A culture of belonging is an environment where people feel valued, safe, and included. It’s a business culture where people feel seen and heard.

A sense of belonging not only meets employees’ basic needs, it inspires their work and drives better business results

Microsoft’s 2022 Workplace Trend Index cited that 85% of employees would be motivated to come into the office if they could socialize with co-workers or rebuild team bonds. And according to qualtrics 2022 research study, only 20% of employees who feel they don’t belong are engaged, versus 91% of those who feel they do. This study as well as many others goes on to point out how engagement and connection drives retention, increased revenue, better customer experience, higher productivity.

In short, emotionally healthy employees who feel connected and engaged in the workplace tend to stay longer, perform better, and have lower absenteeism rates. Therefore a proactive commitment to workplace wellness, built on a foundation of connection is essential for driving workplace profitability.

Fostering connections and collaboration at work acknowledges that everyone brings value through their different experiences and perspectives creating a more meaningful product and workplace.

What are signs your workplace is using a check-the-box approach to wellness?

Companies prioritizing productivity over connection and categorizing investments in mental health as “discretionary spending” illustrates a prime example of a company that’s not invested but wants to pretend to be invested. Evidence of productivity taking priority over workplace connection and well-being are examples of a company that only measures success through quantifiable outcomes (e.g., revenue, output, or deadlines) rather than employee well-being or team cohesion.)

One of the biggest keys to employee burnout is excessive workload expectations.

Employees who are frequently pushed to deliver more in less time, with little attention paid to how it affects interpersonal relationships or workplace morale is a recipe for burnout. Some companies and managers put a high value on the “hustle culture” which glorifies face time at late hours, constant work, and individual output, leaving little room for fostering connection.

Tight deadlines and high-pressure environments often lead to deprioritizing connection-building activities, such as team-building exercises or mentorship programs.

What defines a “toxic work culture?”

All of the following are ingredients that can all add up to a fractured work culture that doesn’t foster new ideas or move the company mission forward.

• Unhealthy conflict and cutthroat competition
• Remote or hybrid work challenges that go unresolved
• Limited opportunities for interaction
• Employees who don’t feel seen, heard, or valued
• Lack of inclusivity
• Leadership that doesn’t value or model teamwork

How Do Companies Build a Cohesive Work Culture That Results in Wellness and Financial Success?

It won’t happen by lecturing, drilling, threatening, and making people feel ultra-pressured. That’s a recipe for burnout and turnover.

Creating a culture of connection includes everyone from leadership to junior employees. And you can make incremental changes over time to achieve that culture instead of a giant overhaul that is likely to be disruptive. Here are some thoughts to start building a culture of connection at your workplace and reap the benefits of a more productive workforce. Use the summary below to go to a specific section.

1. Set Goals and Policies for Creating a Culture of Workplace Connection

Ideally, this would start with an anonymous employee survey and the sharing of those results. This isn’t a 25-page handbook but one or two pages of where you will start to create that foundation based on what employees have shared.

• Communicate the organization’s shared goals and values, the mission and align employees’ roles with these objectives.
• Encourage a sense of purpose by showing how individual contributions impact the broader vision.
• Foster purpose by connecting individual contributions to the broader mission.
• Include recognition in this initiative. Some basketball teams will encourage teammates who made a basket to point to the person who made the pass (the assist) to acknowledge the points were a team effort for example.

2. Promote Team-Building Activities

• Part of a good mental health initiative with connection activities and icebreakers helps employees build resilience and define self-care strategies so they have the tools and resources to manage anxiety, adversity, change, and future leadership positions.
• Use proactive strategies to prevent crises and reduce costs. By focusing on early intervention, resilience-building, and providing the necessary tools and resources, organizations can reduce both the human and financial costs associated with managing crises after they occur. Crisis response always uses up more resources and time. Any effort to avoid that is a plus for any company HR team, DEI, or safety leader.

3. Offer Training, Events, and Create Opportunities for Personal Storytelling

Imagine the CEO talking about growing up in a household where one of the parents had substance use disorder (addiction). Or picture a manager telling her story about struggling with the imposter syndrome after she was first promoted. These stories connect with how others feel and are therefore meaningful connectors.

