A positive team environment can make or break the employee experience. Given that most people spend half their waking weekday hours working, it’s no surprise that many place a high value on the friendships and close working relationships they have with their colleagues.
They actively want these connections, too—so much so that nearly two out of five workers who work fully remotely “would give up some of that time at home to have in-person office experiences.”1 But with the rise of remote work and flexible scheduling, it’s harder than ever for employees to form tight-knit bonds with their coworkers. It’s not impossible, though, and if employers play a more active role in fostering these connections, they can increase their employees’ happiness and therefore enjoy the benefits of having a more engaged and motivated workforce. They’ll see increased retention, too: employees will choose to stay when they feel connected to their peers, manager, organization, and work.
Building connection means ensuring that employees understand how they are contributing meaningfully to the mission of the organization and that they have a sense of belonging. With these factors in mind, organizations should implement strategies that create connection at work for their employees.
Start connecting with employees at recruitment and onboarding.
In a world in which many HR processes are automated, organizations that take a personalized approach to hiring and onboarding will make a strong positive impression with their new hires. (For example, automating tax form completion is efficient, but a one-on-one personal conversation about an employee’s start date elevates the experience of connection.) Handwritten notes, check-in phone calls, and introductions to other employees can draw new hires in before they get started—and plant seeds for creating connection once they are fully on board. By using psychometric assessments and personality surveys to identify how new hires learn and communicate best, organizations can tailor onboarding and training to those tendencies and thereby build stronger connections with those individuals.
Make appreciation a part of work.
When someone takes the time to acknowledge or appreciate another person’s efforts, that has a powerful positive impact on connection building. Employee recognition doesn’t necessarily have to happen within a formal program, though. Even the simple act of increasing and normalizing appreciation can help improve retention. Spotlighting strong performance can transform a content employee into a fully engaged employee and brings numerous benefits for the organization:
- Drives excellence. Employee recognition lays the foundation for a high-performing team. It strengthens relationships and provides a clear purpose aligned to achievable goals. Recognizing performance allows business leaders to drive toward key goals by connecting people and culture to shared purpose.
- Increases engagement. Eighty-four percent of HR professionals surveyed by SHRM and Workhuman said that social recognition improved employee engagement.2
- Reinforces company values. When employee recognition is designed with rewards that map back to each company value, it integrates those ideals into employees’ everyday thoughts and actions.
- Nurtures trust. When workers receive recognition from their bosses, they are more inclined to feel positively about those bosses.
- Helps the bottom line. Organizations with formal recognition programs in place have happier and more engaged employees—and therefore less turnover—than companies that don’t offer such recognition.
Organizations can start incorporating recognition immediately just by adding an “appreciation” agenda item to every meeting and asking people to recognize anyone who’s helped them or done something noteworthy since the last meeting. This simple method can have a powerful positive effect on workplace morale and connection.
Make meetings more personal and less transactional.
Although meetings can feel like a necessary evil (and are often time-sucks), they can also be incredible opportunities to build connection with others. The key is to invite people to share more about themselves in the meeting. One effective way to do this is to add a “question of the day” to the agenda. The question could be something as simple as “where did you grow up?” or something fun such as “what’s your favorite movie of all time and why?” The goal is to invite people to share more about themselves in a safe, nonthreatening context and to open up space for the sparks of connection. When two people realize that they grew up in the same place, for example, or share a common interest, they take a step or two away from being just coworkers toward becoming friends.
Foster communities of practice.
A community of practice forms when “a group of people who share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic . . . come together to fulfill both individual and group goals.”3 These communities give people opportunities to share their knowledge, brainstorm, and collaborate with other employees, some of whom they might otherwise not interact with. In addition to developing their current areas of expertise and expanding their knowledge by solving problems with their colleagues, participants in communities of practice also benefit from feedback and support from experts.
Use integrations within existing communication tools.
Keeping employees connected through technology is a must in all work environments, whether in-office, fully remote, or hybrid. Companies can augment their e-mail, Slack, Teams, Zoom, and other collaboration tools with integrated add-on software that offers customized information. When drafting an email, chatting with a colleague, or joining a meeting, for example, team members can use this specialized software to gain insights on how best to approach other employees based on their communication, collaboration, and work styles. This knowledge can enable them to feel more connected and establish stronger relationships with each other.
In today’s world, it can sometimes seem that people are moving farther apart from each other. Changes in work environments only add to the challenges of building connections among team members. By leveraging technological solutions and strategically implementing practices that cultivate connection, though, organizations can enable employees to build stronger relationships with each other.