Workplace Belonging Keynote SpeakerTurning belonging into trust, retention & results.
She didn’t just read the research on belonging. She did it at Penn, and turns it into practical ways to keep your best people and raise performance.
Experience
The business case
The performance cost of disconnection at work
When employees feel safe to challenge ideas, contribute fully, and take ownership, performance rises across the organization. Yet disengagement remains costly.
18%
Lower sales productivity in the least engaged teams
Gallup
23%
Lower profitability in the least engaged teams
Gallup
40%+
Feel emotionally and physically isolated at work
EY
Sources: Gallup Q12 Meta-Analysis (2020), comparing the most and least engaged teams; EY Belonging Barometer.
Most belonging speakers quote the research. Beth did the research.
Her doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania studied what people do when belonging breaks at work. In her exploratory study, most of those who struggled to belong responded by giving up even more of themselves to fit in. That’s the moment leaders miss, and it’s the one Beth teaches them to catch.
Belonging isn’t soft. It’s operational. It’s measurable.
When done right, belonging becomes a strategic lever for culture, trust, and sustainable performance.
Return on Belonging™
Turning belonging into results
Beth Kaplan Ed.D. helps leaders build high-performance cultures rooted in psychological safety and accountability. She bridges research and real-world execution with practical frameworks leaders can implement immediately.
Her work focuses on:
- Increasing retention
- Reducing burnout
- Strengthening trust
- Improving cross-functional collaboration
- Elevating accountability
Belonging becomes the lever. Performance becomes the outcome.
How Beth delivers
Three ways to bring belonging into your organization
Speaking
Keynotes
Strategic, research-based, and deeply practical. Beth equips leaders with clear actions to create environments where people contribute fully and perform at their best.
Designed for executive teams, leadership summits, and enterprise events.
Programs
Executive Programs
Self-guided and facilitated courses and executive programs that reinforce belonging behaviors across teams and managers.
Because culture doesn’t change in a keynote alone. It changes in daily decisions.
Advisory
Executive Advisory
For organizations ready to go deeper. Beth partners with senior leaders to assess culture gaps, align leadership behaviors, and build measurable belonging strategies tied to business outcomes.
This is where belonging moves from idea to implementation.
The book
Braving the Workplace
Belonging at the Breaking Point
Published by Maison Vero, with a foreword by Dr. Jean Kantambu Latting.
From the room
“Our thousands of HR leaders were mesmerized by Beth’s keynote. We are still receiving rave reviews from attendees requesting that we bring her back; she’s a hit!”
CEO, HRSI
Praise for Braving the Workplace
“Who plays the most pivotal role in employee belonging and psychological safety? The simple but profound answer is managers. … Beth Kaplan explains in detail why this is true.”
Amy C. Edmondson
Novartis Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School
“Braving the Workplace isn’t just another leadership book; it’s a practical tool that helps leaders create environments where everyone feels valued and connected.”
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach, New York Times bestselling author
“Stop trying to fit in. … Let this book be your guide to get you there.”
Mel Robbins
Bestselling author, host of The Mel Robbins Podcast
“Beth’s ideas, stories, and tools help me experience belonging by accepting myself, being vulnerable, and braving the workplace so that the workplace works for me.”
Dave Ulrich
Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
“Dr. Kaplan’s ability to blend research with actionable, exec-level insights is an accelerant to transforming workplaces for the better.”
Brian Solis
Digital anthropologist, futurist, Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow
“Dr Beth Kaplan’s insightful book “Braving the Workplace” is a must-read for many audiences but perhaps most especially, corporate managers.”
Anthony Costello
CEO of Medidata
Bring Beth to your leaders.
Workplace belonging keynote speaker and author of Braving the Workplace. Beth Kaplan Ed.D. turns belonging into trust, retention and results.