February 20, 2025 • 30 mins
In a September 2024 survey commissioned by Paycom and conducted by PSB Insights, 56% of HR professionals identified employee retention as their No. 1 priority in 2025. How can HR help retain employees?
One of the most powerful factors in retention is creating a sense of belonging in the workplace. Employees who feel valued and connected are more engaged, more committed, and more likely to stay. Organizations can build lasting relationships by fostering an inclusive culture of belonging that supports employees’ professional growth as well as their personal well-being.
Organizational psychologist Dr. Jessica Sharp, CEO of Sharp Brain Consulting, joins HR Break Room® podcast host Ariana Stark to discuss how to create a sense of belonging in the workplace, including:
- practical strategies organizations can implement
- the role of effective communication
- key metrics to track for measuring belonging’s impact
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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HR Break Room is brought to youby Paycom,
Empowering employees nationwidewith HR and payroll tech in one easy app.
Learn how Paycom simplifies businessfor your entire workforce
at Paycom.com
-Hello, everyone, and welcome to the HRBreak Room, Paycom's podcast
dedicated to having quick conversationson the hot topics in HR.
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I'm your host, Ariana Stark. Anemployee's journey with a company begins
the moment they apply and continuesthrough every stage of their career.
While resources like training, technologyand benefits are essential,
one of the most powerful factorsin retention is a sense of belonging.
Employees who feel valued and connectedare more engaged, more committed
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and more likely to stay.
By fostering an inclusive culturethat supports both professional growth
and personal well-being, organizationscan build lasting relationships
that benefit both the employeeand the company.
Our guest today, Dr.Jessica Sharp, has devoted her career
to helping companiesimprove their employee life cycle.
(01:18):
Sharp is a sought after leadershipdevelopment consultant working
to transform organizations throughleadership excellence while creating
spaces for voices of those who have beenhistorically and systemic marginalized.
She has a doctorate in leadershippsychology from William James College
and a master of Public Affairsfrom the University of Missouri.
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Dr. sharp is living out herlife's purpose through her organization,
Sharp Brain Consulting,
which works with organizational leaderswho want to create stronger cultures.
With that, let's jump into the HRBreak Room.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday, Dr. Sharp.
-Yeah. I'm really excited to be here.
You know, I really am excited to talkabout this concept of belonging.
(02:00):
I know it's been sort of more of a buzzterm these days,
but it's something that I just thinkis really, really important.
-Absolutely. Well,we're so excited to get started.
So before we dive into the specifics,can you tell us
why retention is such a challengein today's workplace?
And how does belongingreally play a role?
-Yeah.
So really there's sort of several thingsI think that impact retention.
(02:23):
And one of them isthis idea of the great detachment, right,
that Gallup in particularhas been talking about.
We've heard of quiet quitting,
and so now,
we're talking about the great detachmentand things like organizational
changes, a sort of different expectationsaround work.
You know, for so many of us, COVIDimpacted us in a lot of ways, right?
And a lot of folksdid not want to come back
into the workforce in the same exact waythat they had before.
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And so their expectations are shifting.
Sometimes we have client and customerexpectations that are shifting.
And so, there's just sort of a lotgoing on in the workplace.
And folks are sort of wanting
to detach a little bitand create more of a holistic life.
It's also important to notethat we've been seeing a sort of a rise
in mental health challengesfor some, a number of years,
and that also impacts how folkssort of show up at work.
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So it feels like it is harderto keep employees really engaged and,
and wanting to stay and come backbecause of all of the things
that are just shifting in the world.
And then, that also doesn'teven at all account for the fact that
there's now sort of a shiftin what it looks like to work.
Right? Does it mean I've got to come infor five hours,
you know, every — five days,every single week and eight hours?
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Can it be hybrid? Can it be virtual?
So again, like the expectations around
work are changing, but workplaces aremaybe not catching up to them,
right?
And belonging
is so incredibly tied to retentionbecause really, at the very core of it,
belonging is about being seen, heard,valued and welcomed for who you are,
right?-Right.
-And if you feel like you don't —those things aren't happening,
(03:50):
it can be really easy to leavean organization.
And Harvard Business
Review has done some research on this,and lots of other people had to.
And what they found,which is actually really similar
to my own personal researchthrough William James College,
is that belonging is goodalso for the business,
right?
So there's an increase in work
productivity, about 56%, for employeesthat feel a sense of belonging. -Wow.
(04:12):
-There's about a 50% decrease inturnover rate.
Right? Like, there'sthis idea of intention to stay.
So employees who feel like they belong
are just less likelyto leave an organization.
And then there's a decrease of 75% of useof sick days in particular,
right?-Wow.
-That's a correlationthat we've seen in the research
around belonging and employeesand taking time off,
right?
(04:32):
There's also a ton of research aroundjust employees show up differently,
and arguably better,when they feel a sense of belonging.
So retentionand belonging are very much so mixed
in that if you feel more like you belong,you're probably more likely to stay, right?
And you're more likely also to be,
you know, a better employeefor the organization.
-Right. No, that makes sense.
Well, going off of that,what are some early warning signs that,
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you know, an employee might be leavingdue to lack of belonging?
-Yeah. So there's sort of a few different things.
And really, at the very like,almost like on a macro level,
looking for shiftsin the way that your employee engages,
right?
So I'm going to sort of caveatwhat I'm going to say with, if your —
if your employeeshave always shown up this way, right,
that may or may not meanit's related to belonging.
But employees sort of detaching, right?
(05:18):
This idea of the great detachment,sort of backing away,
you know, communicatingmaybe a little bit less,
right?
Detaching and pulling awayin terms of social outlets.
Right?
So if you're an organizationthat has any sort of like,
opportunity for employeesto sort of socialize or get together and,
and do some of what we, we affectionatelycall the warm and fuzzy things,
if you had an employeethat's engaged in those things,
(05:38):
and now they're sort of taking a stepback, right,
that could potentially be relatedto belonging as well.
You can also maybe seesort of shifts in productivity,
if there's a decrease in productivity,that can potentially be a sign as well.
An increase in sick days.
And this is different, right,than like, pre-planned vacation.
-Right.-But if you're sort of seeing an increase
in folks — employeesjust not coming to work,
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sometimes that can be relatedto, to belonging.
And then also sometimes you can see ashift in how employees communicate, right?
If they've communicatedrelatively consistently in terms of
even like the wordsthey've used, that sort of thing.
and then there's a shift? Again,that can be related to belonging.
So, you know, again,the macro thing is really watching
and communicating with your employeesto see are they shifting and really
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pulling back and not engagingin the same way that they have.
Doesn't mean it's only belonging,it could be other things,
but it's certainlysomething that you may want to say,
"I think this could bea belonging issue." -Right.
So then, how can leaderscreate an environment
where employees feel connected and valuedand more likely to stay long term?
You know, if they are maybe seeing some of those
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kind of detachment things,like what can leaders do?
-Yeah.
You know, there's a few differentthings that leaders can do.
And one of the thingsI've been really thinking
about a lot and talking aboutand listening to other people and,
and sort of thinking is,as much as anything, this belonging work
is about really shifting your mindsetand prioritizing belonging.
(07:03):
Right? I'm sure I'm gonna say that againbefore we're done here today.
So I'm going to give you sortof some real, tangible, specific ideas.
But part of it is just really saying,"This is a priority,
and we're going to prioritizeour employees
and our relationshipswith our employees." Right.
But some really specific things,
most of you potentially have heardof the term psychological safety, right?
And that came from Amy Edmondsonout of Harvard.
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And it's this idea that employers can feelsafe to take risks and to make mistakes.
