The purpose of this action research study was to understand and strengthen staff and administrators' sense of workplace belonging in a small, private, family-founded college. In Cycle 1 the researcher aimed to understand factors that contributed to participants sense of belonging. Cycle 1 participants responded to a survey to provide insight on factors that influenced their sense of belonging. Through inductive analysis, three overarching themes emerged that included recognition, community, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Cycle 1 themes led to the development of the employee recognition program which served as this study's Cycle 2 action step. Participants collaborated with the researcher to co-create the recognition program, while others nominated their colleagues for awards, and/or attended the recognition ceremony. Cycle 2 participants shared their perspective on how the recognition program impacted their sense of belonging by taking part in semi-structured interviews. Themes that emerged from Cycle 2 included visibility, community, purpose, emotion, employee-centered initiatives, workplace gratitude, and support staff. The results of this study found that recognition program strengthened participants sense of belonging through increased visibility, perceived organizational support, self-concept, and employee engagement. Findings from this study illustrated that a strong social network is core to belonging, and empowering non-familial employees in family-founded colleges supports staff and administrators' sense of belonging. This study's implications for organizations include curating organizational practices to improve staff and administrators sense of belonging through increasing acts of recognition and providing them opportunities to serve on committees. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]