Every manager knows when employee belonging is there. Yet it’s not something we can hold in our hands, and it’s not easy to plot it on a graph.
That sense of belonging is what turns a group of colleagues into a team they feel proud to be part of. This article gives you 11 activities for building it, so that your teams can flourish to their highest potential.
What does employee belonging mean in the workplace?
Workplace belonging is the feeling that you are accepted, included, and genuinely part of the office team. It is the difference between feeling like another name in the project management tool, and starting the day feeling like “one of us.”
This feeling is important in any workplace, but it becomes even more important for remote and distributed teams, where people can go days without a proper conversation.
Some of the research on workplace belonging shows why it’s getting a lot of attention:
- The American Psychological Association found that 94% of workers said it was “important that their workplace felt like somewhere they belonged.” This means belonging is something like a basic expectation at work now.
- BetterUp research linked high workplace belonging with a 56% increase in job performance, and a 50% lower turnover risk. A stronger sense of belonging means people commit for longer.
- A 2024 Gallup poll found that fully remote employees reported higher loneliness than on-site workers, at 25% compared with 16%. This highlights how remote work can be brilliant, but it also makes disconnection easier to hide.
GitLab has a good example of employee belonging in action. As an all-remote company, it uses a handbook-first approach, where employees understand how the company works without relying on office whispers or lucky hallway chats.
That is why employee belonging needs to be built deliberately. The best teams make people feel included through real connections and small signs that they are part of the same story.
The 11 best ways to develop employee belonging at work
The steps below help turn workplace belonging from a nice phrase into something your squad can feel throughout the office (physically or virtually!):
1. Make your team feel like insiders
Employee belonging starts with that quiet feeling of being properly included, rather than hovering around the edge of the group like someone who accidentally walked into the wrong meeting.
People want to know where they fit and why their work matters. They also want to understand how things work behind the scenes, especially when decisions affect their day-to-day role. Nobody enjoys being the last person to hear important news.
You can help by sharing context early and making team decisions easier to understand. This does not mean adding everyone to every meeting. Nobody deserves that. It means helping people feel involved in the bigger picture before confusion starts filling in the gaps.
This is also where different workplace relationship types come into play. Some employees feel settled after a few good conversations. Others need repeated signs that they are genuinely part of the team.
2. Stop treating connection as an afterthought
Too often, we’ve seen managers treat workplace connection as something that comes after the work is done. Actually, employee belonging is much harder to generate when coming together only appears during a 5-minute debrief, before everyone gets back into their deadlines.
Teams really do need regular moments that help people know each other beyond job titles. That might mean starting meetings with an open-ended question, creating space for casual chats, or using fun connection building activities. These moments give people a reason to interact without making it feel like forced fun.
The key that you’re holding is consistency. One team social every six months will only do so much, especially if half the group is still wondering whether they’re being judged for joining or not. Small, repeated moments of connection make workplace belonging feel like part of the rhythm, rather than a surprise calendar invite with vague wording.
3. Develop a workspace that people want to belong to
Employee belonging becomes a whole lot easier to build when the workplace feels like somewhere people are happy to be part of.
This goes beyond the office layout, or how many motivational posters are hung up along the walls. For remote teams, the “workspace” might be Slack threads and video calls. For office teams, it might be the everyday atmosphere people walk into on a Monday morning.
Your goal is to curate an environment where people feel comfortable joining in, asking questions, and being themselves at work. An open, positive workplace culture helps with this because it shapes all the small daily moments that help your staff feel like they’re inside the circle.
When the workplace feels easy to be part of, workplace belonging becomes less of a slogan and more of something people notice in the smaller things in the office.
4. Celebrate the human behind the results
It's not enough to develop employee belonging through data reports and pie-charts on who worked the hardest this month. You need to make sure you’re getting through to the person behind the work, rather than just clapping for a productivity achievement.
We understand why it happens, and we’ve seen teams do it all the time. Someone does great work, everyone says “nice job,” then the whole machine rolls forward. But to sow the seeds for workplace belonging, you have to go a little deeper.
Mention the person’s effort clearly and earnestly. Explain in detail the problem they helped solve. Thank them in a way that feels specific, instead of sending another generic “great work team” message into the void.
This matters because recognition is closely tied to employee engagement. When people feel noticed for the care they bring to their work, they are more likely to feel valued by everyone around them, and especially you.
5. Get your team together on a Surf Office retreat
This one is so true for hybrid and remote teams, where members don’t get to see each other too often (in real life). A Surf Office company retreat gives teams space to connect away from their usual routines. Set off a memorable retreat with team challenges and sharing meals. You might even finally realize that the quiet person from finance is actually amazing at karaoke.
