The Importance of Belonging to a Team
More than any other factor, to foster a sense of “belonging” can be one of the most important goals of any team. As McKinsey Health Institute points out, “Feeling connected at work is associated with greater innovation, engagement, and quality of work”.
As many of us are clearly aware, the instinct to be part of the team is very strong in most people. All of us are continually looking for like-minded individuals to connect with. Some of our best and deepest connections can be achieved with our managers, colleagues, co-workers and employees. These human connections are what can lead to the strongest teams, and the best results.
How to create a sense of belonging in your organization
According to Cornell University, “belonging” is “the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group.”
Creating the best environment for optimal team functioning is difficult. Does my quarterly pizza party excite the team? Will an Employee Recognition and Rewards system infuse my team with a sense of belonging? The short answer to these questions is: No.
It is worth taking a moment to consider various life situations to help identify the key elements that make us feel like we belong. Shared experiences and interests are the basis of most of our sense of belonging.
Shared Experience
For example, many feel a strong bond with former schools and workplaces. Places where they developed many personal relationships and connections. Most of us are proud to belong to the groups that we feel part of. This includes the association with a respected employer or organization. Sharing experiences is probably the most valuable form of team building. The shared experiences fast-track a feeling of belonging. Experience-sharing is costly and difficult to arrange, but is usually worth the additional effort and expense due to the tremendous sense of belonging that can be achieved.
Shared Interests
Whereas shared experiences are the gold-standard of team-building, shared interests are the building-blocks to achieve a greater sense of belonging and inclusion. The best part about shared interests is that they can be experienced at very low cost relative to shared experiences. Understanding and taking advantage of this fact is huge.
If you want to see an example of Shared Interests at work you can look at things like Facebook Groups, Discord Channels and Patreon. These platforms allow users to congregate based on shared interests (for example, a group for dog-lovers).
Does your team have any interests that they share? This is hard to know. The best way to solve this is to allow the team to self-identify interests at their discretion. Once the common interests have been identified, you can structure programs to fuel the natural synergies that will develop between participants.
Structuring programs to engender or increase a sense of team-belonging
By using a flexible, yet structured, approach to defining your Employee Collaboration Programs, you can create your custom program that leverages the team-specific shared interests. For example, if your employees have a shared interest around Music and Concerts, your program can be Music-Concert themed. This would include rewards and recognition that are musically themed. Awards could be called “Rock Star” of the month, for example. Redemption of awards could provide tickets to various concert venues. If pets are the shared interest of a team, then rewards and recognition can be focused around this ecosystem.
The Pravici RnR - Recognition & Rewards is the only SaaS platform that provides all the necessary features to allow you to create your custom program that reflects the great culture that you already have, or create a new culture where a fresh-breath is needed. A few examples of the types of programs that are being rolled-out with fabulous improvements in engagement and employee satisfaction:
Hot - Rods: Program focused on high-end performance vehicles
(AFA) Animals for Animals: Animal and conservation theme
Comic-Kids: Comic book and movie events
Eco-Warriors: Declaring a war on pollution.
The key is that your incentive programs should address and re-enforce the natural interests that your teams have. This is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. We have diverse teams. We need to provide incentives and engagement opportunities that are compelling and interesting for everyone.
Start recognizing and rewarding your employees the right way. Reach out to Pravici today!
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