Clarifications

APPLICABILITY

Indicator metrics apply to all of the following groups (see definitions in General Clarifications):

• Employees
• Contractors
• Interns
  

BELONGING

According to UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute, belonging is both objective and subjective. It can be quantified and measured, but it is also perceived; if members of a group feel they belong, then belonging exists, but if they do not, despite being included and having little tangible resource inequities or other disparities, then belonging is lacking.²⁵ For the purposes of Just, belonging refers to the feeling resulting from the proactive, sustained organizational practice of creating a safe, warm, welcoming, and supportive environment that values, accepts, and openly invites participation from individuals with different backgrounds, ideas, viewpoints, and perspectives. This is why the employee survey is a critical part of documenting performance in this Indicator.

BELONGING SURVEY

Survey Questions

See general clarification on Surveys for additional information on surveys.

The survey metric score for the Belonging Indicator is based on responses to the six statements below.²⁶-²⁷ Organizations can conduct a survey that contains additional questions or statements, but the six statements below must be included, and the relevant scores must be tabulated separately to show the organization’s performance.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

• I feel I am able to be my authentic self in the workplace.
• I feel appreciated and respected by my coworkers.
• I feel included.
• I can voice a contrary opinion without fear of negative consequences.
• Perspectives like mine are included in decision-making.
• My organization is committed to a comprehensive strategy of ensuring that all employees feel included and a sense of belonging.
  

Additionally, the survey should include an open-ended question that invites employee feedback:

• What would make you feel more like you belong at work?
  

A survey template is available in Resources. See Calculations for more information regarding the response scale and score calculation.

Survey Participation

The entire workforce should be given an opportunity to respond to the Belonging Survey. In order to be valid for the Just program, results must reflect a minimum response rate of 80%.²⁸ Due to scaled expectations for larger workforces, organizations with 100 or more employees may submit results reflecting a minimum response rate of 70%. Employees must be paid their usual full wage for the time it takes them to participate.

Survey Recency

Survey results must be from within 12 months of the documentation submission date. For the purposes of Just, Living Future encourages organizations to conduct any employee surveys as close to the documentation submission date as possible.

EMPLOYEE SUPPORT GROUPS

Employees must be able to participate in voluntary employee support group meetings using paid work time, and group leaders must be able to use paid work time to facilitate group activities. If employees wish to volunteer on their own time in addition, they may, but employees must not be requested or pressured to volunteer their time.

Organizations should assess effectiveness of employee support groups in a way to maintain employee anonymity. The purpose of this assessment is for the organization to understand whether the existing group offerings and structures align with employee needs and desires.

EXAMPLES OF ANTI-BIAS PROTOCOLS

The following list represents examples of tools and approaches for organizations to consider in their anti-bias protocols to fulfill the Indicator metrics:

• Creating an anonymous form for employees to submit personal experiences or observations of discriminatory behavior in the workplace;
• Expanding the scope of the organization’s employee assistance program (EAP) to include topics related to inclusion and belonging;
• Establishing HR office hours;
• Auditing materials and communications for bias and taking action to address results;
• Offering biannual unconscious bias training and encouraging participation;
• Instituting cultural competency training for all members of the workforce; and
• Regularly reporting out to the full organization on actions taken to address concerns related to inclusion and belonging.
  

Organizations may identify different approaches that are equally applicable. Living Future encourages organizations to select and implement approaches that are most meaningful and impactful based on their own context. See Resources for additional resources on this topic.

EXAMPLES OF PRACTICES TO PROMOTE INCLUSION

Inclusion refers to the organizational practices that can help employees feel they belong. Simple changes, such as providing vegetarian, kosher, or halal food options, or allowing employees to “flex” one holiday for another that is more relevant to them, can help employees feel included and have an outsized impact on one’s sense of belonging.

