Unraveling the Drivers of Sense of Belonging in Software Delivery Teams: Insights from a Large-Scale Survey

Feeling part of a group is a basic human need that significantly influences an individual's behavior, long-term engagement, and job satisfaction. A strong sense of belonging holds particular importance within software delivery teams, which grapple with challenges related to well-being and employee retention. However, the specific factors closely associated with the sense of belonging in the context of software delivery teams remain largely unknown. Without a clear understanding of these factors, organizations' efforts to promote a sense of belonging and diversity and inclusion more broadly may prove ineffective. Based on existing literature, we identified key factors potentially relevant to the sense of belonging in software delivery teams, such as work appreciation and psychological safety, and investigated the interrelation among these factors. We surveyed members of software delivery teams (n=10,781) of a major software delivery organization and used Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate a theoretical model to understand the factors that might contribute to a sense of belonging to the team. We also conducted a multi-group analysis to evaluate how the associations change based on individuals' leadership involvement and an importance-performance map analysis to find the most critical indicators of belongingness. Our findings indicate a positive association between psychological safety and work appreciation and belonging to the team. Women feel less belonging than men, especially those not in leadership positions. Authoritativeness is negatively associated with belonging, and tenure is positively associated with belonging regardless of the role. Through this research, we seek to provide insights into the sense of belonging to the team and foster a more inclusive and cohesive work environment.