Making Real Connections (HBR Women at Work Series)

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To Foster Trust, Organizations Need Inclusion and Belonging

by Michael Slepian

Diversity brings many benefits to organizations—but it is not enough on its own. An organization with a diverse workforce is not necessarily an inclusive one. Diversity efforts now often fall under the banner of “Diversity and Inclusion” for this reason, but new research shows that inclusion may also fall short because it does not necessarily lead to a sense of belonging.1

Employees may feel that they don’t belong for any number of reasons, but in each case the result is the same: what researchers term an “identity threat.” Defined as any situation that makes salient that one is different from others, identity threats can range from trivial to troubling. Consider ...