How to cure office loneliness
About one in five Americans report feeling lonely, according to a recent Gallup poll. That’s a problem for employers. Several studies show that employees who feel disconnected from their colleagues are generally less productive, not to mention more likely to quit.
And a new study from the Institute for Life at Work finds that while remote workers are more likely to report feelings of isolation, a lack of workplace social activities also play a big role.
So how do companies get their employees to socialize without it feeling like that whole forced fun thing?
Tip No. 1 to make sure your office meet-and-greet doesn’t stink: You need to make sure the timing is right, per Connie Hadley, who-co-authored that loneliness study.
“One bad way,” she said,” is to basically have a soul-crushing wrap-up meeting where you learn that you’re below your targets and then say, ‘And now we’re going to move into the next room where we have some cold cuts and cheese crackers.’”
Mandatory fun can often work better for lonely workers, she noted. “You want them to be the first ones to show up for every optional event, but they won’t be. They will be the last one.”
Research suggests being connected to colleagues also has benefits outside the office.
“So when you go home and you’re venting to someone who doesn’t know who you’re talking about, that looks really different than when you’re venting to someone at work,” said Jessica Methot, a professor of Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.
After all, your joke about that spreadsheet snafu is probably going to go over better with Paul in accounting than your significant other.
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