And one of the ways that you cultivatethat space of psychological safety
is really creating an environment whereyou're seeking input from folks, right?
And you're creating a space
where people can be honestand, and it is okay if they make mistakes.
And, and really, from a leadershipperspective, the way to cultivate
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that is to be mindful abouthow you're engaging with employees, right?
We're going to talk about communicationsome I think, too, but the way in which
we show up with employees and, and what happenswhen they ask a lot of questions, right?
What is our body language like? Right?What is our tone?
Are we creating space and saying, "It's
okay if you ask some questions.That's fine," right?
Or if an employee makes a mistake,how are we engaging with them.
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right?
Are we saying,"OK. This thing happened, right?
And the stakes may be high, right?
But let's learn from itand move forward." Right?
So those are some of the real specificthings.
Another thing related to sort of
just belonging in generalis this idea of relationships.
And sometimes when I,when I talk about belonging, people say,
"Well, I didn't come to work to make friends."
Well, I didn't quite say all of that.
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But when you're working with somebody,to have a relationship where you can
listen to them and engage,you know, there's some research that talks
about this idea of checking in with peoplebeyond just work.
In my own personal research,that was a theme that I saw pop up as that
people are like,"I'm a whole person outside of work,
and I want to be able to engagebeyond just the workplace."
So that's sort of another thing.
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If you can tellthis is sort of my thing, right?
So I can sort of talkendlessly about belonging.
But really those are two very concretethings.
Is creating an environment where it isokay for people to be honest, to be open,
to make mistakes, ask questionsand then really prioritizing
those relationships are reallysome of the two, like, key activities.
And then, you know,
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we can talk more about some other,you know, ways in which this looks.
But those are some of the real big things.-Now going off of that,
a September 2024 surveycommissioned by Paycom
and conducted by PSB Insights,found that 56% of HR professionals
identified employee retentionas their number one priority in 2025.
(09:30):
So how can HR
really help retain employees?
-Yeah. So the first answer might sort ofbe a little bit confusing,
but we start at the beginning, right?
So there's a lot of research aroundbelonging and connected to that retention
around onboarding, right?
And I know it's sort of trickyto think about retention
at the very beginningof an employee's experience with us,
But the way that we onboard them,the way that we welcome them, the way that
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we really communicate, "Here's who we areas an organization, here are our values.
Here is where your place is herein this organization," that can really set
the foundation to help an employeeretain, right, and to stay around.
So that's one piecethat HR can really be involved in.
Another piece is aroundtraining and leadership development,
both for your leadersas well as your employees,
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right?
You know, in organizationsthat invest in their employees,
it's easier for those employeesto sort of invest back. But
the other thing is when we,when we talk about belonging
and some of the practical strategies,the skill set around this,
being able to trainand equip your leadership from,
you know, all levels, basicallyanybody who's leading somebody, right,
to really understand, again,why this is important,
(10:35):
and some of the the sort of heart of whybelonging is important.
It's a neuroscience backed concept, right?
We actually have to, as humans,feel connected to other people.
And then helping leaders understandsome of the skill sets, like that's
something that HR, I think, uniquelycan work on.
A few other things is one of them isERG. It's employee resource group.
Some folkscall them business resource groups.
(10:57):
While, you know, they sort of livethroughout an organization, oftentimes,
they come out of in sorta our housewithin an HR
department, right?
And so if an employee, you know,you may have an employee
who doesn't feel incredibly connectedin their department, right?
But if they can be a part of an employeeresource group, a business resource group,
with people where there'ssome sort of connection, right?
Whether it be new employees or,you know, there's Black employee groups,
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there's, there's queer employee groups,there's
there's veteran groups,there's lots of different ways, right,
that you can sort of putgroups of people together,
but it can help them feel more connectedto each other and to the organization.
And HR can really help with that.
Another thing that, that potentially HR can do
is really look at this sortof performance management process, right?
And lots of people have different opinionsabout the way in which we,
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we sort of macro level manage employee,the employee review process.
But I think really
prioritizing the employee throughoutthe entire performance management
process, finding waysto communicate with them throughout
and then also measuring, belongingright, and building belonging into that
are a few things that I thinkHR really can uniquely do in addition to,
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you know, just really talking about thisand communicating,
you know, retention is something that,
that we need to be prioritizingand belonging and creating
a culture of belonging withinthis workplace is a thing that we can do.
So, again, helping to shift this cultureand shift the mindset, even by quote,
I'm air quoting, simply communicating, "Hey, y'all.Belonging should be a priority for us,
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and this is what it looks like."
-What other, you know, practical strategieslike the ERGs and things like that
can an organization really do to implement
and really strengthenthat belonging and boost retention?
-Yeah. So I've got a few morereally specific things.
But one of the things that I think about
a lot is, is similar right,to this idea of like prioritizing it.
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It's also, I think, really
pushing leadersto really embrace leadership,
right,
and to be, you know, strong leaders.Because a lot of the things that,
that we can do to cultivate a senseof belonging really involves inviting
and including your employees,which means it
may, yeah, may take a little bit longerto make decisions, right?
Or you may hear things that feel competingwith what you think.
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If you're like, "I think we should do this,"and you've got a group of employees,
you've now included in the process,and they say, "Well,
I think we should come over and do this,"right?
It might shift and sortof require you as a leader to be open
to being wrong, right,or hearing a different perspective.
So that sort of a macro level, again,around this idea of, of themes.
I think, like I said,
I think
belonging is so much about actions,but it's also about the way
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that we're showing up.
But some really specific thingsthat have come up in the research,
some of them have come up, again,specifically in my own research,
but then a lot of what other people havesaid, is, is inclusive decision-making.
Employeeswant to be a part of decision-making.
And I recognizethat there are certain decisions
that you can't involve all your employeesin, right?
But to the extent that you can,can you bring them in and say,
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you know, "We're working through this,what do you think about this?"
Right?
Another thing that you can do thatwe saw really strong companies do during
COVID is try to communicate the directionand where you're going and provide
regular updates to your employees.The, the brain does not quite like
uncertainty, right?
We like to know what's coming.We like to know what's going on.
And so, if you can communicate,you know, "Hey, just an update.
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This thing is happening."From a strategic planning perspective,
"Here's where we're going."
Right?
Or "Hey, you know,I know we had a difficult month,
but here's what we're doing moving forwardin order to shift that." Right?
So really just trying
to sort of communicate with your employeesand involve them in the process.
You know, one of the other things thatwe can do is celebrate employees, right?
And find waysto express gratitude to employees.
And there's lots of waysto do this, right?
(14:31):
So it can be, you know,sort of more informal,
you know, sort of popping in an employee'soffice and saying,
"I really appreciate thatreport that you made.
I know that, you know,we asked you in the last minute
and, you know,and you did such a great job," right?
That's one way to do it.
You can also provide opportunitiesfor other employees to express
sort of gratitudeand to recognize employees.
So sometimes that's a badge, right?
(14:51):
Maybe on, you know,in your performance management system
or just a way in which people can berecognized for the thing
that they're doing. Again,the brain likes it
and it's a good way to also communicatethis behavior,
what we're doing,you know, "We see you. We value that."
Because really, that, again, is
the root of belonging.It's about being seen and valued.
You know, I talked a little bit about thisaround this idea of leadership,
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but the other thing is practicingvulnerability, right?
Which, you know,
lots of scholars have talked about,Brené Brown in particular, is one of them.
And it's this idea of being opento being wrong and saying,
"I'm going to put this out here,and I'm not quite sure
what the outcome is going to be,but that's going to be okay."
