Perceptual gaps in workplace belonging across generational cohorts

Purpose This study examines how employees understand and experience belonging in the workplace, focusing on importance–satisfaction and cross-perception gaps and using generational cohort comparisons as the empirical context for examining cross-group assumptions. It considers differences between the importance employees assign to workplace conditions and their satisfaction with those conditions, as well as discrepancies between cohorts' self-reported priorities and the priorities attributed to them by other cohorts. Design/methodology/approach A convergent mixed-methods design combines survey data from 1,000 Korean employees, balanced across four age-based cohorts, with computational analysis of Reddit workplace discussions. The study examines five dimensions of workplace belonging encompassing interpersonal relationships, leadership, autonomy, competence and organizational support, while regression analyses provide supporting context for the perceptual-gap analysis. Findings Overall belonging did not differ significantly across cohorts, whereas mean importance exceeded mean satisfaction across all five workplace dimensions. Priorities attributed to cohorts also differed from their self-reported rankings. Regression analyses identified the satisfaction dimensions most strongly associated with belonging, while Reddit discourse provided contextual evidence of related workplace concerns and generational assumptions. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional Korean survey and public Reddit discourse limit causal inference and direct comparability across the two datasets. Age-based cohort categories may obscure within-cohort heterogeneity, and the design cannot disentangle age, period and cohort effects. Theoretically, the findings suggest that workplace-belonging research should distinguish the fulfillment of valued conditions from the accuracy of assumptions about other groups. Longitudinal and cross-national research could examine how these patterns evolve and generalize across contexts. Practical implications Organizations can compare employees' importance and satisfaction ratings to identify potentially insufficiently fulfilled workplace conditions and compare self-reported with attributed priorities to detect inaccurate group assumptions. These diagnostics can inform communication and inclusion practices without relying on generational stereotypes. Social implications Addressing insufficiently fulfilled workplace conditions and inaccurate group assumptions may support fairer employment practices and stronger cohesion in diverse workplaces, contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals concerning decent work and reduced inequalities. Originality/value This research distinguishes importance–satisfaction gaps, which may indicate insufficiently fulfilled workplace conditions, from cross-perception gaps involving inaccurate assumptions about other groups' priorities. This distinction extends workplace-belonging research beyond observed cohort differences.