Social capital is a term given to the relationships that make organizations work effectively. It also nicely captures the notion that investments in these relationships return real gains that show up on the bottom line. Unfortunately, social capital at work is under threat. With the sudden reliance on virtual teams, leaders are often ill-equipped with the knowledge of how to build interpersonal connection in low cue online environments. Flexible and hybrid work environments mean fewer water cooler conversations, and less opportunity to connect outside of task-focused meetings.
While people are enjoying the extra control and flexibility afforded by hybrid work, they often underestimate the importance of staying connected to their teams. Workloads are also increasing, meaning that leaders and their teams have less bandwidth to focus on the human aspects of team functioning, and building relationships in turbulent times and through constant change is tough. Yet, building meaningful connections at work is incredibly important:
- For almost 70% of people, their manager has more impact on their mental health than their therapist or their doctor—and it’s equal to the impact of their partner.
- Feeling connected to other people at work is one of the most important contributors to feeling that our work is meaningful and presents a significant resource people can draw on to improve their experience of work.
- Loneliness at work is a significant mental health issue that is on the rise.
- Cultivating shared collective identity predicts improved business performance.
Our connected leaders and teams program aims to create awareness of the importance of social connection at work, to understand the costs of disconnection and loneliness, and to reflect on opportunities and learn concrete tools and strategies for leaders and teams to build greater social connection, and in turn more vibrant, high performing team cultures.