Back in 2020, Aotearoa - like the rest of the world - was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. (In)Famously, our government implemented country-wide lockdowns that kept workers in their homes.
While by no means the only, or even the most significant, one of the challenges we faced was the abrupt loss of kanohi ki te kanohi (face-to-face) interactions with colleagues and friends. Some businesses were able - with, it has to be said, variable success - to overcome some of the effects of this challenge via the use of virtual collaboration tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
For many of us - even we anxiety-ridden introverts - this experience reinforced the importance of social connections at work. But, in reality, the negative effects associated with this loss of in person social shouldn’t have been a surprise; researchers and scholars have been trying to tell us for years just how important social connections are at work for our health and well-being.
The Need to Connect
As people, we all have a need to connect with others. Seventy years ago, Abraham Maslow published his Hierarchy of Needs, setting out five essential needs related to our psychological health and development. Connection with others - which Maslow labelled ‘love and belongingness’ - is the third needs that, according to Maslow, drives our behaviour.
Lieberman (2013) argues that, as a mammal, you need social connection more than anything and that to thrive we have to relate to other people and be attached to them.1
This perspective was supported 30 years later by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan who, in their self-determination theory, identified the key innate need of relatedness. This refers to the need to develop strong connections with others and cultivate a sense of belonging.
Related models
Our inherent need to connect is supported by several models from the wider field of health and psychology.
A social ecology model of health, for example, considers wider factors that affect our health and well-being, and associated health behaviours. This model - supported by research - identifies several key groups of influencing factors, including:
intrapersonal factors (e.g., our individual skills)
interpersonal factors (e.g., social influences at work)
institutional factors (e.g., the physical environment)
community factors (e.g., relationships between organisations); and
public policy.
Studies have demonstrated the influence these determining factors - especially the interpersonal factors - have on making and sustaining healthy changes such as increasing physical activity, participating in onsite programs, and perceptions of well-being and quality of life.2
Another example is Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Whā model of health. Widely taught and (inconsistently) applied across Aotearoa, this model adopts a holistic model of health. Represented by the four walls of a whare (house), this model rests on the belief that all four elements need to be balanced to achieve optimum health and well-being.
A key component of this model is, of course, social connections, represented by taha whānau (family and social well-being); if the element of taha whānau is unbalanced in some way (e.g., social isolation), our overall health and well-being is at risk.
Models and theories such as those described above highlight the importance of cultivating positive relationships to support our overall health.
Physiological reflections
Our need to connect is also reflected physiologically from the moment of our birth.
The need for connection is spurred on by the body’s production of the hormone oxytocin. Mothers, for example, produce this hormone when they hear their baby cry, while research also suggests we produce this hormone when we hold hands, hug others, give our loved ones a massage, or demonstrate sexual intimacy. Oxytocin has been shown to work with other neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine or serotonin) in positive ways.
Social connections then, provide a positive, visceral response that promotes our well-being.
Benefits of Social Connections
Developing connections with others has been shown to have a wide range of benefits for us.
This includes a number of benefits for our physical health and well-being:
reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, upper respiratory infection, and chronic physical conditions
lower blood pressure
lower body mass index (BMI)
decreased mortality and “risk of premature death from all causes”3; and
encouraging healthy behaviours.
Importantly, if we are living with a chronic health condition, it can be more difficult to engage socially with others. Given a lack of connection with others can result in the opposite of the health benefits listed above, this can create a vicious cycle in which our health and well-being is increasingly at risk.
Fostering connections with others has also been shown to have positive effects for mental health and well-being, with the “quantity and quality of interpersonal relationships… [acting] as valid indicators of happiness and satisfaction across all age groups”.4 Such effects include:
improved mood and overall mental health
lower risk of suicidal ideation and suicide
reduced risk of anxiety
facilitating our ability to cope with, and acting as a protective factor against, stress and reduced risk of downstream health effects associated with stress
lower incidence of sleep problems
acting as a preventative factor for depression
reducing the effect of depressive symptoms
supporting management of post-traumatic stress disorder; and
lower risk of dementia.
Loneliness and social isolation
Conversely, of course, if we experience loneliness or we are socially isolated, we are at greater risk of the opposite effects (e.g., increased mortality or greater risk of depression).
Internationally, loneliness and/or social isolation has been shown to have a similar impact on mortality as “smoking 15 cigarettes a day and higher than that of obesity or excessive alcohol consumption”.5
This is especially concerning as research suggests the incidence of loneliness is on the rise. While this was the case beforehand, research suggests this increased during the COVID-19 global pandemic. While they vary, research has identified rates between 46-60% in the UK and 12-23% in the US.
A 2023 Meta-Gallup survey found that nearly one in four adults across the world have reported feeling very or fairly lonely. The survey, which was taken across 142 countries, found 24% of people aged 15 and older self-reported feeling very or fairly lonely.6
In Aotearoa, the 2021 New Zealand General Social Survey undertaken by Statistics New Zealand yielded important well-being statistics. These findings demonstrated, of the 3,500 New Zealanders who took part in the survey:
57% said they had not felt lonely at all in the four weeks prior to the survey
Women (48%) were more likely than men (38.5%) to feel lonely at least a little of the time.
Sole parents (56%) were more likely than the total population (43%) to be lonely at least a little of the time.
While loneliness and social isolation is often associated with older populations, research suggests these can be experienced across the age-span; investigations into incidence rates have yielded variable results related to which age group is most at risk.
Some research points to personality as a risk factor for loneliness. In particular, those with higher levels of extraversion are more likely to have access to the support and other benefits provided by social connections.
