involve ourselves. We don’t HAVE to go to church or join clubs, however in one way or another, there’s more incentive to earn a living, so of course work is perhaps our most reliable environment to find a sense of belonging. So, as leaders, can we provide a place where people can be their true, authentic selves? As individuals, can we do our best to be collaborative, valuable assets, and as appealing as possible? Combating loneliness and maintaining mental wellbeing isn’t easy, yet we’re blessed with the opportunity to strive for it, and we’re worth the challenge.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Belonging Elevates, Top Organizations Get It

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