The following list includes examples of areas where organizations can seek to promote greater inclusion through their policies and practices:

• Allow for floating or flexible holidays;
• Use inclusive language for all internal and external communication;
• Build in an organizational practice of always asking the question, “Has everyone shared their thoughts or ideas?”;
• Encourage inclusive dress codes;
• Allow for diverse gender expression;
• Designate space to serve as a lactation room;
• Provide access to gender-neutral restrooms;
• Encourage staff to incorporate their pronouns into email signatures, meeting introductions, or other easily visible or routine instances to normalize both providing and using the pronouns with which people most identify;
• Allow space for various leadership and communication styles;²⁹
• Provide food options for various dietary preferences and needs, such as vegetarian and/or vegan, kosher, halal, specific allergies or dietary restrictions (e.g., gluten-free, nut-free), etc.;
• Create employee resource groups and/or affinity groups; and
• Ensure equitable opportunities for all staff to participate in organizational forums and meetings, regardless of whether employees are working in-person or remotely.
  

Organizations may identify different practices that are equally applicable. Living Future encourages organizations to select and implement practices that are most meaningful and impactful based on their own context. See Resources for additional resources on this topic.

ORGANIZATIONS WITH 10 OR FEWER EMPLOYEES

Since preserving survey respondent anonymity can be especially difficult in a smaller respondent pool, organizations with 10 or fewer employees are limited in their performance levels for this Indicator. The organization’s label will indicate that the higher performance levels are not applicable.

Organizations with One Employee

Single-member organizations are limited to Level 1.

Organizations with Two to 10 Employees

Organizations with two to 10 employees are limited to Level 2 if they choose to use the Small Organizations alternative compliance path. Organizations of this size that can demonstrate the use of a third-party surveying approach are exempt from this limitation and can follow the general compliance path.

Organizations with 11 to 25 employees may opt to follow the Small Organizations alternative compliance path.

UNCONCIOUS BIAS

Unconscious or implicit bias is the term for the mental processes that cause a person to act in ways that reinforce stereotypes even when in our conscious mind we would deem that behavior counter to our value system.³⁰ Unconscious bias can manifest in many ways, such as how we judge, evaluate, make assumptions about, or act toward members of different groups, particularly members of historically marginalized and underestimated groups.³¹

WORK ENVIRONMENT

For the purposes of Just, work environments include the spaces (physical or otherwise) where members of the organization’s workforce complete tasks associated with their roles. Note that while groups, such as board members, are not explicitly included in this Indicator, the organization’s commitment to an inclusive work environment and culture of belonging should extend to all contexts, including board engagement.

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²⁵ powell, j. & Menendian, S. (2022). On Belonging: An Introduction to Othering & Belonging in Europe. Othering & Belonging Institute. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/democracy-belonging-forum/papers/on-belonging.

²⁶ Society for Human Resource Management. (n.d.). What is Meant by ‘Belonging’ in the Workplace, and How Can it be Measured? Retrieved December 15, 2022, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/belonging-in-the-workplace.aspx.

²⁷ Huang, S. (n.d.). 5 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Questions to Ask at Your Company. Culture Amp. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from https://www.cultureamp.com/blog/diversity-and-inclusion-questions-survey.

²⁸ McPherson, J. (n.d.). What is a Good Employee Survey Response Rate? Culture Amp. Retrieved September 5, 2023, from https://www.cultureamp.com/blog/what-is-a-good-survey-response-rate.

²⁹ Paycor. (2023, August 10). What Are the Different Leadership and Communication Styles? Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/leadership-communication-styles/.

³⁰ Carnahan, B. & Moore, C. (2023, June 16). Actively Addressing Unconscious Bias in Recruiting. Harvard Business School. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/insights-and-advice/blog/post/actively-addressing-unconscious-bias-in-recruiting.

³¹ Adams, C. (2020). What is Unconscious Bias? Unconscious Bias Project. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.unconsciousbiasproject.org/resources/explain-unconscious-bias.