Belonging is place, mattering is significance

This week I have had a number of discussions about mattering and especially in relation to belonging, in the workplace. These conversations have been across multiple industries/sectors.

Conscious leadership understands that belonging is integral for people to have a sense of partnership and agency in their workplace and when this is not apparent, there are multiple impacts.

Belonging answers the question, “Am I accepted here?” It is the experience of inclusion, being welcomed, recognised and invited into workplace interactions, projects, tasks, communication and relationships.

Belonging begins the creation of safety. It reassures people they are not on the outside looking in.

Mattering (in the workplace and personal space) moves deeper. It answers the question, “Do I make a difference and am I valued here?” 

Mattering is the visible sense that one’s presence, voice and contribution carry weight. In healthy teams and workplaces, people do not simply feel included, they feel seen, heard and impactful, it is a visible sense of feeling influential and valued.

Leadership that cultivates belonging without mattering, risks creating comfort without contribution and can easily begin to resemble a glossy magazine cover, attractive, well-branded and promising, yet lacking depth and follow through behind the image.

Recruitment messaging that portrays impressive job titles or a compelling employee value proposition (EVP), may invite people in however if their voice is not valued and their contribution does not shape decisions, they quickly feel invisible. Within weeks and months of a new position beginning how people matter, is a clear display of organisational integrity, to the new employee.

New employees are valuable in bringing a fresh perspective to an organisation, clearly experiencing cultural gaps, toxic behaviours, or alternatively, consistent and ongoing support, skill development and value adding.

Without genuine mattering, a new employee can find themselves carrying the emotional labour of organisational dysfunction that is not of their making, whilst lacking the influence to address it. This type of experience places the new employee in a position of now managing cultural dysfunction on top of their role expectations, often leading to turn over of staff, whilst the organisation questions why.

Leadership practices that focus only on KPI’s/output and outcomes without making room for belonging or mattering, create extrinsically motivated employee performances without relational safety. This may lead to delivered results however, at a cost of pressure, guardedness and compliance, dropping employee engagement, wellbeing and organisational culture. Over time, this becomes unsustainable and exhausting, resulting in disengaged and overwhelmed employees and psychosocial hazard breaches.

Sustainable cultures require belonging, mattering and strategy: a place to stand, a sense that standing there makes a difference and an overarching united direction.

Below are examples of belonging…. then mattering:

• Your name is included in the email for a meeting request – Your perspective is sought in the meeting.

• Your colleague or leader asks how you are feeling about a project – a plan is adjusted according to your response.

• You are part of a team working on a project – when the project changes direction a team member briefs you and gains your perspective about the change.

• You belong to a place, organisation or on country - Others openly acknowledge your belonging

🍃 Belonging creates inclusion and relational safety

🍃 Mattering affirms significance and contribution

🍃 Inclusion without influence can feel passive and disingenuous

🍃 Influence without inclusion will eventually feel unsafe and lack depth and looks like employee turnover

🍃 Thriving cultures intentionally nurture both belonging and mattering

Reflections to ponder:

⭕ Do the people you lead feel included and valued?

⭕ Where might someone belong, but not feel they matter at your workplace?

⭕ How do your leadership behaviours signal both connection and significance to your colleagues and team?

"Ultimately, the power of mattering lies in its ability to reconnect people to their deepest sense of purpose and value" (Zach Mercurio)