Belonging: A Fresh Look At Engagement

Belonging requires work, but it’s well worth the effort for individuals, for organizations, for societies.

By Rodger Dean Duncan

Okay, take this quick test: What’s the leading cause of mortality?

a. High blood pressure

b. High cholesterol

c. Inactivity (no exercise)

d. Social isolation

e. Fast foods

f. Alcohol

g. Obesity

h. Depression

Answer: D – social isolation

This may surprise you. But in this high tech age when it’s so easy to peek into the lives of complete strangers, more and more people are feeling isolated.

The phenomenon has far-reaching implications for all of us. So to get an expert opinion on the issue, I interviewed University of Michigan business professor Dave Ulrich.

Who’s Dave Ulrich? Business Week ranked him as the #1 management guru, Fast Company profiled him as one of the world’s top ten creative people in business, and Thinkers50 (Hall of Fame) tapped him as one of the world’s leading business thinkers. He’s also written many of the most prominent books in the field of human resources, including The Why of Work. In other words, he’s earned the right to be listened to.

Here are some of his thoughts on why the issue of belonging deserves our attention.

Rodger Dean Duncan: In your work with individuals and organizations, what do you see as the impact of social isolation?

Dave Ulrich: The U.S. Surgeon General stated that loneliness is more serious a health problem than opiates. To illustrate this rising problem, the number of Americans with “no friends” has tripled since 1985. The U.K. has just named a Minister of Loneliness to create policies to deal with the challenge of social isolation.

Loneliness (social isolation) affects all age groups. U.K. research found that 200,000 older people had not had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month. For the younger, digital-native generation, technology often leads to superficial connections. It’s relatively easy to “unfriend” someone; and Instagram and Snapchat generally show images of people doing happy and positive things, which only makes the viewer feel more lonely in comparison. Those who spend more than two hours a day on social media feel more social isolation. Loneliness also causes organizational problems when employees act independently, not collaboratively.

Duncan: In human resource circles, “engagement” has been a popular subject for years. Where does “belonging” fit in a discussion of connecting people to an organization or cause?

Ulrich: I find the concept of “belonging” a critical factor for overcoming social isolation and for creating organizations that have a positive impact on people and performance. Belonging draws on attachment theory, which essentially states that when someone has strong emotional attachment to another (person or organization), personal well-being increases. This improved well-being in turn increases personal productivity and overall organizational performance.

My wife and I recently had lunch with my decades-ago (ahem!) college roommate and his spouse. While we live in different states and share occasional technology-based interactions, we had not been together face-to-face in some time. This meeting reminded me of the importance of belonging and what it entails:

• Belonging is active, not passive (I invited my roommate to lunch).

• It requires persistent work and does not occur haphazardly (we each made the choice of spending time to reconnect).

• It endures over time (over the decades, we stayed close through technology and other means even when apart, and getting together feels natural and easy).

• It is tied to shared values (we listened with interest and delight about how our lives have evolved in different but similar ways).

• It shapes well-being (we each left the luncheon feeling a sense of belonging and closeness).

To move beyond this friendship belonging, organizations where we work, play, and worship should become settings for belonging. My experience in reconnecting with my roommate has lessons for how leaders and HR professionals can create belonging.

Duncan: What are the steps to creating a sense of belonging in people?