{"id":523751,"date":"2022-12-08T17:52:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T14:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-big-idea-we-need-to-make-work-more-welcoming\/"},"modified":"2022-12-08T17:52:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T14:52:58","slug":"the-big-idea-we-need-to-make-work-more-welcoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-big-idea-we-need-to-make-work-more-welcoming\/","title":{"rendered":"#The Big Idea: We need to make work more welcoming"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fc14052845\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fc14052845\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-big-idea-we-need-to-make-work-more-welcoming\/#%E2%80%9CThe_Big_Idea_We_need_to_make_work_more_welcoming%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;The Big Idea: We need to make work more welcoming&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThe_Big_Idea_We_need_to_make_work_more_welcoming%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;The Big Idea: We need to make work more welcoming&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            &#8220;One of the biggest business liabilities is isolation.&#8221;\u00a0\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\">Kim Samuel <\/span>is the founder of the Samuel Centre for <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social<\/a> Connectedness in Montreal. She is also the author o<span class=\"s2\">f<\/span><span class=\"s3\"> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/onbelongingbook.com\/\">On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation.<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">There\u2019s much to love<\/span> about remote work. You can accomplish a lot from the comfort of your own kitchen table, zip out for <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ointments as needed and be available to care for small children. The commute is definitely shorter. And yet, as freeing as all that flexibility may be, it comes at a price. There\u2019s a reason these last couple of years have given rise to worker movements like \u201cthe Great Resignation.\u201d In the absence of water coolers, face-to-face meetings and semi-regular pizza lunches, employers are now forced to work harder to maintain a sense of cultural cohesion. These days, one of the biggest business liabilities is isolation.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">We already know that loneliness is associated with a whole host of health problems\u2014sleep issues, heart disease, depression, even premature death. It\u2019s also toxic for workplaces. A 2021 study by the consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Company examined what\u2019s behind the record-high rates of quitting worldwide. When researchers asked managers why they thought their workers had left their jobs, respondents pointed to issues like low pay and a lack of work-life balance. But surprisingly, more than half of employees said it was because they didn\u2019t feel a sense of community at work. Whether or not teams stay hybrid, belonging has to become an orienting principle, not just a nice-to-have\u2014from big boardrooms to factory floors. In 2023 and beyond, employees need to feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to the job.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">I realize that the word \u201cbelonging,\u201d a con<\/span>cept I\u2019ve based my entire work life around, might seem to some like soft stuff. I also know that businesspeople like metrics, so here are a few: according to a Gallup poll from last September, employees who feel connected to their workplace are almost four times more engaged, almost 70 per cent less likely to report burnout and, crucially, 55 per cent less likely to be on the hunt for a new job.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The idea that work must be a source of interpersonal fulfillment\u2014rather than just a source of a paycheque\u2014is a seismic shift. More and more, managers will have to build bonds by controlling less and listening more. They\u2019ll have to move away from prescriptive, top-down policies and toward those \u201csofter\u201d interpersonal practices, like <span class=\"s2\">asking connection-building questions, giv<\/span><span class=\"s3\">ing positive feedback and putting away their phones during one-on-ones. They\u2019ll need to ask, and genuinely care, about workers\u2019 needs and values\u2014right from the hiring stage. Does a prospective<\/span> employee want to work at a company that cares about its carbon footprint? Do they <span class=\"s2\">need more flexible hours to deal with child- <\/span>or elder-care responsibilities? Do <span class=\"s2\">they feel passionate about attending regu<\/span>lar holiday parties? How do they define meaningful work? In the business world, there\u2019s a lot of talk about \u201ctone from the top,\u201d but in truly welcoming workplaces, culture comes from the middle.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">There are plenty of other practical <\/span><span class=\"s3\">policy changes that can make employees<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> feel more at home at work. I may be alone in this, but I think onboarding should involve much more than a week of legal box-checking and form-filling. At the moment, businesses treat the process more like an exercise in compliance than a meet-and-greet with new team members. Companies could pair each new worker with a designated mentor, one who acts as a reliable resource and sounding board long after the health-and-safety slideshows are over. With a friendly first point of contact, employees might feel like their voice matters from the beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u201cBelonging\u201d only began to gather steam as a business buzzword in the last few years\u2014and it really took off with COVID. Its spiritual predecessor was diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. In the U.S. alone, $8 billion is funnelled into DEI initiatives every year. Togetherness is such a key corporate priority nowadays that big-name institutions like Harvard University, Nordstrom and DoorDash have installed executives with titles like \u201cvice-president of global culture, belonging and people growth.\u201d That said, just because a company throws words like \u201cinclusion\u201d around doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it\u2019s inclusive. Many times, their initiatives are metric-focused: they count how many LGBTQ people were promoted in the last year, the ratio of men to women in the C-suite and, recently, how many Ukrainian refugees they\u2019ve hired. The distinction between DEI and pure marketing has never been more important. Ernst &amp; Young recently surveyed 5,000 workers around the world and found that roughly half of respondents felt lonelier at work now than they did before the pandemic. It\u2019s a good time to re-examine what those inclusion programs actually achieve.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">To me, what matters is tracking how an individual feels when they get up and go to work\u2014gender, race and sexual orientation aside. And to do that, we need to go deeper than merely looking at org charts; we need to use a bit of imagination. Just as magazines like this one track, say, Canada\u2019s best universities, I\u2019d love to see a new metric developed by an independent body that specifically assesses companies\u2019 belonging scores. The metrics would be qualitative: is the office accessible? How much sway do workers have in overall decision-making? Do they feel supported?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Another, more concrete way for workers<\/span> to exercise their right to belong is to give them a tangible investment in their companies. I\u2019ve found that some of the most engaged employees are part of co-operative, worker-owned businesses that offer share-ownership plans\u2014a model commonly known as economic democracy. These workers don\u2019t just have a token seat at the table; they have a stake in how their company is run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">I often cite the example of Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, Ohio. It\u2019s a network of worker-owned businesses, including laundry services and renewable energy firms, many of which hire individuals who have previously faced significant hurdles to employment, like criminal records. At Evergreen, employees are board members and primary stakeholders. In Canada, NorthernNations Cooperative has brought disparate Indigenous-owned businesses under one shared entity to increase their branding and purchasing power. Both enterprises owe their success to their workers\u2019 collective values. Is that kind of co-operation consistent with the free-enterprise system? You bet it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Don\u2019t get me wrong: what I\u2019m saying isn\u2019t purely altruistic. Belonging is good for business, and there will always be a need for personal boundaries at work. Offices (online or elsewhere) may never reach the level of intimacy available at social gathering places like churches and sports clubs. But there\u2019s no denying how important a sense of community is to employee satisfaction and retention, especially now. With a record number of job vacancies in Canada, no one could fault workers for seeking out positions that make full use of their individual gifts\u2014and companies who value them, too. Times have changed, but I know what it\u2019s like to be an intern with your boss putting their name on your work. I know what it\u2019s like to feel invisible. All these lonely workers seem to be saying, \u201cI want to know that my time and my ideas matter. And that it matters that I am here and not someone else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>This article appears in print in the January 2023 issue of<\/em> Maclean\u2019s <em>magazine. Buy the issue for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canadianmags.ca\/collections\/macleans-single-issues\">$9.99<\/a> or better yet, subscribe to the monthly print magazine for just\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canadianmags.ca\/collections\/macleans-single-issues\">$39.99<\/a><\/em>.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1242158 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Cover_January_DRE-e1669907996601.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"666\" height=\"909\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/society\/big-idea-work-loneliness-welcome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The Big Idea: We need to make work more welcoming&#8221; &#8220;One of the biggest business liabilities is isolation.&#8221;\u00a0 Kim Samuel is the founder of the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness in Montreal. She is also the author of On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation. There\u2019s much to love about remote work. You&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":523752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Mac_Pyramid_Final-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[130648],"class_list":["post-523751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-the-big-idea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}