Building Connections at Work
It’s Mental Health Awareness Month, and we’re seeing lots of stories about why people are suffering from loneliness and isolation. And, not just in their personal lives, isolation is impacting our employees’ work lives as well.
It is easy to dismiss this issue at work and blame it on hybrid or work from home policies, but it isn’t that simple.
What we need to focus on is building connections at work. Our employees need to connect with their managers and their colleagues whether or not they work in the same physical space.
According to the US Surgeon General, isolation and loneliness are connected directly to our physical health. Consider these facts—loneliness and isolation lead to a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of strokes, and a 50% increased risk of dementia in older adults.
These numbers got my attention.
What can we do in the workplace to help build meaningful connections at work. We’re finding that loneliness and isolation is about more than being around other people. It has more to do with the quality of our connections with others.
Here are some ideas on things for leaders and managers to try to deepen those connections:
Promote friendships at work. According to Gallup, employees with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be engaged at work.
Find ways to have your staff get to know each other as human beings—not just as coworkers. According to Shasta Nelson, author of The Business of Friendship, friendships need three things to survive, “positivity so we can feel satisfied; vulnerability so we can feel safe; and consideration so we can feel seen.”
Nelson suggests starting meetings with everyone sharing something they’re grateful for, so that people get to know their colleagues and what’s important to them. Or ask employees to thank a colleague for something they did to help them out
Psychologist Adam Grant suggests having people share something they are struggling with, then asking colleagues to offer ideas, resources, and contacts to help resolve the issue. This builds connections and an internal network that may have a significant impact on productivity.
Encourage your employees to take frequent breaks. If they are working in person, go for a walk with a colleague. If they are virtual, suggest they call a coworker and just chat about their weekend. Anything that gives them a mental break from work and deepens a connection with a colleague will be meaningful.
Start staff meetings with a fun ice breaker designed to get employees to reveal something of themselves. Try asking, “If I offered you a free, roundtrip plane ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why.” Amazing what you will learn.
According to Cigna, people are less lonely or isolated at work when they are encouraged to leave work at work.
We encourage you to find ways to encourage connections between your employees to diminish as much isolation as possible. Tell us what works for you, and we will add it to this blog on our website.