We all heard a colleague saying: “I am here to work, not to make friends”. For many employees, work can be a very lonely place, either by choice or by obligation. Organizations need to understand how essential social connections are to the effectiveness and performance of a team.
While mental, physical, and financial wellbeing are self-explanatory, “social wellbeing” is a more complex concept. Social wellbeing is when you feel a sense of belonging, social inclusion, and social stability – it encompasses our lifestyles, values, and beliefs. With employees working remotely, or taking on different roles in matrix organizations, this has never been more important. In the UK, more than half of employees report that their current social relationships at work are not ‘supportive’ enough.
Let me illustrate this with a concrete example. At the beginning of September (2020), I had the chance to physically deliver several workshops on stress and resilience. At the end of the sessions, most participants came to see me to explain the stress associated with this new way of working, namely alternating or remote work. Their major worry and stress were the loss of connection with their colleagues. They haven’t seen some of them for more than five months, depending on the distribution of the alternating weeks of work. For a majority of employees, social relationships are essential to their wellbeing. I personally know that as it’s my main priority to feel socially connected at work. For them, the current situation can create profound stress, and it seems that we are already beginning to see an impact on the performance of these “socially disconnected” employees.
Social wellbeing in the workplace includes:
- Relations with colleagues, managers, and the company at large
- Social inclusion and a sense of belonging
- Feeling valued as a person, as a colleague and as an employee/manager
In this period of physical distancing (and no longer called social distancing thanks to COVID-19), many employees forced to work from home felt a great social vacuum, as well as deep loneliness. So much so that a new position was created in England: Loneliness Minister. Baroness Barran MBE oversees this newly created position and follows the British Loneliness Strategy already developed in 2018 by the British Government.
As an employer, it’s becoming essential to create a healthy social climate and to develop a culture that is sufficiently flexible and inclusive to:
- Allow bonding and social relationship at work,
- Fight against loneliness,
- Enable employees who need to work remotely to do so,
- Finally, encourage the most zealous to disconnect without feeling guilty.
And all the above while respecting physical distancing as well as protective measures. Not an easy task I agree, but once again, this extraordinary situation offers a new opportunity for agile organizations focused on the wellbeing of their employees to make a difference.
Here are 4 steps to help you address social wellbeing in your organisation:
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Understand the different categories of needs of your employees
In the same company, you will find workers on the production lines (working continuously or not); one or more sales forces (normally!), mainly on the road or in appointments with customers; teams working remotely either for geographic reasons or by obligation; and teams that must be physically present at work as their job cannot be done remotely. Within these groups, you will find employees who need social connections to perform and others who need to disconnect to rejuvenate.
Ask each of the groups mentioned above what they need to better understand their situation. And ask each group whether what has been put in place is working or not, and how to improve it.
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Analyse your working policies (flexible work, parental leave, vacation, etc.)
Do you provide the flexibility employees need to balance their work and personal life?
Do your employees have the breaks and downtime they need to relax, to bond, both at work and in their private lives? Do you encourage inter-colleague exchanges as well as the promotion of cafes / lunches and other team outings? What about your positioning on the subject of “disconnection” at the end of the day, on weekends and during holidays, which is essential for the wellbeing of your employees? I’m not saying that you have to revolutionize your organization and impose free hours, I simply encourage you to review your different ways of working according to the needs of your employees and especially according to the recent evolution of those needs.
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Evaluate your social events
Do they still take place or not, do they meet the needs of employees, are they diverse enough to consider the contingencies of personal life, personal budgets, and cultural differences?
Create a working group, in the same format as a staff committee, to brainstorm and then offer the appropriate activities needed for the social wellbeing of the company, to help overcome the loneliness of the most isolated, and to encourage social bonding between members of the same team as well as between members of different teams.
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Inform managers and employees on the importance of staying connected, as well as of disconnecting
Human beings are social animals, they need to belong to a group and to feel loved, accepted and valued. Additionally, it is now proven that employees with strong social relationships in the workplace tend to be significantly more engaged and successful workers. Social connection provides a sense of cohesion, which is essential for cultivating creativity, teamwork, collaboration, and solidarity.
As part of your workplace health and wellbeing program, offer workshops and webinars to address this topic of belonging, as well as strategies to stay connected with the team, especially if the work is mostly done remotely or on a shift base. Loneliness doesn’t just happen to retirees! And don’t forget the most crucial message: no matter how important it is to stay connected, ensure employees can disconnect, both physically and mentally.
