Engagement is driven by belonging!

Feeling you belong is not just an optional emotion we would like to have at work.  Belonging is a universal need of all humans and the driver of active engagement and success whenever we are working with anyone else.  All humans follow a simple formula.  If we feel accepted, we accept in return (Self Determination Theory) and when we accept in return we move into an engaged community where positive engagement happens with those around us (Social Determination Theory).

Let’s just think about life for a moment and answer a few questions: 

• If you are in a relationship and you don’t feel you belong, what do you do? – Leave
• If you in a sporting team or club and don’t feel you belong, your not accepted what do you do?  – Leave
• If you in a workplace and don’t feel you belong, what do you do?  – Leave be it physically or passive disengagement; either way you’re gone!

We all have our own definition of what it means to belong. There is however proven links and universal truth about belonging that unite all humans and understanding these and learning the leader skills that optimise  them is what Cognito specialise in.  This series of articles on belonging will explore the dramatic implications belonging in the workplace context.

Belonging from Cognito

At Cognito building a sense of Belonging is how we deliver dependable outcomes to our clients and helps us consistently achieve our purpose of guiding others to lead businesses that deliver high engagement, collective purpose and delivers freedom to all in a sustainable harmonious manner.  We know this is possible and the formula on how to deliver this.  It’s what we have been doing successfully for 30 years. 

Belonging is the absolute core of everything we do, why we do it, and how we do it.   Having a collective sense of belonging isn’t merely a nice-to-have element in the workplace; it’s a vital component that directly impacts a company’s ability to achieve their purpose, performance, productivity, profit, provide a dependable future for all and deliver the leader the freedom they desire. 

Cost to business of staff not feeling they belong.

The absence of belonging can lead to a host of significant issues, including:

1. Restricting Leader Freedom: When leaders fail to cultivate a sense of individual and collective belonging within their teams, they often find themselves ensnared in the day-to-day issues of poor-performing teams. This restriction of their freedom, both in terms of time and focus, hampers their ability to leverage their strengths, bill at premium rates, and even take well-deserved holidays.  No belonging = no active engagement more about this further down.
2. High Turnover Rates: When employees don’t feel a sense of belonging, they will seek opportunities elsewhere or stay displaying passive or active disengagement. This results in higher turnover rates, which are costly and disruptive for businesses.
3. Diminished Productivity, performance and profit: Without a sense of belonging, employees will lack the motivation to engage and will increase their passive disengagement or just leave. This leads to diminished productivity and suboptimal performance and reduction in profit. 
4. Lack of Innovation: Belonging fosters an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas and taking risks. When this is absent, innovation will suffer. Employees will be hesitant to contribute new ideas, share and even engage in active thinking and problem solving.  
5. Decreased Employee Wellbeing: Belonging is closely tied to emotional and physical wellbeing. When employees don’t feel like they belong, it can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and a decline in overall wellbeing with all the complex business costs associated. 
6. Struggles in Leadership: Leaders who don’t foster a sense of belonging among their teams and business will find it challenging to lead effectively. Trust and cooperation will be lacking, making it difficult to achieve team goals and sustain any form of growth.
7. Difficulty Attracting Talent: In today’s competitive job market, a strong sense of belonging can be a key differentiator for businesses looking to attract top talent. Without it, recruiting can become a formidable challenge.  Why would anyone want to move or stay where there is no sense of belonging. 
8. Negative Organizational Culture: The absence of belonging will contribute to a negative organisational culture characterized by mistrust, apathy, and disengagement. This can erode the foundation of the company.  

Belonging: Catalyst for Active Engagement

Belonging is far from a passive emotion; it is an active catalyst that propels individuals towards meaningful participation and engagement. When you truly feel a sense of belonging, you’re not just part of a group; you’re an essential component of a community. It’s a reciprocal dance of acceptance and inclusivity that nurtures the conditions for active engagement to thrive.  Proof is needed.  Everyone of us has seen this in our own life and that of our family & friends but what does the research say.

Drawing from Prof: John Hattie’s seminal meta-analysis which examined the impact single actions had on engagement and therefore performance reinforces the critical link between belonging and engagement. A 0.4 variation for having a sense of belonging signifies that people can and will actively engage when they feel a sense of belonging. Conversely and maybe more powerfully a -0.27 variation shows that the absence of feeling you belonging guarantees disengagement, absenteeism or worse active sabotage. 

For the data heads and research junkies reading you will note that 0.4 is not huge. However, let’s put it another way.  If there is a sense of belonging all the other leader skills and behaviours, the positive team’s environment and organisational design can have an impact.  Things you are skilled at can have an impact.  If there is no belonging, all the skills, desires and dreams you may have will not gain traction.

When there is no belonging nothing the leader does, anyone else does or any part of the organisational design will have a positive impact and increase the engagement nor stop the disengagement.  Its simple formula as shown above.  Belonging = Engagement and no belonging = no engagement

Having a sense of belonging is a universal need of all humans.  This will be explored in future articles examining universal needs taxonomies from Maslow to Fiona Stanley. 

