How Vulnerability, Empathy, and Belonging Drive Innovation
Interview with “Taylor”, a People Operations Generalist, for Sharehold’s Redesigning Belonging Research
Curated by Sarah Judd Welch
This post is part of an ongoing series in which Sharehold is publicly sharing our research that answered the question: “How does uncertainty impact one’s sense of belonging at work?” Access the insights here.
Meet Taylor
Given the sensitive nature of our Redesigning Belonging research, some participants have asked for anonymity. We’ll call this participant, “Taylor”. Taylor is a People Operations Generalist at a late-stage startup.
As part of Sharehold’s research on redesigning belonging at work for uncertainty, we interviewed Taylor about their team’s experience of belonging at work during this period of time defined by COVID-19 and civil unrest. Taylor’s interview touches on a few themes:
- Why empathy is a competitive advantage
- How belonging fuels innovation
- Why vulnerability is key for leadership
Here are a few highlights from our conversation with Taylor:
How do you define belonging?
“I would define belonging as a welcoming environment that is respectful and inclusive of other identities, cultures, and the input each individual has from those perspectives and uses [those perspectives] to make better business decisions.”
“Belonging is just the definition of saying that you’re you’re seen for who you are.”
“That’s the one thing that keeps people here is the fact that there is that sense of belonging, that sense of acceptance and being your authentic self every single day. You come into work knowing that you’re contributing to the bigger cause.”
What’s the value of belonging at work?
“Belonging is invaluable. It defines our culture and society at large. That’s where you see a lot of innovation happening and where you see a lot of forward movement. It allows us various perspectives so that we can pull ideas, continue to grow, and allow ourselves to think in a way that we wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to.”
“The role of belonging in a business sense is that you can expand your reach. You can expand your perspective to create your product, take it to market it and sell it. If you have an understanding of different markets, different cultures globally, you can definitely have a broader reach and therefore be more successful as a result… If you have an extensive worldview, you have the ability to be a little more empathetic. That relates to belonging internally.”
How has this time of uncertainty impacted the experience of belonging at your company?
“There hasn’t been a blueprint for this in the HR world, at least to my knowledge. [Leadership] did a phenomenal job putting together resources, sending bi-weekly updates on what the situation was, what the company’s action plan is, and where we stand.”
“[COVID-19 has] connected us even more since we have this shared experience that we can all relate to. That’s allowed a level of vulnerability that wasn’t there before. You’re zooming someone and you see their house. You meet their baby. You see their dog. That’s been really impactful.”
“Sometimes during COVID, we’re all wrapped up in our worlds. It’s a little challenging to empathize with or understand how someone who lives alone may be feeling. It’s taking a step back to take in what parents are dealing with and being able to empathize with that. Our leaders might not necessarily have as much time as individual contributors. Being able to have that perspective is something that I have had to adjust to.
Our team members and managers have also had questions like, how can I make sure my teammate is doing okay? One challenge is just to make sure you’re being aware of your team’s situation and being empathetic to it.”
If you had a magic wand, how would you increase belonging at your company today?
“I would want to encourage more vulnerable conversations. That’s already happening. [My colleague] is going to lead a roundtable this week with some team members to discuss current events and everything that’s been going on. The ability to have an open dialogue is something that I’ve never experienced at a company before — that’s really exciting. I’d do more of that and include more team members at all levels to push those initiatives forward to give them a sense of belonging and ownership in the company and they feel like’ I’m a part of this.’ That is something I would like to see because it’s already happening.”
Further Reading
Throughout our research, we’ll continue to share peeks into interviews and resources.
More on Sharehold’s Redesigning Belonging Research:
