B is for ‘Belonging’  

Belonging might be easy to lump with inclusivity, but we wanted to take a moment to deconstruct why they’re different.  

While the ‘B’ in the DEIB equation is now an essential element of an empathetic company culture, our 2023 State of Workplace Empathy study shows only 36% of employees and 51% of HR professionals are familiar with the term. So, let’s break it down. 

D+E+I = B 

Ludmila N. Praslova, Ph.D., is an organizational psychology expert who does an excellent job of concisely stating the essence of belonging with this rendition of the DEIB dance analogy:  

“If diversity is being invited to the party and inclusion is being asked to dance, then belonging is being able to reveal that you can’t dance – and to still be included.”  

Of all the DEIB elements, belonging is the end state, or the result, in the DEIB equation. While organizations play a role in creating optimal conditions for employees to feel like they belong and thrive in the workplace, belonging is an element that must be deeply felt at an individual level to be realized in to totality of the workplace. 

Survey says: Remote workers score highest for belonging  

Although our Empathy study shows that awareness for the DEIB acronym might lag, the data also reveals some surprisingly positive feelings of belonging among employees, especially among remote workers: 

• Overall, 79% of employees say they feel like they belong at their organizations. Remote workers, however, have significantly higher feelings of belonging: 83% of remote employees feel like they belong versus 77% of non-remote workers. 
• Likewise, remote workers have significantly higher feelings of inclusivity (87% remote vs 79% non-remote) and connectedness (84% remote vs 77% non-remote).  
• And, remote workers of minority ethnic and racial backgrounds score higher for belonging, inclusivity, and connectedness than their non-remote peers, with Black (81%) and Hispanic (82%) employees most likely to say they feel like they belong. 

This data demonstrates that in-office attendance isn’t a requirement for fostering people-first cultures. In fact, it’s a case for just the opposite—showing that remote culture is winning on the DEIB front. 

How we’re putting the ‘B’ in DEIB at Businessolver  

Along with our transition to a fully remote culture, we’ve taken belonging to heart here at Businessolver by creating several programs to support the wellbeing of our Solvers at an individual level, while also fostering a more connected and inclusive company culture. 

Our Workspace Anywhere program is our commitment to a fully remote culture which we believe helps Solvers better focus on their holistic wellbeing while enabling the company to hire a more diverse set of candidates. In fact, we’ve gone from 961 in-office employees at the start of 2020 to over 1,400 fully remote employees in 2022. 

Solver Nations is an initiative we created to foster connectivity among Solvers who live in close proximity/zip codes. Organized by “neighborhoods” via chat rooms on Teams, employees can share what’s going on in their corner of the world and connect outside of work. Our Businessolver Foundation also partners with Solver Nations to distribute grant funds to various non-profits that serve our local communities. 

DEIB employee groups create space for intentional, honest, and educational conversations around a variety of inclusivity and belongingness topics. These groups include book clubs, cultural cooking classes, virtual conversation corners, and organizational-wide communication efforts to drive awareness and education.  

The DEIB proof is in the pudding (or NPS scores)

Each year, a third-party firm conducts an internal net-promoter-score (NPS) study, helping us gauge employee sentiments and identify areas for improvement. In 2022, we saw scores climb across the board, but particularly in the areas of employee engagement, company culture, and internal DEIB communications. 

• Overall, our NPS score increased by nearly 21% to 61.3% (anything above 50 is considered an excellent rating!). Across each racial and gender respondent group, scores improved by at least 17%.  
• Our Black Solvers sentiment scores showed the highest improvement of any group—outpacing our companywide score by nearly 10 points. This is a testament to the focus paid to this employee population and commitment to learning more about and supporting the disparate experiences of our Solvers.  
• Likewise, our company culture score increased to 8.7 (+.3 points from 2021), employee engagement increased to 8.4 (+4 points from 2021), and our internal DEIB communications rating increased to 8.5 (+ .4 points from 2021). On a scale of 10, we’ll take that as a win!  

But while we’re proud and pleased with our progress, we know the work is never done. We continue the quest to enable our Solvers to shine as their true selves—and acknowledge that’s never a destination but rather a continuous, deliberate journey with no room for complacency at the party.  

Dig into more DEIB data and insights with our 2023 DEIB Special Report.