How Shared Decision Making Increases Belonging
Interview with “Alexis”, a Foundation’s Senior Program Manager, for Sharehold’s Redesigning Belonging Research
Curated by Lianna Woods
This post is part of an ongoing series in which Sharehold is publicly sharing our in-progress research that seeks to explore and answer the question: What does it mean to belong at work in a time of uncertainty? Are you interested in receiving our research insights when they’re released? Sign up here.
Meet Alexis, an Anonymous Senior Program Manager at a Foundation
Given the sensitive nature of our Redesigning Belonging research, some participants have asked for anonymity. We’ll call this participant, “Alexis”. Alexis is the senior program manager at a foundation of about fifty employees that focuses on environmental impact and is based in a major metropolitan area hard hit by COVID-19.
As part of Sharehold’s research on redesigning belonging at work for uncertainty, we interviewed Alexis both as an employee navigating this time of uncertainty at work. Their interview touches on a few themes:
- The unspoken expectations that diminish belonging
- Why we should expect belonging at work
- How decision making can be a vehicle for belonging
Take a peek into our interview with Alexis:
How do you define belonging?
“Belonging is that I can be myself at work, show all sides of myself, and be confident that there will be people that I can relate to. Even if people don’t see things exactly the way I see things… they’re respectful, curious, and want to get to know me as a person.”
“People [in my office] are friendly, though straight-laced in the office. No one really talks about what they do outside of work, or they keep a lot of frustrations to themselves. We certainly never talk about politics in our office… That can take away from a feeling of belonging because I don’t feel like I’m actually letting people get to see who I am.
There’s more to me than just my professional demeanor. When I’m in my work setting, I’m much more serious than I like to be outside of work. That’s what was expected — it’s living up to some kind of expectation. No one said [the expectations] out loud. They’re just there and you observe the work environment you’re in.”
What is the value of belonging at work?
“Belonging is what a lot of people are looking for in all aspects of their life. You’re looking for a friend group that has people that support you and care about you, who will be there for you. That’s what you want in a partner and hopefully your family. People are also looking for that in a workplace. You should have that in the workplace because it takes up so much of your life and you spend time with those people. It is really important to feel like you’re in a space where you’re trusted and valued.”
How has this time of uncertainty affected your day to day at work and your sense of belonging?
“[COVID-19] has changed a lot of my work. I typically am doing a lot of in person, training programs, and events, with more international participants. There was definitely a period, probably the first three weeks of the stay-at-home order, when I was floundering because if I’m not working on any of these things, what is my job?… Is my role still going to be important?”
“No one has been furloughed which is great. But the messaging has been interesting because it’s been, ‘We should all be so thankful to have a job in the first place.’ After the third email, we’re all, ‘Should we be worried?’ It causes unnecessary anxiety…. I’m putting in a lot of work, you’re not just giving me something.”
How has this time of uncertainty influenced your sense of belonging at work?
“During our Monday morning staff meeting after [the murder of George Floyd] and the protests in Chicago, it was honestly all I could think about. My boss, the Executive Director, didn’t even bring it up. When other staff members inevitably brought it up, she just wouldn’t engage in the discussion really. And she made this weird comment that she knows where she stands personally, but when she’s talking to us, she’s also representing the organization. That did not feel good.
It’s my learned experience of my time here that no matter how much you push, some things don’t change. It’s definitely made me consider if this is the right work environment for me.”
It’s definitely made me consider if this is the right work environment for me.
“As an organization, it’s not encouraged to talk about how anyone’s actually doing. We have never really taken time during the last three or four months to acknowledge that staff could be having a hard time or to acknowledge that, ‘Hey, it’s okay to take a mental health day.’ The culture of the organization is to put on a happy face and get through the workday and then deal with whatever you’re going through when you go.”
If you had a magic wand, how would you increase belonging at the foundation today?
“There’s not much transparency and sometimes there’s a little bit of power hoarding at the top. I would get rid of that. I wish decision making was more across the board and people could actually share what they’re thinking and that it was going to be taken into consideration. That would help people feel they belong at work.”
Further Reading
Throughout our research, we’ll continue to share peeks into interviews and resources.
More on Sharehold’s Redesigning Belonging Research:
- A Guide to Sharehold’s Redesigning Belonging Research
- Redesigning Belonging interviews with employee research participants
- Alida Miranda-Wolff’s interview which echoes Alexis’ comments about listening to employees and actioning their feedback
- Jamie Koblinski’s and Morra Aarons-Mele’s interviews which parallel Alexis’ points about how talking about mental health increases belonging
- Sign up here to be the first to receive our insights on what it means to belong at work in a time of uncertainty.
