Use Belonging Cues to Lift Engagement
To fit in, is a deeply rooted psychological need and a powerful motivator. Consider an experiment by Harvard Business School’s Alison Wood Brooks; You are standing in the rain at a train station. A stranger approaches and politely says, “Can I borrow your phone?”. In the experiment, a second group of strangers were approached politely with the alternative statement; “I’m sorry about the rain. Can I borrow your phone?”. With the addition of this single statement (that author of “The Culture Code”, Daniel Coyle calls a belonging cue), over four times as many people handed over their phone!
When we help companies build Culture Codes, we embed belonging cues such as story-telling and purposeful play into every step of the process. What we like to see is everyone in the company embracing the new Culture Code and belonging cues help do this.
Practicing belonging cues helps to build collaboration and alignment of behaviours to what matters most. Eye contact, mimicry and taking turns are simple ways of practicing belonging cues every day. And recognising a colleague for behaviour that’s consistent with your desired culture is both a strong belonging cue and a re-enforcement of the culture.
What belonging cues are you practicing?