Belonging: A Social Fractal

In 1999, I arrived as a college freshman on campus a week early for marching band practice. I also got to see the maintenance crew based out of an office in my residence hall in action. They came and went with armloads of blind slats and window screens and pushed around a cartload of plumbing supplies. There was a clear leader, and the others seemed to be students. I needed a job and was intrigued. I would keep my door open to hear the jingle of their large key rings and poke my head out to see what they were doing.

After a few days of this, I worked up the guts to ask for a job. Hired on the spot, my career in facilities management began.

I was given a large key ring that jingled as I walked down the hall. I replaced armloads of blind slats and box after box of light bulbs. I plunged toilets and fixed leaky faucets. I eventually moved to the paint department and painted countless residence halls in a beautiful shade of Navajo White. I moved to the plumbing department and learned to solder copper pipe, snake drains, and jet sewer mains. I enjoyed the work, but it wasn’t what made me stay.

When I started editing this column one year ago, I wrote you—the readers—a letter outlining my plan and declaring my intention to prove that human capital is the biggest asset of a facilities management organization. I covered strategic investment in education and training, value creation, knowledge transfer, human capital metrics, and risk management. This is the last and undoubtedly the most important article in the series, as I will cover the topic of belonging—the key to sustaining human capital.

It has been 25 years since I asked for that first facilities job, and I can still recall the way I felt during that first week of work as a student maintenance mechanic. I remember what I felt after years of working in that same organization. I felt needed, that my skills and abilities were valued and appreciated, that I was cared for, that I felt comfortable, and that I belonged.

Belonging in the workplace refers to employees’ emotional and psychological connection with their organization. It is a feeling. It is the sense that you are accepted, valued, and included by your colleagues and leaders. When individuals feel a sense of belonging, they are more likely to contribute positively, collaborate effectively, and remain loyal to the organization. The feeling is rooted in trust, respect, and recognition.

When I work with organizations to transform cultures, I am often questioned about belonging. “What is it?” “How do I cultivate it?” “Why should I care?”

Because belonging is a feeling, these questions are hard to answer. What makes you feel like you belong might be different than what makes me feel like I belong. If belonging is rooted in trust, respect, and recognition, it is likely easiest to determine what belonging feels like for you by first considering the opposite. We tend to embody negative feelings, which makes them easier to recall. Think back to a time when you felt your trust was broken in a professional setting or a time when a peer or supervisor disrespected you. Think about a time that you felt you were not recognized for your efforts. By now, you are probably feeling the same feelings you felt during those moments. These feelings are the opposite of belonging.

Now, let us try to recall the feeling of belonging. Think about a moment that you felt invigorated by your work. A moment that you felt cared for, appreciated, and recognized for your skills and abilities. Think about how that feeling motivated and propelled you forward not only at work but in life. That feeling is belonging. It is likely that some of you have never felt the feeling of belonging in a professional setting. It is possible that the feeling was fleeting. Maybe you were once part of an organization where you felt the feeling of belonging, but it changed, and like me, you have been chasing it and trying to find it again. Belonging is a powerful feeling.

So, if this feeling is so powerful, how can we cultivate it? A quick Google search will suggest recognition and appreciation, inclusive culture and communication, professional development and growth opportunities, team building and collaboration, and equitable work policies. I want to suggest an alternative approach.

First, we need to have the self-awareness to understand what initiates the feeling of belonging within ourselves, then have the courage to work at initiating the feeling in one other person.

We have established that belonging is a feeling. What initiates that feeling for me may differ from what initiates it for you, which means Google’s suggestions—although broad and general—are unlikely to yield results for everyone. Instead of focusing on everyone, what if we each focused on just one? First, we need to have the self-awareness to understand what initiates the feeling of belonging within ourselves, then have the courage to work at initiating the feeling in one other person. In nature, this infinitely repeating pattern is called a “fractal pattern” and is evident in beautiful things like snowflakes, succulents, pinecones, and—my favorite—Romanesco broccoli. If we focused on just one, belonging could become an infinitely repeating pattern, a feeling we could all enjoy.

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. We must compete with an existing fractal pattern—a siloed society. We work in siloed universities, organize our facilities departments to match this pattern, and organize units within our departments similarly. If we agree to focus on just one person and initiate the feeling of belonging, we could avoid the silos or cliques that are otherwise created. The “just one” pattern you initiate inspires someone else to do the same; before you know it, you have a group. But then, the fractal may stop and the group forms different walls, becoming another silo.

Don’t be the person that ends the pattern. For this to work, we all must commit to “just one.”

To close out this series on human capital, I ask that you focus on “just one.” Work to initiate the feeling of belonging for one person in your organization, encourage them to do the same, and let us see what happens.

---

Lindsay Wagner, PhD, is the owner of The Knowledge Collaborative in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. She can be reached at [email protected]. If you would like to contribute to this column, please contact Lindsay directly.