So, you know, really being comfortablebeing imperfect
with your employees, right?
Sometimes leaders,I think, feel like, "I have to get it
(15:35):
all right, all of the time,"but that's not realistic. Right?
So I think that that's another wayto just really be open to saying,
"Here's where we are.
And, and I recognize, you know, that
I may not get it all right, butI want to involve you into the process."
So those are some of those thingsin addition
to some of the thingsthat I had mentioned earlier.
-So what role doeseffective communication play
(15:56):
in retaining employees and reallyreinforcing their sense of belonging?
You kind of mentioned communicationwas such a big part of it.
Can you expand on that a little bit?-Oh, gosh. Yeah.
I mean, communication is, in some ways,it is one of the biggest pieces
really relatedto like retention and belonging.
And, and there's a lot of other things,right?
Employees care about a lot of thingswhen they're coming to work.
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They care about, certainly,how much money they are getting. Right?
They care about the type of workenvironment,
the actual like physical setup, right?
They care about all of those things.
But even if all of those thingsare wonderful and great,
but they are being communicated in a way
that feels othering,that feels like they are not valued,
the rest of that stuffcannot make up for it.
Right?
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So the way in which we communicate,both like the actual words
that we use and,and some of this isn't new, right?
But like our body language,
and I know that, you know, intuitively,so many of us know that.
But I mean, I've watched leaders, I mean,literally disengage from conversations
when, when other, when you know, the peoplewho they are leading, who are following
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them, are still trying to workthrough some things. Right?
So the way that we show up with employeesis just so incredibly important.
And, and to mention Brené Brown again,and her most recent
book, Atlas of the Heart, it's a,it talks about emotions it's fascinating
if you're into this sort of thing.
But she talks about this ideaof disconnection, which happens
when, when one person oftentimesunintentionally excludes
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humiliates or sort of,you know, others someone.
right?
And that happens because we're humans,and I am susceptible to it, too.
Sometimes I do things and I'm like,"Oh no, I got to really circle back."
But the thing that she says iswhen that happens,
when we feel likewe've accidentally excluded
somebody or, you know, we've had a meeting
and we haven't includedall of the parties, right,
and we didn't even mean to.We have to circle back
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and we have to communicate and say,"Oh, I am so sorry about that,"
in whatever way you would say that,
"We did not mean to exclude you.Next time, we're going to invite you in
and we're going to moveforward differently."
So again, both the words that we usehave such a big part to play, and also,
again, our body language and our toneand even down to like,
you know, if you have employees,if you're in a staff meeting, let's say,
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and you have one or two employeeswho are consistently communicating,
and from a communications perspective,you're not listening
to the other employees,you're not sort of seeking them out.
You know,all of those things are really important,
and the idea of being heardis really important.
And so that communication piece it,
you know, it can really make or breakthis concept of belonging.
And because it can make or breakbelonging,
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it can certainly make or break retention.
-Well, so speaking of kind of makingor breaking, what are some, you know,
common mistakes that leaders make thatmaybe unintentionally, obviously,
undermine that belongingand lead to higher turnover?
-Yeah. You know, and it's a few thingsthat I talked about, right?
You know, when we, you know,unintentionally exclude people, you know,
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or intentionally, quite frankly, I mean,either one intention at this point,
you know, either way. Butwhen we exclude employees, when we don't,
when we don't really listen to them,when we don't value them,
you know, when we sort of take away their autonomy.
Right?
One of the things that the brainalso likes, particularly for adults,
is to have a level of control, right?
We sort of need to know what's going on.We need to have a lay of the land.
(19:05):
I had a leader one time,she moved my desk to a different place.
Didn't ask me, just sort of moved it.And, and just how it made me feel.
I was like, "Oh my gosh,she doesn't even sort of see me." Right?
So again, taking choice away from peoplecan really make them not feel safe.
And again, this idea of communicating.
So how were you communicating?What is the tone?
How much eye contactare you giving somebody? Right?
(19:27):
And I want to caveat that by saying,I know neurodivergent folks
sometimes struggle with eye contact.
It means a little bit different, somethingdifferent to them in their brain.
So I recognize that.
But are you actually paying attentionto your employees?
And so some of those unintentional
things that we can do are, again,not really paying attention to employers,
not listening to them, takingsome of that choice away from employees
(19:47):
and then just creating an environmentwhere you are not actively seeking input.
I mean, I've witnessed so many spaceswhere we don't,
we don't really want to hearwhat employees have to say.
We just want to dictate to them.
And if an employee does not feel likethey can engage —I mean, Amy Edmondson
said this — if they don't feel likethey can provide their feedback,
they don't feel like you care about them
and they don't feel likethey are psychologically safe.
(20:09):
So, you know, it really comes down againto this idea of communication
and how you are engaging
with your employees and how much autonomyyou're allowing your employees to have.
-Absolutely.
Well, so how can organizations,
measure the impact of belonging and retention?
You know, what are those key metricsthat they should be tracking?
(20:29):
-Yeah. So there's a few different waysto do this.
So you can always surveyyour employees, right,
In both a very formalized surveyor in an informal way.
If you already have some versionof an employee engagement
survey, you can so easily tiein, you know, 3 to 5 questions
that are really focused onbelonging, right?
So you can, again,ask your employees for their feedback.
I've already sort of alluded to thisa little bit when we talked about HR,
(20:50):
but you can build something like thisinto your performance management processes
so that you can beginalso to track data over time, right?
So you can ask it ofleaders, of employees,
you know, you know,"What are you doing to help
create a culture of belonging?" You know,and putting that into their annual plan
and then sort of holding them accountable,
at least for the wayin which they're showing up. -Right.
-Those are some of the thingsthat you can do.
(21:11):
You can also begin to tracksome of these metrics over time, right?
So you can sort of look at things like
retention or turnover right now, you know,what is your percentage of turnover.
And I'd also venture to,to look at how much, what, what,
how long have people been here,
right? It's a macro level,
how often are people leaving.
And then are they leaving after a year,after five years, after 20 years,
(21:31):
right,
so looking at that. Also looking atthe amount of sick days people are using,
right?
And, and more on an aggregate levelbecause we're not trying to,
you know, sort of drill down and penalizeanybody.
We're just looking for trends.
But look at all of thatlet's say today, right?
Whatever today looks like,if that's actually today,
and then begin
to have some of these metrics in place
and then tracksome of those same things again.
(21:52):
Because like I said, what we knowfrom an organizational perspective is that
belonging is so directly tied to employeewellness and employee well-being,
intention to stay,
so are employees actuallyintending to stay, use of sick days
and then also, how much employees feel likethey are attached to the organization.
It's called organizational identification.
And a really easy wayto sort of start to pay attention to
(22:13):
that is how do employeestalk about your company?
Do they use words like we and us,or do they use words like they and them?
Right?
And how much do they sort of feel engagedwith their peers?
So you can begin to sort of track
some of those things in eithera formal survey,
tell me what you think,
or in some of these other ways,and HR actually, in particular,
can help with some of those more macrorelated themes.
(22:34):
-That's great.
So now kind of changing a little bit,pivoting here,
how can employee management toolsreally help boost retention?
We kind of touched on it earlier, butcan you go a little bit more into that?
-Yeah.
So I think there's probably liketwo different ways that that can happen.
Right? It'sboth the automation of stuff, right?
So when we are automating processesand again, tools like,
you know, like so many that that Paycom has,
(22:56):
when we're automating things,it is sort of a reassurance for employees.
Like "I don't have to stress aboutwhen this is going to happen.
