It’s a fundamental human need. It means we’re welcome as our whole selves, we’re deeply connected to others, we’re fully seen, and we can make our own choices. (Check out UC Berkeley’s Hossein Ayazi’s amazing work.) It’s what employees want most, and it drives happiness and profit. (Indeed.com and Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre have great new research.)

If belonging is your thing

It’s how we feel. Professionally, it’s how we feel at work and about work, including job satisfaction, emotional experience, achievement, and purpose. (Definition from Oxford experts Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward.) Deep wellbeing is directly linked to recruitment, retention, productivity, engagement, and financial performance.

Want to nurture wellbeing?

It’s the energy and enthusiasm we feel about our jobs and workplaces,
and it’s driven by feeling included, enjoying positive work relationships, and knowing
managers and leaders support our ideas, performance, and growth. It’s linked to
improved loyalty and retention, better performance and productivity, greater wellbeing,
customer satisfaction, and organizational success.
Want to ramp up engagement?

It’s completing something by effort, courage, or skill, that sparks happiness, satisfaction, pride, confidence, motivation, or performance. It brings us peace, too. No matter big or small, simple or earth-shattering, alone or with others, achievement feels great and moves us forward.

Pursuing achievement?

It’s about creating new skills, perspectives, relationships, awareness, and achievements. It’s about taking on and solving intriguing challenges. It’s about transforming ourselves and our systems. Maybe it’s a need. Definitely it’s a longing, even if sometimes it’s also scary.  Ideally, expansion betters us, sometimes beyond what we thought possible.

Longing for expansion?