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Leading Edge’s research into five themes of high-performance organisations, published last month, has a richness of insight. It gives me a feeling of powerful ability to create change – something that’s exciting.
You can download ‘High Performance Insights – Curated by Leading Edge’ here. It brings together research with industry leaders and the thoughts and lived experiences from contributors around how their organisations are approaching high performance.
One of the themes is ‘hardwiring belonging’. This has been a big focus of my role this past year and a key theme in the shift from diversity & inclusion (D&I) to belonging, one that allows people to make progress in a challenging area. Nearly 90% of the leaders and managers surveyed recognise the distinct difference between D&I and belonging – and with clients more recently I’ve seen ‘belonging’ gaining traction, emerging as the way to value the unique contribution of individuals.
A comment from Joanne Pilkington, IT Product Manager for Design at Jaguar Land Rover, sums this up so visually: “D&I can often feel like it’s creating silos and breaking us into groups – where ‘belonging’ brings us back together.” [Jo contributed to our Women in Leadership Sharing Event in October around belonging.]
Belonging isn’t about boxes to be ticked; it’s about making sure people feel welcome and included – and that they truly belong and can be themselves. Our research shines a light on this shift and the many advantages of hardwiring belonging for organisations and teams, including improving mental health, providing equal opportunities through opening up latent talent, and bringing creativity and innovation to everyday challenges.
In the report, Louise Tait, Head of HR, Talent and Organisational Development at Wickes, shares a powerful case study that brings to life how Wickes placed belonging at the heart of its D&I strategy through their ‘Feel at Home’ internal positioning. Such an all-encompassing positioning statement – one that has significantly helped to encourage and empower people to be their true selves.
Our High Performance Insights report is big on practicality. We’ve surveyed professionals, created a space for our network to bring their energy through valuable insights, and set out practical actions to take. We hope this is a springboard for conversation and discussion that moves organisations to action: to tap into people’s passions, test and learn, make those small changes (the ones that often have the biggest impact), and share insights that help shift the dial in a way that’s difficult to achieve in silos.
Sarah Kelleher