I don't have to worry about how long it'sgoing to take to find out
if I can, you know, go on this vacationwith my family," right?
But it also frees up time on the leaders.
That's something that they don't have to worry about.
So that automation is helpful.But also things like employee trainings,
employee resources, thingsthat can sort of, you know,
(23:18):
something that employees can consistentlygo back to can
also be a really important tool.You know, belonging in and of itself,
it, the term is sort of a new-ish
thing, but the root of belongingis not new, right?
Like employed individuals,for as long as we've had brains basically,
have wanted and needed to be connectedand to be a part of groups.
(23:39):
So that piece isn't new.
But what is new is thatthe world is becoming just more difficult.
So, you know, providing opportunitiesfor employees to get, like, to stay up
on the newest latest trendsrelated to belonging
and helping them to understandwhat those skills are like.
And it's easy if you can put it into a system,
a platform, and then they cansort of come to it whenever they want.
Depending on also the capabilityof the tool of the platform,
(24:02):
and again, you know, Paycomhas a lot of great ones,
but depending on what that looks like,you can also provide those opportunities,
like I said, for employee recognition,right?
For employees to be able to say,"Oh my gosh, you know, such and such,
did such a great job with this.And they were really helpful.
They went above and beyondand I just really appreciate them," right?
So sort of allowingfor those opportunities,
in addition to, you know, allowing employees,
(24:25):
to sort of have a place,like I said, where they know they can go,
everything is right there.
So I think, you know, there'sa lot of different ways you can use tools.
And, and the other sort of thought is,
is there a way to use some of these toolsto connect employees?
Because I've talked a lot about leadershipand about, you know, the leaders
responsibility around creating an environment
where people feel safe,you know, and, and, and making sure
(24:46):
that they create an environmentwhere employees feel communicated,
they feel seen, they feel heard, they feel valued.
There's this,
I'll throw in another thing that just sortof has been rattling around in my brain.
There's this concept called belonging cues,
and they're these little signsthat you are safe, right?
There's things like listening, right,leaning into a conversation, being able
to repeat back, in the way you wouldphysically invite somebody into a space
(25:08):
or if there are three of you standing hereand somebody comes behind, right,
comes into the space, are you physicallyinviting them into the space or not?
Like those are some of those,like, idea of belonging
cues, ways for your brain to know, "Yes,I am safe here."
So that's sort of part of this piece.
But everybody can create a cultureof belonging, right?
Every single person can sort of do oneor two small things every day
(25:29):
to check in on their fellow employee, right?
And they have a, you know,one of their work friends, let's say, who
they haven't seen in a few days or,you know, their energy just feels off.
All of us can do that.
And tools can sort of help facilitate that,
especially in a hybridor virtual work environment,
because we didn'treally talk too much about that.
But I think belonginghas to be a priority in all spaces,
(25:52):
but when you've got employeesthat are virtual
or that are hybrid,you've got to just think about it
a little bit moreand a little bit differently.
And creating opportunities,even virtually for people
to connect, right, and to check inand that sort of thing.
So a lot of different waysyou can use these tools.
But again, this idea of automation andsaving time is a really, really big piece.
And then the other one is,is providing education
and training to employees as well.
(26:13):
-That's great.
Well,I really like how you said, you know,
all of us can really, provide that and help
give that belonging or that senseof belonging to even our fellow employer
like, you know, co-workers and all of that.
So I think that's great.
Well, I love all of the different things.
You've brought up some incrediblepoints and examples.
So what if, you know, if leaders,obviously they can't boil the ocean,
(26:34):
so if they could just make one changetoday to really improve belonging
and boost retentionand just kind of take that first step,
what would you recommend they do?
-So it's, I'll,I'll try to give it one thing,
but it's sort of they're overlapping.Prioritize it, which I've talked about,
right?
Is, is sort of make a commitment to say,"It is important to me
(26:55):
to create a culture of,of belonging at my workplace,"
both because of the actual, like,financial implications of your employees
are not showing up to workbecause they don't feel like they belong,
there's a productivity issue, right?
There is, you know,
you are not going to getas much out of this employee
if they are physically not there, right?
But then also, again, this other,
you know, concept that I've sort of hiton, the brain needs belonging.
(27:16):
We need connectionwhen we don't feel like, you know,
we have connection, we feel lonely,and we we disengage for other reasons
and in other ways, right?
So one, prioritizing that.
And then the other thing is talkto your employees about this.
Right? You know, talk to them —
one of the things I like to dois just ask people questions, right?
And so sometimes,
I'll ask people things like,you know, in a check in at a meeting,
(27:37):
I'm really like, any time I'm
leading committees or groupsor that sort of thing, groups of people,
I'm sort of known at this point to havea check in question at the beginning,
and, you know, just sometimesit's light and fun, and sometimes it's not.
But ask people, "What,what would make you feel safe at work?
What are some of the thingsthat make you feel safe at work?
What are some of the things that makeyou feel a sense of belonging at work?"
You know, "What are things that we could be doing
(27:58):
differently or better to help facilitatea culture of belonging?"
Because again, I've given you a million different things.
If you, you know, do some research,
there's lots of different, you know,people talking about belonging right now.
So there's not a void of things to do,
right?
And you can also ask yourself, what do you,
you know, think to feel likeyou have a sense of belonging,
but center the employee, right?
(28:18):
And, and really
so much of what I've talked abouthas been about that, is really prioritizing
the people part of this workand really centering your employees.
And so, one of the best ways to dothat is to just talk to them,
you know, at your next one-on-one,
even if you don't have a culture of havingone-on-ones, could be a good idea.
I know some of us have lots of peoplethat report to us,
but just start to ask themand talk to them
about what this looks like,and then really listen to them
(28:40):
and try to engage, you know, infusesome of these things as much as you can.
But if, if you hear nothing elsefrom what I say or take nothing else
away from this,
is that you really need to prioritizebelonging if you care about retention.
And one of the best ways to dothat is to just start
talking to your employees about it.
-That's perfect.
And that's something that, you know,anyone could just start today.
-Yep. Yeah.
(29:01):
On Monday morning or whatever next day
or whatever day you're listening to thisand whatever next day you go to work,
talk to your employees.Check in with them.
-First step, just get the communication going.
-Exactly, exactly.
Well, that's great. Well,before we wrap up,
is there anything elseyou'd like to add to this topic?
-Yeah.
I mean, the only other thing, you know,I want to just sort of reiterate
(29:21):
because I think I've said, you know,a lot of things around belonging,
but I just, I want to reiterate how important it is.
I sometimes, you know, I talk to leaderswho, you know, they don't ...
They value their employees, but they don'tnecessarily really understand
why does this matter?
Like, "Why can't our employees just come to work
and do what they need to do and go home?"
And the reality is, is thatthat is not supported by neuroscience.
(29:45):
The neuroscience onthis is so incredibly crystal clear.
We do not have a choice
but to be a part of a communityand to feel a sense of belonging.
-Well, thank you so much.
Thank you, Dr. Sharp, for joining us today.
I really enjoyed our conversation.-Thank you, thank you.
-And thank you, listenersfor tuning in to our conversation today.
Paycom's single HR and payrollsoftware offers a variety of tools
(30:07):
designed to make employeesfeel like a vital part of the process.
Kicking off with an engaging application process
and an empowering onboarding experience,our talent management tools make it easy
to assign training, foster developmentand manage their performance
and compensation.
Plus, tools like Paycom Surveys helpsyou keep a finger on the pulse
(30:28):
of your workforce, offeringan intuitive way to gather feedback
and help you identify issuesand strengthen your culture.