• Hire good, approachable and trained mental health speakers with lived experience who will share their stories and inspire your team to tell theirs while providing guidance, tips, and resources for good mental health.
• When you have training, focus on the people and their desire to chat in groups, laugh, eat, and experience something together. The skill building is important but the connection and interaction are essential to making it a meaningful event and making the learning stick.
• Include opportunities for employees to share stories at routine events such as meetings. (Use guidelines to help employees craft their messages and provide oversight. See eBook below.)

Free eBook: How to Craft Your Mental Health Story for Public Events

• Includes a content warning script template
• Clear steps to reviewing scripts & stories
• Safety guidelines for the event
• How to coach storytellers
• Handout templates for novice storytellers to write their narratives for panel events

Get the eBook

4. Encourage Collaboration to Strengthen Workplace Relationships

• Develop cross-departmental projects or mentorship programs to connect employees with diverse skill sets and backgrounds.
• Use collaborative tools like Slack, Asana, or Microsoft Teams to keep teams connected, especially in hybrid or remote work environments.
• If you have days employees come to work, make sure that groups of employees show up at the same time on the same day.
• Create opportunities for employees to share their thoughts through regular team meetings, feedback sessions, or anonymous surveys all during the year.
• Listen with your ears, not interrupting, or poo-pooing ideas to show input is valued and appreciated.

5. Cultivate Inclusivity and Actively Seek Alternate Voices and Viewpoints

• Investments in mental health resources, employee assistance programs (EAPs ), employee resource groups (ERGs or Affinity Groups), and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives reflect growing awareness.
• Seek out multiple perspectives from a wide array of individuals. If certain employees rarely provide opinions, ask privately and directly. When a group of employees is dominating the conversation, pause the discussion, say something like “Dan brings up a good point about logistics, I wonder what some of the rest of you think.” That way you don’t admonish those who are contributing but offering an opportunity for others by being more specific.
• By cultivating inclusivity you also want to avoid demanding perfection because we learn from blunders and mistakes. Let’s look for opportunities in those events.

6. Support Employee Well-Being

• Provide access to wellness programs, mental health resources, and stress management initiatives. This can start with asking 2-3 employees to put together some local resources, have a table, and offer a pdf of those resources.
• Allow flexibility in work schedules to accommodate employees’ personal needs and improve work-life balance.
• Your younger employees especially will appreciate this.

7. Model Good Listening and Lead by Example

• Listen more and lecture less
• Practice active listening to show that employee input is valued and appreciated without interrupting or solving their problems. Model behaviors that inspire connection, such as showing empathy, curiosity, being approachable, and engaging in workplace culture.
• Share personal stories or challenges to build authenticity and trust. Being vulnerable is hard but helpful. This doesn’t mean your whole life story but just a piece of it you are willing to share.

Successful workplaces recognize that connection fuels productivity. A positive work culture, where employees feel supported and valued, often leads to better performance, innovation, and loyalty. For companies lagging behind, embracing this balance is key to long-term success.

• Download the PDF of Corporate Mental Health Speaker Topics

• See the Mental Health Speaker for Workplace Programs Web Page

Workplace Mental Health Programs

Sources:

1. qualtrics 2022 Research Study
2. Gallup.com. The Increasing Importance of a Best Friend at Work. August 2022
3. Dept of Health and Human Services. Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. 2023
4. New Mental Health Cost Calculator Shows Why Investing in Mental Health is Good for Business, May 2021
5. A Sense of Belonging: Connection Makes Workplaces More Productive and Supportive
6. Work Design Principle #3: Improve Social Relationships in the Workplace
   

AnneMoss Rogers

AnneMoss Rogers is a leading wellness and suicide education expert and one of the top mental health speakers and suicide prevention speakers. Known for her powerful, motivational keynotes, AnneMoss combines her personal story of loss with proven strategies to help organizations build a wellness culture that drives results and saves lives.  She speaks at conferences, workplaces, K-12 schools, and universities, delivering impactful presentations that inspire change and promote mental health awareness.
AnneMoss does this work in memory of her son, Charles, who struggled with anxiety, depression, and addiction, and died by suicide at age 20 in 2015.