Belonging is an HR blind spot; but virtual mentoring can fix it

Connectr’s Belonging Research Report has revealed a growing crisis.

Two-thirds of UK office workers feel like they don’t belong at their company – but 93% of HR professionals think their employees do have a sense of belonging.

With nearly three-quarters of those who feel alienated looking to leave their job in the next year, this disconnect has the potential to cause huge disruption.

That’s why building an inclusive culture, through the magic of virtual mentoring, is now more important than ever.

HR’s biggest blindspot

According to our research, HR teams estimate that just 7% of employees feel like they don’t belong.

But the problem is nearly 10 times bigger: 66% of workers say they feel alienated. That’s 16 million people – a far higher figure than the 1.7 million estimated by HR departments.

Given how much employee priorities have shifted towards cultural and emotional values, it’s clear that employers aren’t giving belonging the attention it deserves. So how can they do better?

The magic of virtual mentoring

Mentoring plays a powerful role in building belonging. And digital platforms have been vital in maintaining it in the new working landscape.

In fact, our report shows nearly 60% of furloughed workers aged 16–34 credit their sense of belonging to online platforms and virtual mentoring.

Connectr’s virtual mentoring technology helps people feel included by giving them a new way to form connections at work. Smart matching allows them to choose a mentor they can really relate to, helping employers’ D&I strategy into reality and putting the human back into HR.

To find out more about the belonging crisis, and how you can overcome it with virtual mentoring, click here to download a copy of the report.