We hope you'll return to the HR Break Roomvery soon. -Be sure to follow
and subscribe to HR Break Room on Spotify,Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
For more episodes, visit HR breakroom.comor follow us on social media.
(30:51):
Thanks for tuning in to this episode, andwe can't wait for you to join us again
inside the HR Break Room.
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-Hello, everyone, and welcome to the HRBreak Room, Paycom's podcast
dedicated to having quick conversationson the hot topics in HR.
(00:35):
I'm your host, Ariana Stark. Anemployee's journey with a company begins
the moment they apply and continuesthrough every stage of their career.
While resources like training, technologyand benefits are essential,
one of the most powerful factorsin retention is a sense of belonging.
Employees who feel valued and connectedare more engaged, more committed
(00:58):
and more likely to stay.
By fostering an inclusive culturethat supports both professional growth
and personal well-being, organizationscan build lasting relationships
that benefit both the employeeand the company.
Our guest today, Dr.Jessica Sharp, has devoted her career
to helping companiesimprove their employee life cycle.
(01:18):
Sharp is a sought after leadershipdevelopment consultant working
to transform organizations throughleadership excellence while creating
spaces for voices of those who have beenhistorically and systemic marginalized.
She has a doctorate in leadershippsychology from William James College
and a master of Public Affairsfrom the University of Missouri.
(01:39):
Dr. sharp is living out herlife's purpose through her organization,
Sharp Brain Consulting,
which works with organizational leaderswho want to create stronger cultures.
With that, let's jump into the HRBreak Room.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday, Dr. Sharp.
-Yeah. I'm really excited to be here.
You know, I really am excited to talkabout this concept of belonging.
(02:00):
I know it's been sort of more of a buzzterm these days,
but it's something that I just thinkis really, really important.
-Absolutely. Well,we're so excited to get started.
So before we dive into the specifics,can you tell us
why retention is such a challengein today's workplace?
And how does belongingreally play a role?
-Yeah.
So really there's sort of several thingsI think that impact retention.
(02:23):
And one of them isthis idea of the great detachment, right,
that Gallup in particularhas been talking about.
We've heard of quiet quitting,
and so now,
we're talking about the great detachmentand things like organizational
changes, a sort of different expectationsaround work.
You know, for so many of us, COVIDimpacted us in a lot of ways, right?
And a lot of folksdid not want to come back
into the workforce in the same exact waythat they had before.
(02:46):
And so their expectations are shifting.
Sometimes we have client and customerexpectations that are shifting.
And so, there's just sort of a lotgoing on in the workplace.
And folks are sort of wanting
to detach a little bitand create more of a holistic life.
It's also important to notethat we've been seeing a sort of a rise
in mental health challengesfor some, a number of years,
and that also impacts how folkssort of show up at work.
(03:08):
So it feels like it is harderto keep employees really engaged and,
and wanting to stay and come backbecause of all of the things
that are just shifting in the world.
And then, that also doesn'teven at all account for the fact that
there's now sort of a shiftin what it looks like to work.
Right? Does it mean I've got to come infor five hours,
you know, every — five days,every single week and eight hours?
(03:28):
Can it be hybrid? Can it be virtual?
So again, like the expectations around
work are changing, but workplaces aremaybe not catching up to them,
right?
And belonging
is so incredibly tied to retentionbecause really, at the very core of it,
belonging is about being seen, heard,valued and welcomed for who you are,
right?-Right.
-And if you feel like you don't —those things aren't happening,
(03:50):
it can be really easy to leavean organization.
And Harvard Business
Review has done some research on this,and lots of other people had to.
And what they found,which is actually really similar
to my own personal researchthrough William James College,
is that belonging is goodalso for the business,
right?
So there's an increase in work
productivity, about 56%, for employeesthat feel a sense of belonging. -Wow.
(04:12):
-There's about a 50% decrease inturnover rate.
Right? Like, there'sthis idea of intention to stay.
So employees who feel like they belong
are just less likelyto leave an organization.
And then there's a decrease of 75% of useof sick days in particular,
right?-Wow.
-That's a correlationthat we've seen in the research
around belonging and employeesand taking time off,
right?
(04:32):
There's also a ton of research aroundjust employees show up differently,
and arguably better,when they feel a sense of belonging.
So retentionand belonging are very much so mixed
in that if you feel more like you belong,you're probably more likely to stay, right?
And you're more likely also to be,
you know, a better employeefor the organization.
-Right. No, that makes sense.
Well, going off of that,what are some early warning signs that,
(04:56):
you know, an employee might be leavingdue to lack of belonging?
-Yeah. So there's sort of a few different things.
And really, at the very like,almost like on a macro level,
looking for shiftsin the way that your employee engages,
right?
So I'm going to sort of caveatwhat I'm going to say with, if your —
if your employeeshave always shown up this way, right,
that may or may not meanit's related to belonging.
But employees sort of detaching, right?
(05:18):
This idea of the great detachment,sort of backing away,
you know, communicatingmaybe a little bit less,
right?
Detaching and pulling awayin terms of social outlets.
Right?
So if you're an organizationthat has any sort of like,
opportunity for employeesto sort of socialize or get together and,
and do some of what we, we affectionatelycall the warm and fuzzy things,
if you had an employeethat's engaged in those things,
(05:38):
and now they're sort of taking a stepback, right,
that could potentially be relatedto belonging as well.
You can also maybe seesort of shifts in productivity,
if there's a decrease in productivity,that can potentially be a sign as well.
An increase in sick days.
And this is different, right,than like, pre-planned vacation.
-Right.-But if you're sort of seeing an increase
in folks — employeesjust not coming to work,
(05:59):
sometimes that can be relatedto, to belonging.
And then also sometimes you can see ashift in how employees communicate, right?
If they've communicatedrelatively consistently in terms of
even like the wordsthey've used, that sort of thing.
and then there's a shift? Again,that can be related to belonging.
So, you know, again,the macro thing is really watching
and communicating with your employeesto see are they shifting and really
(06:22):
pulling back and not engagingin the same way that they have.
Doesn't mean it's only belonging,it could be other things,
but it's certainlysomething that you may want to say,
"I think this could bea belonging issue." -Right.
So then, how can leaderscreate an environment
where employees feel connected and valuedand more likely to stay long term?
You know, if they are maybe seeing some of those
(06:43):
kind of detachment things,like what can leaders do?
-Yeah.
You know, there's a few differentthings that leaders can do.
And one of the thingsI've been really thinking
about a lot and talking aboutand listening to other people and,
and sort of thinking is,as much as anything, this belonging work
is about really shifting your mindsetand prioritizing belonging.
(07:03):
Right? I'm sure I'm gonna say that againbefore we're done here today.
So I'm going to give you sortof some real, tangible, specific ideas.
But part of it is just really saying,"This is a priority,
and we're going to prioritizeour employees
and our relationshipswith our employees." Right.
But some really specific things,
most of you potentially have heardof the term psychological safety, right?
And that came from Amy Edmondsonout of Harvard.
(07:25):
And it's this idea that employers can feelsafe to take risks and to make mistakes.
And one of the ways that you cultivatethat space of psychological safety
is really creating an environment whereyou're seeking input from folks, right?
And you're creating a space
where people can be honestand, and it is okay if they make mistakes.
And, and really, from a leadershipperspective, the way to cultivate
(07:45):
that is to be mindful abouthow you're engaging with employees, right?
We're going to talk about communicationsome I think, too, but the way in which
we show up with employees and, and what happenswhen they ask a lot of questions, right?
What is our body language like? Right?What is our tone?
Are we creating space and saying, "It's
okay if you ask some questions.That's fine," right?
Or if an employee makes a mistake,how are we engaging with them.
(08:06):
right?
Are we saying,"OK. This thing happened, right?
And the stakes may be high, right?
But let's learn from itand move forward." Right?
So those are some of the real specificthings.
Another thing related to sort of
just belonging in generalis this idea of relationships.
And sometimes when I,when I talk about belonging, people say,
"Well, I didn't come to work to make friends."
Well, I didn't quite say all of that.
(08:27):
But when you're working with somebody,to have a relationship where you can
listen to them and engage,you know, there's some research that talks
about this idea of checking in with peoplebeyond just work.
In my own personal research,that was a theme that I saw pop up as that
people are like,"I'm a whole person outside of work,
and I want to be able to engagebeyond just the workplace."
So that's sort of another thing.
(08:48):
If you can tellthis is sort of my thing, right?
So I can sort of talkendlessly about belonging.
But really those are two very concretethings.
Is creating an environment where it isokay for people to be honest, to be open,
to make mistakes, ask questionsand then really prioritizing
those relationships are reallysome of the two, like, key activities.
And then, you know,
(09:08):
we can talk more about some other,you know, ways in which this looks.
But those are some of the real big things.-Now going off of that,
a September 2024 surveycommissioned by Paycom
and conducted by PSB Insights,found that 56% of HR professionals
identified employee retentionas their number one priority in 2025.
(09:30):
So how can HR
really help retain employees?
-Yeah. So the first answer might sort ofbe a little bit confusing,
but we start at the beginning, right?
So there's a lot of research aroundbelonging and connected to that retention
around onboarding, right?
And I know it's sort of trickyto think about retention
at the very beginningof an employee's experience with us,
But the way that we onboard them,the way that we welcome them, the way that
(09:53):
we really communicate, "Here's who we areas an organization, here are our values.
Here is where your place is herein this organization," that can really set
the foundation to help an employeeretain, right, and to stay around.
So that's one piecethat HR can really be involved in.
Another piece is aroundtraining and leadership development,
both for your leadersas well as your employees,
(10:13):
right?
You know, in organizationsthat invest in their employees,
it's easier for those employeesto sort of invest back. But
the other thing is when we,when we talk about belonging
and some of the practical strategies,the skill set around this,
being able to trainand equip your leadership from,
you know, all levels, basicallyanybody who's leading somebody, right,
to really understand, again,why this is important,
(10:35):
and some of the the sort of heart of whybelonging is important.
It's a neuroscience backed concept, right?
We actually have to, as humans,feel connected to other people.
And then helping leaders understandsome of the skill sets, like that's
something that HR, I think, uniquelycan work on.
A few other things is one of them isERG. It's employee resource group.
Some folkscall them business resource groups.
(10:57):
While, you know, they sort of livethroughout an organization, oftentimes,
they come out of in sorta our housewithin an HR
department, right?
And so if an employee, you know,you may have an employee
who doesn't feel incredibly connectedin their department, right?
But if they can be a part of an employeeresource group, a business resource group,
with people where there'ssome sort of connection, right?
Whether it be new employees or,you know, there's Black employee groups,
(11:18):
there's, there's queer employee groups,there's
there's veteran groups,there's lots of different ways, right,
that you can sort of putgroups of people together,
but it can help them feel more connectedto each other and to the organization.
And HR can really help with that.
Another thing that, that potentially HR can do
is really look at this sortof performance management process, right?
And lots of people have different opinionsabout the way in which we,
(11:40):
we sort of macro level manage employee,the employee review process.
But I think really
prioritizing the employee throughoutthe entire performance management
process, finding waysto communicate with them throughout
and then also measuring, belongingright, and building belonging into that
are a few things that I thinkHR really can uniquely do in addition to,
(12:00):
you know, just really talking about thisand communicating,
you know, retention is something that,
that we need to be prioritizingand belonging and creating
a culture of belonging withinthis workplace is a thing that we can do.
So, again, helping to shift this cultureand shift the mindset, even by quote,
I'm air quoting, simply communicating, "Hey, y'all.Belonging should be a priority for us,
(12:21):
and this is what it looks like."
-What other, you know, practical strategieslike the ERGs and things like that
can an organization really do to implement
and really strengthenthat belonging and boost retention?
-Yeah. So I've got a few morereally specific things.
But one of the things that I think about
a lot is, is similar right,to this idea of like prioritizing it.
(12:41):
It's also, I think, really
pushing leadersto really embrace leadership,
right,
and to be, you know, strong leaders.Because a lot of the things that,
that we can do to cultivate a senseof belonging really involves inviting
and including your employees,which means it
may, yeah, may take a little bit longerto make decisions, right?
Or you may hear things that feel competingwith what you think.
(13:03):
If you're like, "I think we should do this,"and you've got a group of employees,
you've now included in the process,and they say, "Well,
I think we should come over and do this,"right?
It might shift and sortof require you as a leader to be open
to being wrong, right,or hearing a different perspective.
So that sort of a macro level, again,around this idea of, of themes.
I think, like I said,
I think
belonging is so much about actions,but it's also about the way
(13:26):
that we're showing up.
But some really specific thingsthat have come up in the research,
some of them have come up, again,specifically in my own research,
but then a lot of what other people havesaid, is, is inclusive decision-making.
Employeeswant to be a part of decision-making.
And I recognizethat there are certain decisions
that you can't involve all your employeesin, right?
But to the extent that you can,can you bring them in and say,
(13:48):
you know, "We're working through this,what do you think about this?"
Right?
Another thing that you can do thatwe saw really strong companies do during
COVID is try to communicate the directionand where you're going and provide
regular updates to your employees.The, the brain does not quite like
uncertainty, right?
We like to know what's coming.We like to know what's going on.
And so, if you can communicate,you know, "Hey, just an update.
(14:10):
This thing is happening."From a strategic planning perspective,
"Here's where we're going."
Right?
Or "Hey, you know,I know we had a difficult month,
but here's what we're doing moving forwardin order to shift that." Right?
So really just trying
to sort of communicate with your employeesand involve them in the process.
You know, one of the other things thatwe can do is celebrate employees, right?
And find waysto express gratitude to employees.
And there's lots of waysto do this, right?
(14:31):
So it can be, you know,sort of more informal,
you know, sort of popping in an employee'soffice and saying,
"I really appreciate thatreport that you made.
I know that, you know,we asked you in the last minute
and, you know,and you did such a great job," right?
That's one way to do it.
You can also provide opportunitiesfor other employees to express
sort of gratitudeand to recognize employees.
So sometimes that's a badge, right?
(14:51):
Maybe on, you know,in your performance management system
or just a way in which people can berecognized for the thing
that they're doing. Again,the brain likes it
and it's a good way to also communicatethis behavior,
what we're doing,you know, "We see you. We value that."
Because really, that, again, is
the root of belonging.It's about being seen and valued.
You know, I talked a little bit about thisaround this idea of leadership,
(15:13):
but the other thing is practicingvulnerability, right?
Which, you know,
lots of scholars have talked about,Brené Brown in particular, is one of them.
And it's this idea of being opento being wrong and saying,
"I'm going to put this out here,and I'm not quite sure
what the outcome is going to be,but that's going to be okay."
So, you know, really being comfortablebeing imperfect
with your employees, right?
Sometimes leaders,I think, feel like, "I have to get it
(15:35):
all right, all of the time,"but that's not realistic. Right?
So I think that that's another wayto just really be open to saying,
"Here's where we are.
And, and I recognize, you know, that
I may not get it all right, butI want to involve you into the process."
