Beyond Black History Month: Building Workplaces Where People Truly Belong

Leon Diop, Founder and CEO of Black and Irish

As October comes to an end, so does another Black History Month. Across Ireland this month, people engaged with Black history in ways that grow richer every year. Classrooms explored global Black history, from the great civilisations of West Africa to the civil rights movement. Communities and libraries celebrated the Black Irish stories that have too often sat at the margins of our national story. Workplaces hosted talks, shared reading lists and opened conversations that many colleagues had never had at work before. That engagement is so important, and everyone who made space for it deserves real credit.

Yet the end of the month is also a moment of truth. The sentiments of Black History Month should not disappear on the 31st of October, with everyone returning to regular programming on the 1st of November. The Black colleagues who shared their stories this month will still be part of your organisation next week, next quarter and next year. So I want to invite every leader, manager and colleague reading this to carry one question forward: how can I create belonging in my organisation?

A recent conversation at Trinity College Dublin brought this question into sharp focus for me. I was speaking with Patricia, a fellow Black professional who is also doing her master's there, and together we named a conundrum that so many Black workers in Ireland face today. Organisations want diversity. They recruit for it, celebrate it and feature it in their annual reports. But too often they lack the patience to let new employees adapt and settle. They do not provide the tools, mentoring and support that people need to succeed. When early results fall short of expectations, frustration sets in. The employee ends up on a performance improvement plan, or they decide for themselves that they cannot stay, and they walk out the door. The organisation then concludes that diversity "didn't work", when in truth belonging was never built in the first place.

So what does true belonging look like? I had the privilege of speaking alongside Professor John A. Powell, Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, whose work has shaped how many of us think about this question. He draws a clear line between inclusion and belonging. Inclusion invites people into a room where the rules are already set. Belonging means people help to co-create the room, with a genuine voice in shaping the culture they work within. His thinking also points to two connected practices. Bonding gives people the security of connection with others who share their experience, which is why employee networks and mentors who understand someone's journey matter so much. Bridging builds relationships across differences, so colleagues turn toward each other rather than away. A workplace that nurtures both gives people the confidence that they are seen, safe and valued for who they are, rather than tolerated in spite of it. In practice, that means onboarding that allows real time to settle, sponsorship as well as mentorship, managers equipped to give honest and supportive feedback, and clear routes to progression. Leaders do not have to work this out alone. A growing number of organisations in Ireland, including the Irish Centre for Diversity, Business in the Community Ireland, Gorm and Black & Irish, now support employers to move from good intentions to everyday practice.

Thinking this way builds a better workplace for everyone. When an organisation designs for belonging, it improves onboarding, management and communication for every employee, not only those from minority backgrounds. The evidence on performance is compelling. McKinsey's Diversity Wins research found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and cultural diversity on their executive teams were 36% more likely to outperform on profitability than those in the bottom quartile, and the same research stressed that inclusion is what turns diversity into results. BetterUp's research on workplace belonging found that employees with a strong sense of belonging showed a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% reduction in turnover risk and a 75% decrease in sick days. For Irish employers competing hard for talent, those numbers translate directly into retention, productivity and reputation.

None of this means Black History Month, cultural celebrations or diversity initiatives are unimportant. They are vital. But they cannot stand alone, and they must never become a box we tick each October. The best way to view them is as a kick off. They open the door, start the conversation and signal intent. The real work begins afterwards, in the everyday decisions about who gets developed, who gets heard and who gets the patience to grow.

So as this Black History Month ends, let's not only ask what we did this month. Let's ask what we will do in November, and in every month after. Belonging is not built in a month, but it can begin today.

Leon Diop is the founder and CEO of Black and Irish, an award-winning author and an Obama Foundation Europe Leaders alumnus.

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