Are your employees offered opportunities to genuinely connect and socialize with their workplace peers?
Pandemic-related restrictions and practical modifications to your working environment have forced your employees to the point that they are likely to deliver less reliable responses than before.
Social interaction is vital for mental and physical health. One in three employees reports that they feel less connected to their peers at work since the outbreak of COVID-19. That is enormously discouraging from both an individual and business perspective, especially as new variants of the virus arise to threaten workplace plans.
The isolation many important employees are undergoing due to the social interactions and privacy of remote work can be detrimental to your employee morale and corporate productivity. Here ‘s how:
Social Connections Drive Productivity and Engagement
Stress and burnout are major concerns for companies today, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have estimated that the annual cost of absenteeism and lowered performance due to burnout affects about Rs. 500 crore. Even more shocking, 2 out of 3 employees in India are disengaged at work and don’t possess a strong sense of well-being.
Social bonds between colleagues can help form a spirit of openness among the team members. Let’s look into how all this relates to social interactions in the workplace: Forming social connections with colleagues can help foster a culture of openness, which is essential to enabling employees to bring their best selves to work each day. Let’s look at the facts:
- At least 3 people in 5 highly social employees believe they are highly engaged, and just over 1 in 10 other employees with low social connectivity think they are highly engaged at work.
- Motivated workers are more productive thanks to their strong social bonds.
- People who are pleased about having a best friend at work are 7 times as likely to have the best engagement, customer relations, quality of work, and health and well-being, as well as a lower probability of experiencing a work-related injury.
Workplace Friendships Can Positively Impact Health Outcomes
We’ve made known it before: happy, healthy workers are happy, healthy employees. And the positive effects brought on by this continue, as happy employees are more likely to stay healthy and happy.
Having a robust social network is associated with a lower risk of depression and anxiety, lower levels of stress, higher motivation to engage in self-care, and longer life the rewards of healthy social interactions are substantial. Conversely, studies have noted Low social interaction has a twofold unfavorable influence on life expectancy and counselor/nutritionist compared with not exercising and being an alcoholic.
It’s reasonable to presume that social isolation and loneliness will increase before the coming of the coronavirus pandemic sobers us. Employees who identify as loners are more prone to miss consistent industrial appointments than coworkers who do not consider themselves loners. Employees who identify as loners are twice as likely to miss workdays because of illness and 5 times as likely to miss the workday due to nervousness. Compared to coworkers with strong social networks, lonely workers consider quitting their job at least twice as often. This may contribute to higher than average turnover and retention issues.
It is evident that social, mental, and physical health are related to one another. Individuals who self-report fair or poor health also report a higher degree of loneliness than people who seem healthy. Also, people who are socially isolated tend to be more stressed and depressed, which can increase symptoms that predict illness and disease. All this is to say that employees who are lonelier can be at a greater risk of suffering from both physical and mental health, which worsens with time.
Strong Teams Are the Foundation of a Strong Company Culture
Remember to show respect to people of all different backgrounds. Respecting one another builds teamwork, which is crucial for innovation throughout the workplace. When people feel a sense of belonging on your end, they’re more eager to provide their best at the office every day. Employees who share a relationship with their colleagues also feel connected to the larger organization, which helps you attract and retain top talent.
As businesses cope with the fallout of the post-COVID-19 world, a greater emphasis is being placed on employee resilience. More than 4 in 5 corporations feel that employee resilience will be critical to their restoration following COVID-19, and they are right. Apart from the national average, resilient employees are more 96% productive, 91% more engaged at the office, and 19% less stressed. These critical employee qualities are integral to the recovery process and improving business outcomes.
If your employees operate remotely, hybrid, or are onsite full-time, offering opportunities for socialization will help your people show up every day better, healthier, and more engaged and integrated with your organization’s culture. From encouraging lunch breaks and afternoon talks to reminding employees to utilize branch offices in their digital wellness services to getting started on a virtual healthy habit challenge to heighten cooperation, it can be done through Revibe Corporate Wellness. Speak with a representative today.
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