So those are some of those thingsin addition
to some of the thingsthat I had mentioned earlier.
-So what role doeseffective communication play
(15:56):
in retaining employees and reallyreinforcing their sense of belonging?
You kind of mentioned communicationwas such a big part of it.
Can you expand on that a little bit?-Oh, gosh. Yeah.
I mean, communication is, in some ways,it is one of the biggest pieces
really relatedto like retention and belonging.
And, and there's a lot of other things,right?
Employees care about a lot of thingswhen they're coming to work.
(16:16):
They care about, certainly,how much money they are getting. Right?
They care about the type of workenvironment,
the actual like physical setup, right?
They care about all of those things.
But even if all of those thingsare wonderful and great,
but they are being communicated in a way
that feels othering,that feels like they are not valued,
the rest of that stuffcannot make up for it.
Right?
(16:36):
So the way in which we communicate,both like the actual words
that we use and,and some of this isn't new, right?
But like our body language,
and I know that, you know, intuitively,so many of us know that.
But I mean, I've watched leaders, I mean,literally disengage from conversations
when, when other, when you know, the peoplewho they are leading, who are following
(16:58):
them, are still trying to workthrough some things. Right?
So the way that we show up with employeesis just so incredibly important.
And, and to mention Brené Brown again,and her most recent
book, Atlas of the Heart, it's a,it talks about emotions it's fascinating
if you're into this sort of thing.
But she talks about this ideaof disconnection, which happens
when, when one person oftentimesunintentionally excludes
(17:18):
humiliates or sort of,you know, others someone.
right?
And that happens because we're humans,and I am susceptible to it, too.
Sometimes I do things and I'm like,"Oh no, I got to really circle back."
But the thing that she says iswhen that happens,
when we feel likewe've accidentally excluded
somebody or, you know, we've had a meeting
and we haven't includedall of the parties, right,
and we didn't even mean to.We have to circle back
(17:40):
and we have to communicate and say,"Oh, I am so sorry about that,"
in whatever way you would say that,
"We did not mean to exclude you.Next time, we're going to invite you in
and we're going to moveforward differently."
So again, both the words that we usehave such a big part to play, and also,
again, our body language and our toneand even down to like,
you know, if you have employees,if you're in a staff meeting, let's say,
(18:01):
and you have one or two employeeswho are consistently communicating,
and from a communications perspective,you're not listening
to the other employees,you're not sort of seeking them out.
You know,all of those things are really important,
and the idea of being heardis really important.
And so that communication piece it,
you know, it can really make or breakthis concept of belonging.
And because it can make or breakbelonging,
(18:21):
it can certainly make or break retention.
-Well, so speaking of kind of makingor breaking, what are some, you know,
common mistakes that leaders make thatmaybe unintentionally, obviously,
undermine that belongingand lead to higher turnover?
-Yeah. You know, and it's a few thingsthat I talked about, right?
You know, when we, you know,unintentionally exclude people, you know,
(18:44):
or intentionally, quite frankly, I mean,either one intention at this point,
you know, either way. Butwhen we exclude employees, when we don't,
when we don't really listen to them,when we don't value them,
you know, when we sort of take away their autonomy.
Right?
One of the things that the brainalso likes, particularly for adults,
is to have a level of control, right?
We sort of need to know what's going on.We need to have a lay of the land.
(19:05):
I had a leader one time,she moved my desk to a different place.
Didn't ask me, just sort of moved it.And, and just how it made me feel.
I was like, "Oh my gosh,she doesn't even sort of see me." Right?
So again, taking choice away from peoplecan really make them not feel safe.
And again, this idea of communicating.
So how were you communicating?What is the tone?
How much eye contactare you giving somebody? Right?
(19:27):
And I want to caveat that by saying,I know neurodivergent folks
sometimes struggle with eye contact.
It means a little bit different, somethingdifferent to them in their brain.
So I recognize that.
But are you actually paying attentionto your employees?
And so some of those unintentional
things that we can do are, again,not really paying attention to employers,
not listening to them, takingsome of that choice away from employees
(19:47):
and then just creating an environmentwhere you are not actively seeking input.
I mean, I've witnessed so many spaceswhere we don't,
we don't really want to hearwhat employees have to say.
We just want to dictate to them.
And if an employee does not feel likethey can engage —I mean, Amy Edmondson
said this — if they don't feel likethey can provide their feedback,
they don't feel like you care about them
and they don't feel likethey are psychologically safe.
(20:09):
So, you know, it really comes down againto this idea of communication
and how you are engaging
with your employees and how much autonomyyou're allowing your employees to have.
-Absolutely.
Well, so how can organizations,
measure the impact of belonging and retention?
You know, what are those key metricsthat they should be tracking?
(20:29):
-Yeah. So there's a few different waysto do this.
So you can always surveyyour employees, right,
In both a very formalized surveyor in an informal way.
If you already have some versionof an employee engagement
survey, you can so easily tiein, you know, 3 to 5 questions
that are really focused onbelonging, right?
So you can, again,ask your employees for their feedback.
I've already sort of alluded to thisa little bit when we talked about HR,
(20:50):
but you can build something like thisinto your performance management processes
so that you can beginalso to track data over time, right?
So you can ask it ofleaders, of employees,
you know, you know,"What are you doing to help
create a culture of belonging?" You know,and putting that into their annual plan
and then sort of holding them accountable,
at least for the wayin which they're showing up. -Right.
-Those are some of the thingsthat you can do.
(21:11):
You can also begin to tracksome of these metrics over time, right?
So you can sort of look at things like
retention or turnover right now, you know,what is your percentage of turnover.
And I'd also venture to,to look at how much, what, what,
how long have people been here,
right? It's a macro level,
how often are people leaving.
And then are they leaving after a year,after five years, after 20 years,
(21:31):
right,
so looking at that. Also looking atthe amount of sick days people are using,
right?
And, and more on an aggregate levelbecause we're not trying to,
you know, sort of drill down and penalizeanybody.
We're just looking for trends.
But look at all of thatlet's say today, right?
Whatever today looks like,if that's actually today,
and then begin
to have some of these metrics in place
and then tracksome of those same things again.
(21:52):
Because like I said, what we knowfrom an organizational perspective is that
belonging is so directly tied to employeewellness and employee well-being,
intention to stay,
so are employees actuallyintending to stay, use of sick days
and then also, how much employees feel likethey are attached to the organization.
It's called organizational identification.
And a really easy wayto sort of start to pay attention to
(22:13):
that is how do employeestalk about your company?
Do they use words like we and us,or do they use words like they and them?
Right?
And how much do they sort of feel engagedwith their peers?
So you can begin to sort of track
some of those things in eithera formal survey,
tell me what you think,
or in some of these other ways,and HR actually, in particular,
can help with some of those more macrorelated themes.
(22:34):
-That's great.
So now kind of changing a little bit,pivoting here,
how can employee management toolsreally help boost retention?
We kind of touched on it earlier, butcan you go a little bit more into that?
-Yeah.
So I think there's probably liketwo different ways that that can happen.
Right? It'sboth the automation of stuff, right?
So when we are automating processesand again, tools like,
you know, like so many that that Paycom has,
(22:56):
when we're automating things,it is sort of a reassurance for employees.
Like "I don't have to stress aboutwhen this is going to happen.
I don't have to worry about how long it'sgoing to take to find out
if I can, you know, go on this vacationwith my family," right?
But it also frees up time on the leaders.
That's something that they don't have to worry about.
