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A recent report from the Charles Butt Foundation clearly indicates that many experienced and novice educators are leaving the profession due to a myriad of factors. For instance, today's educators face strict scrutiny about what they teach, how they teach it and what materials they assign, especially in light of record-breaking book bans. Faculty and staff shoulder similar pressures in higher education where work life tends to be student-centered, team-oriented and results-driven, requiring employees to labor long hours, wear multiple hats, juggle competing priorities and go above the call of duty.
As if that's not enough, reports show that approximately two-thirds of education professionals feel undervalued, unappreciated and underpaid, which compromises their sense of belonging at work (hereafter, workplace belonging) and leads to burnout. Consequently, they silently resign, stay with little motivation or leave the profession altogether.
In this article, we offer a perspective on workplace belonging, explain how it is linked to key outcomes in all business sectors and present several actionable steps or promising practices for recruiting and retaining diverse professionals, while also fostering belonging and success as leaders. This is particularly relevant for those who lead education at the K-12 and higher education levels, but may also prove useful to corporate leaders and entrepreneurs in business, government, medicine and technology, to name a few.
Related: The 3 Pillars Your Company Needs to Cultivate a Culture of Belonging
Workplace belonging — A primer
Workplace belonging refers to the sense of connection and acceptance employees feel within a work environment. It involves feeling valued, respected and included while also being able to fully participate and contribute to the organization, according to sources. Belonging is one of five essential workplace qualities that ensure workers' psychological health and well-being, according to APA's 2023 Work in America Survey. Figure 1 presents a visual summary.
Whether at home, school or work, a sense of belonging is a basic need, a human right. It's a universal motive sufficient to drive behaviors — that is, people do something to satisfy their urgent need to belong. They may join a club (e.g., employee resource groups), go back to school, seek new employment or dye their hair blue. The weight of empirical evidence shows that belonging is context-dependent, meaning that its value and significance rely, in part, on the background or situation in which it is used for proper interpretation. So, though related, school belonging is not the same as general belongingness or workplace belonging.
When employees experience a sense of belonging in the workplace, it creates a positive work environment that fosters collaboration, innovation and productivity. Feeling valued and accepted allows individuals to bring their authentic selves to work, leading to increased engagement, cooperation, help-seeking (and giving) and commitment to their tasks and employing organization. On the flip side, lack of belonging is a top driver contributing to the Great Resignation, according to expert sources.
The Great Places to Work study discovered several positive outcomes consistently associated with workplace belonging. For instance, employees who rate higher on workplace belonging also tend to feel better about their jobs and work cooperatively with others. Four key results from the study that relate to the present topic include: (Employees who experience true belonging are…)
3x more likely to look forward to work
3x more likely to say their workplace is fun
9x as likely to believe people are treated equitably
5x more likely to stick around
Research has shown that a strong sense of workplace belonging can have significant positive gains, especially for education personnel. It can lead to increased job satisfaction and work-related happiness, which can result in higher productivity and lower burnout. It can also foster deeper institutional commitment, leading to less turnover, more stability and greater creativity and innovation.
In short, the key to workplace belonging is trust, and trust is defined as a foundational building block for culture. It depends, in part, on staff knowing your intentions, believing your commitments and understanding your behaviors. Boosting employees' sense of belonging at work takes time, and thus, belonging is built at the speed of trust.
Related: How Leaders Can Foster a Sense of Belonging in the Workplace — and Why It's Important
Ways to recruit, retain and regain employees
Building a culture of belonging requires a proactive approach from organizational leaders and managers. It involves creating an inclusive environment where every employee feels valued, respected and supported. Here are some strategies organizations can implement to foster workplace belonging for staff and broaden professional pipelines:
Cultivate psychological safety using a variety of evidence-based, proven strategies:
Psychological safety refers to feeling able to speak up freely, ask questions, make mistakes and take risks without fear of judgment, negative consequences or retaliation. Promising practices include active listening, open dialogue, "no-judgment" zones and creating "brave spaces" where diverse perspectives are celebrated though they courageously challenge the majority. When employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work, they thrive and flourish.
