Office culture serves up a dichotomy of being both surrounded by coworkers and siloed in tasks. Today more than ever, employees are finding themselves working without community. Remote work, while it has improved quality of life in many ways, has also separated colleagues. The structures of everyday social connection have shifted, and without casual work lunches and watercooler banter, some employees are finding that their circles of friends are shrinking. What’s more, the demands of being connected and on-call at all times in a demanding digital age of texting and email, has contracted the windows of opportunity for employees to unwind and unplug with their loved ones.
In a report by the US Surgeon General Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, the loneliness epidemic is cited as more than a social problem, but a major health risk as well. Social isolation has been shown to increase the risk for premature death by 29% and has the same negative impact on health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. All of this impacts performance at work. The US Surgeon General report estimates that stress-related absenteeism caused by loneliness costs employers $154 billion each year.
Employers can help reverse this disadvantage by designing work cultures that prioritize happiness and connectivity. While this may sound cliché, an Oxford study stated that happier employees are more productive employees, and that as positive emotions from social interactions increased, so too did employees’ ability to approach problem solving with creativity. When employers work to build healthy connections across teams and departments, and give workers the support necessary to address their mental health needs, better output has been proven to be are a natural byproduct.