So that automation is helpful.But also things like employee trainings,
employee resources, thingsthat can sort of, you know,
(23:18):
something that employees can consistentlygo back to can
also be a really important tool.You know, belonging in and of itself,
it, the term is sort of a new-ish
thing, but the root of belongingis not new, right?
Like employed individuals,for as long as we've had brains basically,
have wanted and needed to be connectedand to be a part of groups.
(23:39):
So that piece isn't new.
But what is new is thatthe world is becoming just more difficult.
So, you know, providing opportunitiesfor employees to get, like, to stay up
on the newest latest trendsrelated to belonging
and helping them to understandwhat those skills are like.
And it's easy if you can put it into a system,
a platform, and then they cansort of come to it whenever they want.
Depending on also the capabilityof the tool of the platform,
(24:02):
and again, you know, Paycomhas a lot of great ones,
but depending on what that looks like,you can also provide those opportunities,
like I said, for employee recognition,right?
For employees to be able to say,"Oh my gosh, you know, such and such,
did such a great job with this.And they were really helpful.
They went above and beyondand I just really appreciate them," right?
So sort of allowingfor those opportunities,
in addition to, you know, allowing employees,
(24:25):
to sort of have a place,like I said, where they know they can go,
everything is right there.
So I think, you know, there'sa lot of different ways you can use tools.
And, and the other sort of thought is,
is there a way to use some of these toolsto connect employees?
Because I've talked a lot about leadershipand about, you know, the leaders
responsibility around creating an environment
where people feel safe,you know, and, and, and making sure
(24:46):
that they create an environmentwhere employees feel communicated,
they feel seen, they feel heard, they feel valued.
There's this,
I'll throw in another thing that just sortof has been rattling around in my brain.
There's this concept called belonging cues,
and they're these little signsthat you are safe, right?
There's things like listening, right,leaning into a conversation, being able
to repeat back, in the way you wouldphysically invite somebody into a space
(25:08):
or if there are three of you standing hereand somebody comes behind, right,
comes into the space, are you physicallyinviting them into the space or not?
Like those are some of those,like, idea of belonging
cues, ways for your brain to know, "Yes,I am safe here."
So that's sort of part of this piece.
But everybody can create a cultureof belonging, right?
Every single person can sort of do oneor two small things every day
(25:29):
to check in on their fellow employee, right?
And they have a, you know,one of their work friends, let's say, who
they haven't seen in a few days or,you know, their energy just feels off.
All of us can do that.
And tools can sort of help facilitate that,
especially in a hybridor virtual work environment,
because we didn'treally talk too much about that.
But I think belonginghas to be a priority in all spaces,
(25:52):
but when you've got employeesthat are virtual
or that are hybrid,you've got to just think about it
a little bit moreand a little bit differently.
And creating opportunities,even virtually for people
to connect, right, and to check inand that sort of thing.
So a lot of different waysyou can use these tools.
But again, this idea of automation andsaving time is a really, really big piece.
And then the other one is,is providing education
and training to employees as well.
(26:13):
-That's great.
Well,I really like how you said, you know,
all of us can really, provide that and help
give that belonging or that senseof belonging to even our fellow employer
like, you know, co-workers and all of that.
So I think that's great.
Well, I love all of the different things.
You've brought up some incrediblepoints and examples.
So what if, you know, if leaders,obviously they can't boil the ocean,
(26:34):
so if they could just make one changetoday to really improve belonging
and boost retentionand just kind of take that first step,
what would you recommend they do?
-So it's, I'll,I'll try to give it one thing,
but it's sort of they're overlapping.Prioritize it, which I've talked about,
right?
Is, is sort of make a commitment to say,"It is important to me
(26:55):
to create a culture of,of belonging at my workplace,"
both because of the actual, like,financial implications of your employees
are not showing up to workbecause they don't feel like they belong,
there's a productivity issue, right?
There is, you know,
you are not going to getas much out of this employee
if they are physically not there, right?
But then also, again, this other,
you know, concept that I've sort of hiton, the brain needs belonging.
(27:16):
We need connectionwhen we don't feel like, you know,
we have connection, we feel lonely,and we we disengage for other reasons
and in other ways, right?
So one, prioritizing that.
And then the other thing is talkto your employees about this.
Right? You know, talk to them —
one of the things I like to dois just ask people questions, right?
And so sometimes,
I'll ask people things like,you know, in a check in at a meeting,
(27:37):
I'm really like, any time I'm
leading committees or groupsor that sort of thing, groups of people,
I'm sort of known at this point to havea check in question at the beginning,
and, you know, just sometimesit's light and fun, and sometimes it's not.
But ask people, "What,what would make you feel safe at work?
What are some of the thingsthat make you feel safe at work?
What are some of the things that makeyou feel a sense of belonging at work?"
You know, "What are things that we could be doing
(27:58):
differently or better to help facilitatea culture of belonging?"
Because again, I've given you a million different things.
If you, you know, do some research,
there's lots of different, you know,people talking about belonging right now.
So there's not a void of things to do,
right?
And you can also ask yourself, what do you,
you know, think to feel likeyou have a sense of belonging,
but center the employee, right?
(28:18):
And, and really
so much of what I've talked abouthas been about that, is really prioritizing
the people part of this workand really centering your employees.
And so, one of the best ways to dothat is to just talk to them,
you know, at your next one-on-one,
even if you don't have a culture of havingone-on-ones, could be a good idea.
I know some of us have lots of peoplethat report to us,
but just start to ask themand talk to them
about what this looks like,and then really listen to them
(28:40):
and try to engage, you know, infusesome of these things as much as you can.
But if, if you hear nothing elsefrom what I say or take nothing else
away from this,
is that you really need to prioritizebelonging if you care about retention.
And one of the best ways to dothat is to just start
talking to your employees about it.
-That's perfect.
And that's something that, you know,anyone could just start today.
-Yep. Yeah.
(29:01):
On Monday morning or whatever next day
or whatever day you're listening to thisand whatever next day you go to work,
talk to your employees.Check in with them.
-First step, just get the communication going.
-Exactly, exactly.
Well, that's great. Well,before we wrap up,
is there anything elseyou'd like to add to this topic?
-Yeah.
I mean, the only other thing, you know,I want to just sort of reiterate
(29:21):
because I think I've said, you know,a lot of things around belonging,
but I just, I want to reiterate how important it is.
I sometimes, you know, I talk to leaderswho, you know, they don't ...
They value their employees, but they don'tnecessarily really understand
why does this matter?
Like, "Why can't our employees just come to work
and do what they need to do and go home?"
And the reality is, is thatthat is not supported by neuroscience.
(29:45):
The neuroscience onthis is so incredibly crystal clear.
We do not have a choice
but to be a part of a communityand to feel a sense of belonging.
-Well, thank you so much.
Thank you, Dr. Sharp, for joining us today.
I really enjoyed our conversation.-Thank you, thank you.
-And thank you, listenersfor tuning in to our conversation today.
Paycom's single HR and payrollsoftware offers a variety of tools
(30:07):
designed to make employeesfeel like a vital part of the process.
Kicking off with an engaging application process
and an empowering onboarding experience,our talent management tools make it easy
to assign training, foster developmentand manage their performance
and compensation.
Plus, tools like Paycom Surveys helpsyou keep a finger on the pulse
(30:28):
of your workforce, offeringan intuitive way to gather feedback
and help you identify issuesand strengthen your culture.
We hope you'll return to the HR Break Roomvery soon. -Be sure to follow
and subscribe to HR Break Room on Spotify,Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
For more episodes, visit HR breakroom.comor follow us on social media.
(30:51):
Thanks for tuning in to this episode, andwe can't wait for you to join us again
inside the HR Break Room.
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