Researchers interested in understanding human flourishing have pointed to belonging and trust as key factors impacting mental and physical health, life satisfaction, and finding meaning in work. But how can trust in business and other institutions be preserved when civic engagement is declining, public discourse is polarized, and loneliness has become an epidemic? Business leader Stephen Covey posited that as much as trust is today’s newest currency, it remains the most overlooked driver of worker and business performance. In describing the strength that comes from trusting relationships, Brené Brown writes: “Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued.”

HERO Forum24 examines whether organizations that actively invest in the currencies of trust and belongingness are earning dividends in their capacity to change and grow. To answer this question, we will explore if, how, and when that sense of workplace community has endured or eroded in the new era of hybrid work. We will ask how organizations are responding with sustainable solutions to tougher issues such as deaths of despair, the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, and widespread turnover and burnout. We plan to address why there is a growing gap between company leaders’ perceptions of their responsiveness to these issues and reports from employees that businesses could do better by doing good on behalf of under-supported or overlooked workers. And we will ask how organizations can dampen the trust-terminating noise of social media echo chambers and, instead, amplify the voices and concerns of employees.

As always at the HERO Forum, our sessions will feature a balance of business leaders, organizational change experts, and health and well-being scientists who all share a passion for creating cultures of health. Our presenters will be challenged to bring time-honored, evidence-informed best practices that have been shown to improve social cohesion. We also will invite innovative ideas for how organizations can help surface traits that deepen work relationships such as gratitude, forgiveness, vulnerability, generosity, and community service. In particular, we will be featuring the initiatives, methods, and tools successful organizations are using to create authentic connections. This Forum will recognize and celebrate case studies that have captured the value of uplifting employees for sharing who they are and what they believe. In so doing, we are confident that HERO Forum participants will leave well-equipped to serve as agents for changing organizations at the speed of trust.