The Nuanced Dimensions of Belonging

Belonging is more than just feeling your accepted.  We are complex people, just feeling you belong professionally at work is not enough.  We have 4 spheres that we need to feel accepted in before we feel we belong.  Belonging is therefor considered a multi-dimensional concept, encompassing 4 vital aspects:

1. Professional Belonging: At its core, professional belonging assures individuals that their skills and contributions are recognized and valued. This encourages employees to actively engage and contribute their best efforts.
2. Social Belonging: Beyond the professional sphere, social belonging involves forming genuine connections with colleagues. These bonds foster camaraderie, trust, and a shared sense of purpose, promoting collaboration and idea sharing.
3. Emotional Belonging: Emotional belonging addresses the realm of feelings and emotional wellbeing. It entails creating an environment where individuals can express themselves authentically and have their emotional needs acknowledged and met.
4. Worldview or Spiritual Belonging (Secondary): While not universally applicable, some individuals may find belonging through shared values, beliefs, or a sense of higher purpose.

How to build professional belonging: 

There are core skills a leader needs to build belonging.  The table below is an overview of thes

Example of building professional belonging.

Professional belonging is influenced by many factors.  Having a defined purpose is just one but without clarity on the role, what and how to do things, expected standards, how to get help and feedback how will anyone ever have clarity and feel they professionally belong.  

Additionally professional belonging is based on each staff members perception of the leader behaviours, their engagement with their team as well as the design of the organisation.  

Let’s think of a new hire and what will influence if they feel they professional belong (not social, emotional or world view that is in further articles) at the end of their first week.  

In their first week most go through an online induction and are often asked by their “mentor” the world’s worst question “do you have any questions?”.  Most don’t because they don’t yet know what they don’t know, or they want to appear strong and don’t want to give a bad impression or many other options.  The reason why they don’t ask is really irrelevant what matters is they don’t ask, and worse those who asked the question then assume the new hire fully understand.  3 assumptions about the new hire are then made.

• They have been trained.
• They can do the job and understand everything we want them to know.
• If they don’t do the job to the standard required, it’s their fault and were not a good hire.

What are 5 things new hires telling us make them feel like they professionally belong and want to engage actively with the next phase of being part of a team?

1. When they receive any feedback on their induction engagement or work?  Especially positive feedback that have specific observational comments about things they are doing well (we want you to do this more) and things we don’t want you to do more.
2. When they have clarity on the roles and what they need to do to be successful?
3. When they have clarity on what and how to do the roles and can verbally explain it?
4. When they have clarity on the standards, they are expected to deliver in their initial learning phase and how that standard will increase over time and can express it verbally?
5. When we have clarity on how to get help, go and ask for it and help is given feely.

As leaders if we want to build professional belonging that will increase engagement let’s ask better questions of ourselves and if we are brave our new hires. 

• How does this induction make you feel as new hire?  
• Do you feel like you are accepted by others here?
• Share with us all that you now know about your role, processes and standards so we can check for understanding.

Leader behaviours and belonging

Belonging is not a passive feeling; there is a direct link between feeling you belong and active engagement. When employees feel they belong (in at least 3 of the 4 spheres), they can and will participate actively in team discussions, offer innovative solutions, and invest their time and energy into their work. This heightened level of engagement evolves into mastery, where individuals continuously refine their skills, excel in their roles, and make meaningful contributions to their organisations’ purpose.  Mastery level belonging increases independence and decreases reliance on direct leader time providing increased productivity, performance, profit and leader freedom.

The perception of how we lead and the leader behaviours that set the standard of behaviour for all in every organisation are the data by which staff assess if they are accepted.   The impact every leader has on the perceived level of belonging and the therefore the level of engagement is huge.  

In conclusion, the power of belonging is undeniable. It serves as the catalyst for active engagement and the cornerstone of mastery, directly impacting business success. Businesses that cultivate environments fostering professional, social, and emotional belonging empower individuals to become the driving forces behind innovation, productivity, and overall success. In essence, belonging propels individuals and businesses alike to achieve remarkable heights.

Cognito are specialists in how to build collective belonging unlocking the power of the team multiplier effect where teams deliver much more than is possible individually.  We can provide businesses with a real competitive advantage and most often the leaders with the freedom they crave.  Contact us to explore more.

Brad has been providing a competitive advantage to multi-million-dollar businesses, educational establishments, government agencies and NFP organisations for 25 years. He specialises in leader skills and behaviours that build a collective sense of belonging delivering active engagement at all levels of a business.  Brad teaches and coaches leaders how to create a sense of belonging, highly engaged teams and provides leaders with mastery level skills that gifts them the freedom they desire. Brad excels at embedding high levels active engagement with organisational design so great leaders and engaged teams are not sabotaged by the design and function of the organisation they belong to.