How important is belonging to your organization?

Microsoft People Science provides customers with the latest research on the modern workplace, helping them navigate changes that may impact the workforce such as technological advancements, economic instability, and societal shifts. For many organizations, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is a key focus area. Research shows that fostering a sense of belonging and good treatment at work significantly impacts employee engagement and financial success. Evidence-based decision-making is a good way to guide any programmatic adjustments to DEI practices that affect employees. Start by collecting and acting on employee feedback and let facts be your guide.

Staying up with the changes

With technological advancements like AI transforming work, economic instability reshaping markets and impacting labor and growth, demographic shifts challenging workforce stability, and work models and expectations constantly evolving, organizations often struggle to figure out how to adapt while keeping employee engagement and productivity at the forefront. The Microsoft People Science team strives to address the big questions and concerns our customers face by providing straightforward, researched-backed information to help them navigate turbulence and make informed decisions.

With 85% of companies reporting having dedicated DEI budgets¹, deciding how to move forward with DEI is a business decision many companies face. The Microsoft People Science team has been researching modern workplace practices (like DEI) for over a decade and has data that can help guide customers.

Based on over 350 million data points (collected between 2020 and 2023) and extensive research on psychology and workplace behavior, we examined how employees stay motivated at work, despite the tumultuous changes during that time period. This study resulted in the People Success Elements⁵, a model for understanding what contributes most significantly to employee happiness and success.

This framework helps Microsoft Viva Glint offer out-of-the-box employee surveys focused on what matters most to people to be their best and do their best at work.

Three of these elements in particular – Empowerment, Connection, and Wellbeing – are based on trust, and call out for a positive work environment that is open and welcoming, where workers feel valued, respected, appreciated, and treated with fairness and care. This kind of environment is more prevalent in companies that place an emphasis on people-centric policies, management practices, and employee programs.

People Science Insights

In 2023, we noticed a market shift among our customers towards a focus on achieving high performance, resulting in our High Performance Organization (HPO) eBook⁶. Our customers were certainly still concerned with creating an “engaged” workforce, but many of them wanted to establish a culture that would drive individual productivity and team performance as well.

To help determine the workplace conditions that predicted financial performance (as measured by 35 financial success indicators), we studied various workplace factors across 220 customers that best differentiated company performance⁷. This study resulted in the following Top 15 list:

Significantly, employees’ sense of belonging is the top predictor of financial success. It predicts five out of six top financial indicators⁷. And our latest engagement driver analysis showed that across all 400+ engagement survey topics, belonging has the strongest correlation with happiness at work. No wonder the belonging question is so popular – it is used by over 70% of Glint customers⁸.

Fostering a culture where people feel a strong sense of belonging helps organizations achieve higher levels of employee engagement, commitment, and greater financial success. A more committed and dedicated workforce increases retention, thus paving the way to greater efficiency as measured by net income over workforce size. Belonging is a huge win-win for the employee and the business.

A sense of belonging is only possible if people feel well-treated at work. In the Top 15 table we see several other related top drivers of business success that describe important treatment factors like feeling free to speak one’s mind, being a valued member of the team, and being able to be oneself at work.

In a recent study on survey question utilization trends across Glint customers¹⁰, the Speak My Mind item (currently used by 23% of Glint customers) was identified as a key opportunity to increase engagement and performance because it gets at a component of psychological safety, which has a positive impact on turnover, stress, and productivity (For more, view our recent webinar on Building Psychological Safety¹¹).

In sum, this data shows how someone is treated at work in terms of feeling they belong, feeling valued and respected for who they are, and being able to speak freely about what concerns them is critically important to employee happiness and success and company performance.

Let the evidence decide your next steps

Here are some Microsoft People Science best practice methods you can use to examine your own workforce attitudes and opinions about DEI:

• Align: As with all changes that impact your workforce, reconnecting to your organizational strategy and checking in with employees can help teams chart the best course forward. A great way to do that is through seeking and acting on survey feedback.
• Collect: Leverage existing surveys and listening channels to involve employees during times of change. The goal is to understand how your employees feel about their work environment and treatment.
• Listen: Consider hosting live focus groups and dialogue sessions to allow people to share their ideas and concerns. Acknowledge what you’ve heard and any plans to follow up.
• Assess: Based on the feedback you’ve gathered, assess how similar or divergent attitudes are across your workforce and how they align with your company stance or position on the change’s topic(s). This insight may help you think through your next steps.

The Microsoft Viva measurement apps (Glint, Pulse, and Insights) are an ideal way to assess the impact of large-scale changes to your organizational strategy and what helps employees perform at their best. Glint and Pulse provide out-of-the-box surveys and questions that assess how people feel they are being treated and the extent to which that treatment is impacting their sense of belonging, happiness, productivity, and success at work.

Collecting and acting on employee feedback is crucial for guiding programmatic adjustments that affect your workplace. Our research shows that fostering a sense of belonging and good treatment at work significantly impacts employee engagement and commitment. Companies that prioritize people-centric policies and create a positive work environment see higher levels of productivity, retention, and financial success.

Microsoft People Science

Microsoft People Science is a research-backed and people-centric approach to the study and practice of happiness and success at work. People Science prides itself on providing customers with the latest research and findings about the modern workplace. We serve customers across a wide spectrum of industries, geographies, and company cultures, and remain open to all customer orientations on any given topic, current event, or public discourse that may be impacting their strategies and choices.

References

¹ Workday. (February 6, 2024). Workday DEI Landscape Report: Business Leaders Remain Committed in 2024.

² MIT Sloan. (November 7, 2024). How Integrating DEI Into Strategy Lifts Performance.

³ Harvard Business Review. (December 13, 2024). Continuing the Work of DEI, No Matter What Your Company Calls It.

⁴ Pew Research Center. (November 19, 2024). Views of DEI have become slightly more negative among U.S. workers.

⁵ Viva Glint Blog. (April 20, 2023). The Elements of People Success.

^Six Microsoft People Science. (2023). Redefining High Performance in the New Era of Work.

⁷ This research draws from employee survey responses from 220+ customers, collected from the year prior to October 1, 2023. 132 survey questions covering the entire ranges of People Success factors were utilized in various tests (e.g., multiple regression) to validate their impact on talent outcomes (engagement, attrition, performance) and business outcomes (35 financial metrics, e.g., stock return, market cap per employee, etc.)

⁸ This analysis examined LinkedIn Glint customer item utilization between September 2023 to August 2024 (n = 728 customers).

⁹ American Psychological Association. (2023). 2023 Work in America Survey: Workplaces as engines of psychological health and well-being.

¹⁰ Viva Glint Blog. (December 18, 2024). Research Drop: What Organizations Ask in Employee Surveys (Plus Three Untapped Opportunities for 2025).

¹¹ Microsoft Viva Blog. (November 15, 2024). 3 Steps to Build Psychological Safety on Your Team.