The Belonging Experience event, hosted by Champion organisations PwC New Zealand and Spark New Zealand, brought together leaders, advocates and allies from the Champions for Change community to celebrate the Champion-wide launch of the Belonging Index.
Developed by our Leading Inclusive Cultures workstream and piloted across five Champion organisations, the Belonging Index provides organisations with an understanding of the sense of belonging among their workforces. The initiative emerged from the understanding that diversity and inclusion must be more than just a metric checkbox. Nurturing a sense of belonging is vital to the creation of sustainable, systemic change, and diverse, adaptable teams.
The event was opened by PwC Partner Dr Monique Faleafa, who set the scene for the kōrero around belonging. Lara Hillier (Auckland Managing Partner at PwC New Zealand) facilitated a panel including the executive sponsors of the Leading Inclusive Cultures workstream, Jolie Hodson (CEO at Spark New Zealand) and Andrew Holmes (CEO at PwC New Zealand), and workstream implementation leads Laurence Hopkins (People & Culture Lead at Spark New Zealand) and Rob Sykes (Inclusion and Diversity Manager at PwC New Zealand). The panellists spoke about the work that has been put into the Belonging Index, sharing their stories, experiences and perspectives on belonging.
“Inclusion allows you to have a ticket to the game, but with belonging you feel that you are valued, that you can have your point of view,” said Hodson.
Underscoring belonging as a cornerstone of thriving communities, Hodson reflected that belonging is the “emotional fabric” of an organisation that enables people from different backgrounds and experiences to fully participate.
Holmes emphasised the significant benefits of belonging to people’s confidence and satisfaction, pointing out that the “higher the sense of belonging for our people, the greater the experience is going to be” for both employees and clients.
“Belonging as an environmental factor is probably the most undervalued condition around human performance,” said Holmes.
Watch the highlights of the event here:
In our rapidly changing climate, with mental health challenges on the rise in the workplace, cultivating belonging for our teams is paramount. Sykes defined belonging as “being able to bring your whole self to work,” and shared how team meetings incorporating whanaungatanga, “a Māori concept of getting to know someone on a much richer and deeper level,” had enabled people to work better together.
Research has further shown that a strong sense of belonging is not only linked to improved mental health and increased participation, but also to greater innovative potential. Hopkins spoke of belonging as “a complete dependency to be able to innovate” and move forward as an organisation. He went on to explain how fostering belonging is of more benefit than focusing on numbers in the diversity and inclusion space.
A genuine sense of belonging enables people to authentically and effectively contribute, collaborate, and create change. Workstream leader Rhonda Koroheke (People and Culture Lead Partner – D&I at Spark) provided closing remarks, encouraging attendees to “build a culture of belonging, where your people can thrive.”
The Belonging Index combines data on diversity, inclusion and employee well-being, and comes with playbook for Champion organisations that provides practical guidance on how organisations can foster belonging.
Learn more about Belonging here: