Everyone has a need to belong. Unfortunately, at a time when diversity in the workplace is a topic sure to incite controversy and passionate debate, some employees have a more difficult time feeling they belong than others.
Individuals of minority backgrounds of race, ethnicity, gender or sexual identity might have a harder time fitting in to your workplace than you might expect. Research from the Harvard Business Review reports that 37% of African-Americans and Hispanics and 45% of Asians feel that they “need to compromise their authenticity” in order to match organizational norms.
And that’s a problem because when employees do not feel they belong, performance suffers. Workplace morale takes a hit, leading to increased turnover rates. An organization will not function well under these conditions, so it is up to organizational leadership to create ways for all workers to feel that essential sense of belonging.
Results might not happen instantaneously, but there are several steps organizational leaders can take to increase inclusion in their organization. Not all these steps are easy to undertake or even identify, but fortunately, we can turn to suggestions that come from the likes of Howard J. Ross, author of Our Search for Belonging and partner at Udarta Consulting in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Declare an easy-to-read mission statement about inclusion and circulate it throughout your organization. Workers need to have a shared sense of purpose. Ross feels that this sense of shared purpose is essential, saying “The more people feel they are the same, the more they see their experiences as collective.”
A final note to remember, your organization is not alone in its effort to promote inclusion. You can find inspiration and examples in several leading businesses and organizations already striving to forge these pathways.
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