Insights

‘Everyone here knows my name, not just my job title.’

That was how one of my clients described their first month at a startup after leaving a global corporation. The contrast in the emotional experience struck me as important.

Big companies often invest heavily in DEI programs (although that is under threat right now), employee engagement surveys, and workplace well-being platforms. These things matter. But somewhere along the way, I feel like a lot of companies over-engineered processes and undervalued what makes people feel they belong:

✅ Being seen
✅ Being trusted
✅ Being missed when they’re gone

Startups often don’t have the budget or infrastructure to create belonging by design – they create it by necessity. When you’re 12 people in one Slack channel, there’s no option not to care. Everyone counts, and every contribution is visible.

So what can big companies learn from that?

Smaller circles build stronger connections

In startups, connection is often a natural byproduct of proximity. You’re usually working in the same (virtual or physical) room, solving problems in real time, and wearing too many hats to keep distance. You have to talk. You have to collaborate. And over time, that rhythm hopefully creates trust.

In big companies, the challenge is scale. We build systems to manage complexity, but those systems can unintentionally create distance. Suddenly, people are attending town halls where no one speaks but the top leadership, while messages come from ‘internal comms’ rather than real people. Collaboration is routed through ticketing systems and cross-functional requests. It’s efficient and it’s understandable – but often can feel pretty isolating.

And when people feel like just another face in the meeting, or another line in the org chart, that’s when belonging starts to fray.

What can help? 

Creating intentional micro-cultures.

Encourage teams to form smaller, consistent groups for regular check-ins – like team huddles, learning pods, or peer mentoring circles. Give those groups autonomy to create their own rituals: maybe it’s Friday wins, weekly coffee roulette, or rotating ‘host’ roles for meetings, whatever works for them. And make sure that the leaders of the groups are good at the human aspect of it all.

When smaller groups thrive, the bigger company feels less overwhelming. It feels more yours. People might like fancy offisites but they also need a reason to say “‘I felt included in that meeting today’ or ‘My work matters’.

Your title doesn’t define your worth

In a startup, roles are fluid by nature. One day you’re drafting a pitch deck, the next you’re jumping into customer support, and later that week you might be leading a brainstorm for something way outside your official job title. It’s not always ideal, but it can make you feel like you’re owning your work and are always learning something new.

In big companies, it’s often the opposite. Hierarchies are rigid, job scopes are narrowly defined and stepping outside your lane can sometimes be frowned upon or even blocked by internal politics.

It’s a belonging issue.

Because when people feel boxed in by their title, they stop bringing the full range of what they’re capable of. They start to self-censor:
‘That’s not my place.’
‘I don’t have the seniority.’
‘No one asked, so I won’t say anything.’

And slowly, their sense of agency (and belonging) erodes.

What helps? 

Celebrating contributions.

So create safe spaces for informal leadership. It could be through project-based task forces, mentoring roles, or cross-functional initiatives where influence isn’t tied to job title.

Give people opportunities to share skills or interests that go beyond their core role and you’ll be surprised how often innovation comes from the people you weren’t ‘supposed’ to include.

Belonging is personal

Startups often don’t have the most polished onboarding, but they do have people who personally make sure you’re not left figuring things out alone.

In contrast, big companies can sometimes fall into the trap of performative belonging. Slick onboarding portals, employee resource group logos on email signatures, templated ‘welcome’ messages are great. But sometimes you have to ask, am I getting the real connection?

Additionally, a survey by Paychex found that 52% of new hires feel undertrained after onboarding. If the new hires don’t feel like they belong nor that they were set up to do their job well – it doesn’t bode well for the retention rate.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think that you can’t automate belonging – people feel they belong when someone personally makes room for them.

What helps? 

Prioritise people over programs.

Audit your belonging efforts. If they’re mostly happening at scale (newsletters, dashboards, workshops) you may be missing the most important part – individual moments of care.

Assign onboarding buddies who actually want to do it, not just whoever’s free and make sure they have enough time for the unrushed meetings. Encourage team leads to reach out individually before a new joiner’s first day. Have someone call (not email) when a team member has a big win or a tough week.

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I’m not saying that big companies need to become startups to make sure they keep that sense of belonging alive. But I think it’s always worth remembering that a big part of why people stay or leave depends on how your company culture makes them feel.