Here’s what we offer:
- Stress-free transfers? We got you! ✅
- Quality-assured accommodations? Check! ✅
- Engaging team-building activities?Our specialty ✅
- Restaurant reservations? That's on us! ✅
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- On-site support, tailored to your needs? Absolutely ✅
Not only this, but we also have access to 200+ locations around Europe, APAC, the US, Latin America, and now Africa, meaning the sky is your limit when it comes to choosing the right location for you and your team.
Step out of the usual environment and develop workplace belonging. Contact us for the next step in bringing your teams closer than ever before.
6. Make sure every voice has somewhere to land
Employee belonging can only really happen when a person feels like their voice can actually be heard.
That means teams need easy ways for people to speak up before frustration starts doing laps around the group chat. A good idea should not have to fight through five meetings and a strangely named feedback form before anyone notices it.
You can help by asking for input early and showing what happened after people shared it. Even a quick follow-up makes a difference. Silence usually sends people one message: “Well, that was a waste of typing.”
When your people actually feel heard, teams usually work together more smoothly. It is one of those simple habits that can improve team cohesion without needing a big, dramatic culture reset.
7. Don't waste the onboarding window
The onboarding period is an area many people overlook when they think about where employee belonging starts. Usually, this is before the new starter has worked out which shared doc everyone keeps saying is easy to find.
The first few weeks tell someone a lot about the team they have joined. Are people helpful? Is anyone checking in properly? Does the company feel organized, or does everyone seem like they’re just hoping for the best?
Good onboarding should help people understand how the team works. It should also give them someone they can turn to without feeling like they are interrupting the busiest person in the company.
When people feel guided from the start, they settle faster and take part more naturally. That early confidence can make workplace belonging feel real long before the welcome email gets buried.
8. Create shared stories
Of course, employee belonging gets stronger when teams have things to remember together.
These do not need to be huge, life-changing moments. Nobody has to return from a team event claiming they discovered their true purpose during a trust fall. Shared stories can come from a thoughtful team lunch or a competitive quiz round that people keep bringing up months later.
The point is to give employees memories that sit outside normal task lists. When teams laugh about the same moment later, it creates a small sense of “we were there.”
Simple connection building activities can help create those moments naturally, especially for teams that usually only meet through screens. Don’t overlook the power of creating shared stories for stronger team bonds!
9. Build a workplace people talk about positively
Now you could spend some time really thinking about how the workplace is thought about and talked about outside of the company walls. Employee belonging is easier to spot when people speak warmly about where they work, even when nobody from leadership is listening.
Every workplace has messy days. Processes get confusing. Someone still books a Friday afternoon meeting and acts like morale will survive. The difference is whether employees feel proud enough to say, “I like being part of this team.”
That kind of feeling usually comes from small habits repeated often. Treat people fairly. Communicate honestly. Make the workplace feel like somewhere people can do good work without slowly becoming a haunted version of themselves.
When companies make the effort to improve company culture, workplace belonging becomes easier to build, because people have more reasons to feel proud of the team around them.
10. Give your teams something meaningful to own
A feeling of workplace belonging grows stronger when people feel trusted with something more important than usual.
What that is exactly, is up to you. You could try letting them lead a small project, or shape the next teambuilding ritual. You could designate them as the “go-to” person for a useful process at work. The exact thing matters less than the meaning behind it. People really want to know they’re contributing in a way the team actually notices.
Here, you can also help newer people get over the awkward feeling of, “I’m here, but am I really needed?” That type of worry creeps in a lot faster, and stronger, than many managers first notice.
Try spotting some of the hidden skills people have and give them space to use them. When they feel trusted, a sense of belonging in the workplace is sure to follow!
11. Help people see their future on the team
Managers do not always spend enough time helping people picture their future on the team. This is worth paying attention to, as it can motivate people during harder times and pave the way for stronger team cohesion.
People want to know that their effort is leading somewhere. It doesn’t have to be a shiny promotion or a new job title, either. It can mean learning something useful or taking on more responsibility. You could help them feel trusted with work that actually stretches them, or even or support them in pursuing job-specific qualifications. However you approach it, keep the team’s future in mind.
You can start development here by having honest conversations about what people want next. Be present when they are telling you, and make sure they feel heard. Take what you learn and look into it, for the future of the company, the team, and even for yourself.
When your teams know you’re truly invested in their future, they’re more likely to have that sense of belonging that most managers dream of in their office.
