Change Work Culture for the Better

(gentle upbeat music) So this was earlier in my career, so I was also younger and I had just started at a new company, didn't know anyone. So through no real fault of their own, I didn't feel safe around them and was pulled into a meeting pretty early on. About 10 minutes into the meeting, I thought I had a pretty good idea and I was about to say something, and then I immediately stopped myself. "Should I say this? Does this sound stupid? Has someone suggested this before and it was obviously a bad idea?" When I sort of tuned back into the meeting, it was ending. So not only had I not shared my idea, I had no idea what next steps were or action items, roles and responsibilities, any of those very important things that are discussed at the end of a meeting. And it was ultimately 'cause I didn't feel belonging. It is important to check in. How are you really doing? How are you doing as a human? Like those are really good questions to ask. There are these seemingly small things, right? They take like one minute, five minutes max, and yet they are much more effective at helping people both feel safe, but also surfacing all of these great ideas that might be hidden if you just let the loudest person dictate the conversation. (gentle upbeat music) Molly and I define belonging as diversity is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice, and belonging is having that voice be heard. To be clear, belonging does not mean feeling like you fit in. It means feeling like you are safe and supported and bringing everything that makes you unique to the conversation. If you're a leader, belonging impacts retention, performance, employee engagement. If you're an individual contributor, belonging affects how safe you feel at work, whether you want to show up and how well you can do. Research shows that high belonging is linked to a whopping 56% improvement in job performance and a 50% drop in turnover risk. And yet 40% of Americans say they feel isolated at work. (gentle upbeat music) Anyone on the team can make a difference. Seemingly small gestures can have an enormous effect on how we feel we can show up and who we feel we can be at work. One of the most powerful ways is to recognize when someone's done something or shared a unique idea. So if someone suggests a new perspective in a meeting, immediately jump in and say, "Thank you. I hadn't thought about it that way, and it's really important that you bring that up." If you're a manager, I really encourage you to do this because, again, you are setting and modeling the norms that the rest of the team will follow. (gentle upbeat music) According to LinkedIn data, almost half of US workers think that remote work hinders your ability to get a promotion, even...