Recognizing Pride in the Workplace Is Only the Start

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

It can be challenging to define what ‘belonging’ looks like in the workplace. But how people experience belonging can change their feelings related to where they work.

LaFawn Davis, from Indeed.com, defines belonging at work as “a feeling of community with the people and environments that make us feel connected.”

The Gallup organization defines it as a “feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group.”

Large organizations, like Deloitte, describe belonging “as how organizations can foster diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities for the worker and how they feel like a member of the broader world. This impacts how an employee shows up and feels comfortable being themselves — and how they contribute to an organization’s common goals.”

So belonging can range from feelings of community to feelings of security. It can include how we show up and also how we contribute to the work we share.

I believe that even when one of these parts is missing, it can make it appear as if we don’t belong there.

When I started my career in student affairs, I had a couple of incidents occur that galvanized my belief that institutional support of racism, sexism, homophobia…