The 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Year in Review

While development at the individual level is incredibly important, organizations require scale to make significant transformations in their business. Doing that entails understanding the systemic challenges that are getting in the way of success. Practices like providing clear and consistent feedback, which helps keep employees aware of their performance, create opportunities for them to add value and meaningfully impact the business. Addressing behaviors that create ambiguity and barriers to success are visible demonstrations of a leader’s advocacy for others in the organization. Assessing leaders and the culture provides clarity around where gaps exist in addition to key strengths leaders can leverage to deepen connection and a sense of belonging within their teams.

Simple Shifts Have Big Impact

While media focused on organizations scaling back on DEI, most companies remained steadfast, using 2024 to reflect and refine their strategies. Organizations continue to feel strongly that having a meaningful and sustainable impact on the culture and with marginalized employees is critical for business success. This created an opportunity for RHR to partner with clients and help our business partners understand where to focus, why, and how. We spent a considerable amount of time conducting audits on talent- and performance-management processes, and we leveraged broad-based leadership assessments to gain a better understanding of the specific behaviors and process shifts that will have the biggest impact. In our work delivering our Belonging Framework with clients across the globe, we identified five critical areas leaders need to be aware of:

1. Definitions matter. How we define potential and performance is crucial. Organizations that establish clear, accessible, and measurable definitions break down the subjective aspects of culture that prevent many employees from thriving.
2. Feedback is a gift. Many employees do not get basic and consistent feedback—the responsibilities of their role, how they are seen, and what it takes to be successful. This ambiguity undermines belonging. Belonging begins with employees feeling equipped and supported to succeed in their work.
3. It’s all about the follow-through. Organizations will emphasize the importance of their values and leadership behaviors; however, these will often stay confined to slide presentations or town halls. To make meaningful progress in shaping employee experience, there must be integration across all domains, especially with developing new behaviors in simple yet impactful ways.
4. Less is actually more. The increasing trend of deriving value from quantity versus quality is eroding belonging and talent’s ability to perform at the highest level. A culture of always saying yes erodes trust, safety, and, most importantly, the resilience of organizations. Additionally, talent and performance processes often require lots of effort, yet they do not lead to meaningful impact. Addressing issues with thoughtful plans and sustainable pacing ensures organizations expand capacity rather than diminish it.
5. It’s the little things. Programs designed to create a deeper sense of belonging often demand too much from leaders for perceived limited impact when it comes to moving the needle. However, our research shows that belonging is cultivated through small, consistent actions—recognizing outcomes, removing obstacles, remembering details, and providing clear feedback. It’s the day-to-day that drives employees to do more and creates the impact leaders aspire to.

Our research tells us very clearly that fostering a culture of belonging requires organizations and leaders to prioritize addressing the critical role of performance and talent management. By providing consistent and actionable feedback, establishing clear development paths, and implementing standardized and objective talent evaluation practices, organizations create an environment where employees feel supported, valued, and empowered to grow. These efforts not only enhance individual and team performance but also build trust and reinforce engagement, ultimately contributing to a thriving organizational culture where all employees can reach their full potential.

Let’s Talk

RHR helps organizations strengthen their talent culture and build successful leadership pipelines—providing support at both the individual and organizational level.

If you are seeking ways to create a stronger sense of belonging within your organization and maximize the performance and potential of your talent in 2025, reach out to Adam Magerman.