What Makes People Feel Like They Belong at Work?
By Reese Marrow, Harrison High School
Working while still in high school made me start paying attention to things I had never really thought about before. Why can two people doing similar jobs have completely different experiences at work? Why does one workplace make employees feel comfortable speaking up, while another makes them want to stay quiet?
Those questions eventually became an independent research project on workplace belonging and employee experience.
I surveyed 273 people across different ages, industries and levels of work experience. I also spoke with leaders from several professional backgrounds to understand the same questions from a management perspective. I focused on communication, recognition, leadership, coworker relationships, growth opportunities, employee voice and psychological safety—whether people feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas or admitting mistakes.
One of the biggest things I learned was that workplace belonging is rarely created by one major policy or benefit. It is often built through much smaller, everyday experiences.
Relationships were especially important. Respondents overwhelmingly connected positive coworker relationships with greater workplace satisfaction. Growth opportunities also stood out when people were asked what contributed most to their satisfaction. In written responses and conversations, people repeatedly came back to communication, trust, recognition and how managers respond when employees speak up.
The interviews also showed me why there probably isn’t one perfect workplace culture. A large company, a healthcare organization and a small creative business can face completely different challenges. What works in one setting does not necessarily make sense in another. But across those differences, similar ideas kept coming up: people want to feel respected, informed and able to contribute.
I didn’t want the project to end as a research paper sitting on my computer. I wanted to see whether I could turn what I learned into something people could actually use.
That led me to create the Workplace Belonging Toolkit, a free practical resource for employers and managers. It includes a five-minute workplace check, employee pulse survey, manager conversation guide and a 30-day plan for testing one small workplace improvement at a time. I also included a short section for teenagers entering the workforce for the first time.
My next goal is to work with local employers willing to try parts of the toolkit and tell me what works, what doesn’t and what needs to change. I’m also continuing to speak with professionals and researchers so I can keep improving both the research and the resource.
This project started because I was curious about what I was seeing in my own jobs. It has made me realize how much there still is to learn about something most of us will spend a huge part of our lives doing: going to work.
To view Workplace Belonging Toolkit, click here.