The Power of Belonging

The aim of book and my research study is to explore and understand how belonging is perceived in organisations and in life. As a British born, Asian now living in Switzerland, I am mindful of how my own understanding of belonging derives from a combination of my South- East Asian culture as well my British and Swiss influences. My curiosity about belonging was instigated within the perspective of a personal context; being a child of Punjabi immigrants who moved to the UK in 1955 and then my move to Geneva in 1992. Subsequently, my professional work in several global organisations as a Diversity and Inclusion trainer and advisor strengthened my interest, that the longing for belonging element exists in organisations too. It was during my Diversity and Inclusion workshops that I witnessed a lack of examination and consideration of how important the role of belonging is in organisations. These were my informal focus groups and consequently contributed to my choice of questions in the interviews. I wanted to hear the stories what do these people want to tell us. And how does that in turn, impact organizational culture, collective behaviour and can we transform the findings into practical organizational policies and processes.