Comcast NBC Universal and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) celebrated the release of a forward-thinking video called We Are Utah: Building Belonging Through Storytelling. The video explores the power of storytelling in building belonging, and it serves as a resource for Utah employers who want to spark conversations about belonging in the workplace.

"Comcast is proud to support the inspiring efforts of EDCUtah and the Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging to help Utah employers build cultures of belonging in the workplace,” said J.D. Keller, region senior vice president, Comcast Mountain West Region. “We champion initiatives that improve employee experiences, increase harmony and boost productivity."

Many business owners today understand the value of a diversified workforce–it’s in the numbers. But building a culture of belonging for employees is just as important as building diverse teams. In McKinsey’s Great Attrition Survey, 51% of employees who resigned said they didn’t feel a sense of belonging at work. According to a Harvard Business Review study, when cultures of high belonging are present in the workplace, organizations report a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days.

“EDCUtah heard from employers throughout Utah—large and small, across industries and communities—that fostering belonging for employees and their families is an increasingly important priority,” said Scott Cuthbertson, president and CEO of EDCUtah. “This project is the result of real collaboration among Utah employers and community-led organizations to ensure that Utah can be a place where everyone feels they belong.”

The video was developed as a companion resource to We Are Utah: A Toolkit for Building Belonging in the Workplace. Created by EDCUtah and the Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging (CEOB), the digital toolkit offers a collection of proven practices for building cultures of belonging in the workplace. Activities in the toolkit were curated from national sources, Utah focus groups, and Utah employers, and they were vetted by leaders from Utah’s multicultural communities. The toolkit is sponsored by Comcast Business, Dominion Energy, Fidelity Investments, Lumen, Meta, and Rocky Mountain Power.