Offer equitable pay and financial incentives to help attract, (re)gain and retain diverse, talented educators and employees:
For example, ZipRecruiter reports the average teacher salary in Texas is $41,544, ranging from as low as $19,565 to well over $64,000, which means some public school teachers are paid less than a living wage. District leaders, administrators and policymakers must advocate for higher, more equitable pay for such teachers — it's hard to feel like you matter and belong when you're not compensated fairly for the work you do. Financial incentives like salary raises, relocation assistance, tuition reimbursement, paid time off and signing bonuses can go a long way in improving the perception of prospective staff.
Foster an inclusive culture of acceptance and respect to ensure staff can show up authentically and feel safe and secure at work:
By authentic, we mean freely expressing oneself without fear of judgment or pressure to alter one's true identity to fit in. Leaders might consider creating ERGs for underrepresented groups, book clubs and/or offer training about positive workplace culture to ensure psychological and physical safety and security across and within teams.
Encourage employees to share their work with broader audiences:
We've both had times where excitement about sharing our work with broader audiences was viewed by "them" as far more personal than professional. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Teachers and other educators presenting at conferences, speaking on podcasts, writing op-eds and selling books benefit both the individual and the employing institution. Sure, these activities can help raise the visibility of the educator, and that makes a lot of sense. But they also improve the visibility and reputation of the institution.
For instance, after speaking at conferences, we've heard from prospective students expressing strong interest in our campuses. Worried parents have reached out on LinkedIn, excited to know that their student "finally has someone" they can depend upon. And as if that's not enough, we both regularly get calls from colleagues who see this "good work" and, consequently, want to apply for jobs at our institutions, although neither of us has ever worked in HR. By engaging in public-facing work, employees become pro bono recruiters and ambassadors, representing the brand to their trusted networks.
With all of this in mind, we advise leaders to recognize the value of such activities when recruiting new staff, reviewing job applications and interviewing candidates who might bring much-needed transferable skills from broadcasting, non-profit, social media and other fields to the organization. On the other hand, in terms of retaining effective educators, we recommend encouraging and celebrating these activities by posting their work on social media, sharing it in monthly newsletters and highlighting it in faculty/staff meetings. These highly effective practices do several things.
First, they authorize engagement in such activities. Second, they signal the importance of this work and demonstrate that you see its connection to the mission. Lastly, they communicate publicly that this work is seen, supported and valued by leadership, thereby encouraging transparency and boosting one's sense of belonging, which is a win-win for everyone.
Related: How to Create a Workplace Culture Where Everyone Feels Like They Belong
As consultants, we work with leaders across the globe. In a recent meeting with one of the largest online programs in the United States, we asked the leadership team to share advice they would offer other leaders to improve workplace conditions. They recommended:
- Creating healthy work conditions to reduce, if not eliminate, work-related anxiety and stress: Healthy employees are happy employees. Promising practices for promoting health and well-being at work include Zoom-Free Fridays, paid time off, mental health days and on-the-job wellness initiatives such as yoga, chair massages and walking meetings, just to mention a few.
- Acknowledging that educators and other staff manage various responsibilities from advising to assessment, planning to pedagogy: These responsibilities take a large amount of time and energy. There may be days when an email might not be answered within 48 hours, a call might not be returned on the same day or staff might take a day off for mental health reasons. While these situations are not ideal, they reflect the real-life challenges people face in balancing their professional and personal duties. Honoring the complexity of people's lives begs a shift in perspective, one that prioritizes grace over guilt, patience over perfection.
- Taking time to pause and celebrate small wins: Too many leaders fall into the trap of celebrating individual or team success at the end of the project, missing opportunities to celebrate multiple milestones along the journey. Leaders can celebrate the journey through simple gestures such as a handwritten note to an employee citing specific examples of excellence, a letter nominating them for an award or a gift card to one's favorite restaurant or store. These small gestures act as "fuel stations," boosting morale, increasing confidence and keeping everyone motivated.
In today's climate, K-12 and postsecondary educators face many challenges that can compromise their work, health and well-being. They are not alone, as most, if not all, of these issues challenge workers in other fields, too. Let's be clear: Workplace belonging is an important part of the formula to improve efficiency, morale and productivity. To foster feelings of belonging, leaders must do the hard work, which requires prioritization and planning to satisfy people's need to feel seen, supported and valued at work.
Remember: Belonging is not magic, but it can produce magical results. Presto!
This article was co-authored with J'Quen Johnson, Ph.D. candidate at the University of the Cumberlands and Director of Research at Do Good Work Consulting.