A less extraverted individual might be more predisposed to feelings of loneliness since they do not actively avoid positioning themselves in social contexts which can favor [sic] the development of feelings of loneliness.7
Connections at Work
Employment offers one context in which the need for establishing and maintaining connections with others and experiencing a sense of belonging can be met. Some researchers suggest we spend more time with our colleagues than we do with our whānau and friends; the type and quality of these relationships, then, have significant implications for our health and well-being.
Other authors postulate that, given many businesses and organisations perform their work and achieve their goals via social processes, their success rests -at least in part - on workers’ social connections, positive relationships, and a sense of belonging.
Just as fostering connections more generally activates the production of oxytocin, positive workplace connections ‘activate’ parts of the brain that encourage further positive connections.
When relationships in the workplace are characterized [sic] by cooperation, trust, and fairness, the reward center of the brain is activated, which encourages future interactions that promote employee trust, respect, and confidence.8
As we’ve seen, social connections can have benefits for our general health and well-being and, similarly, workplace relationships can have specific benefits in the employment environment. Such benefits can include:
providing greater job satisfaction
facilitating personal and professional growth
building, empathy, compassion, and trust (between co-workers and between managers and workers)
facilitating psychological safety
supporting autonomy at work - both by realising and maintaining autonomy
this may include leveraging connections to engage in unified, collective political action to secure autonomy
acting as a ‘buffer’ between stress and burnout, including:
providing social support informed by a shared understanding of specific organisational issues; and
off-setting the effects of loss of ‘resources’ at work (thereby helping workers cope with workplace ‘demands’)
instilling higher levels of organisational commitment
raising productivity and job performance (thereby providing a competitive advantage to businesses)
reducing absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover (and increasing retention)
improving communication, engagement, and collaboration between and within teams
facilitating change processes
strengthening role clarity and reducing role ambiguity
enhancing perceptions of well-being; and
supporting engagement in and with healthy behaviours.
Relationships [at work] improve feelings such as trust and willingness to collaborate, which improves problem solving and productivity, and give employees a feeling of being valued and respected.9
A key benefit of workplace connections is knowledge sharing. Research suggests peer relationships function well as a medium for learning and influencing co-workers’ attitudes. This knowledge sharing has been seen between senior and junior, and trained and untrained, co-workers.
An extension of this shared learning is greater opportunities for innovative thinking. Strong, positive, connections at work facilitate collaboration and engagement, with work friends ‘bouncing’ off each other and working together in a collective effort to meet shared objectives via unique and innovative approaches.
[Positive connections at work provide] a safe space…for exploration and experimentation, thus enabling people to expand their knowledge and develop new common knowledge and ways of being.10
Developing positive connections at work and our sense of belonging in the workplace form a cyclical dyad where an increase in social connections strengthens our sense of belonging which, in turn, fortifies existing connections and gives us confidence to make new connections.
An added bonus of this cycle is that it facilitates the development of psychological safety. The concept of feeling safe to ask questions, make suggestions, and admit mistakes without fear of reprisal is a key element of mentally healthy work that has been consistently shown to support our health and well-being. The connections we form, and the sense of belonging engendered, at work provide mechanisms for raising and maintaining psychological safety.
Loneliness and negative relationships at work
Just as a feeling of loneliness or social isolation can have negative consequences for us more generally, negative relationships at work can be equally damaging. If the relationships we have with others are negative, our emotional well-being and mental health are threatened and may be temporarily or permanently damaged.
Relationships lacking in social connection have been shown to detract from our feelings of wellness and well-being. Findings indicate this is exacerbated by interactions that:
lack collaboration, integrity, and/or open communication
are disrespectful; and
which are “perceived to be lacking justice and empathy”.11
Negative relationships in the workplace have also been shown to result in similar effects on our physical health - such as gastroenterological issues, increased muscle tension, and higher blood pressure - as when we experience loneliness or social isolation more generally.
Interestingly, some research indicates a lack of social connection and feeling of camaraderie at work has a more negative effect on our well-being than other negative elements of work design, such as high workloads.
Fostering Connections at Work
To ensure relationships can flourish at work, businesses need to ensure they are providing an environment that is safe - physically, socially, emotionally, and psychologically.
Organizations [sic] should look for meaningful ways to increase social connection by improving the structural (e.g., frequency of social contact, size of work-related social network), functional (e.g., perceived or received support, loneliness) and quality aspects (e.g., relationship satisfaction, conflict, strain) of workplace interactions especially for employees low on extraversion who are at a higher risk of experiencing loneliness at work.12
Promote Diversity and Inclusion
A key focus for businesses needs to be on actively and effectively promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices at work. As well as promoting mentally healthy work, DEI strategies and interventions that ensure staff feel valued and respected will help facilitate feelings of belongingness and, by extension, connections with others at work.
Ensuring staff feel empowered to be themselves and bring their full selves to work helps develop a sense of individuality. Our individual differences can serve as a ‘jumping off point’ for developing connections with others, while also supporting our sense of belonging.
Similarly, when we feel a sense of belonging at work, we are more likely to engender a welcoming atmosphere to new staff or visitors entering our work environment. This ‘vibe’ sends out signals of acceptance and engagement, smoothing the way for newcomers to make efforts to connect with us.
Promote face-to-face interactions and plan events
In today’s digital world where hybrid work and working from home is often the norm, face-to-face interactions can be difficult to actively promote. Regardless, businesses need to do what they can to do so.
While remaining cognisant and considerate of specific workers’ needs and preferences, encouraging the use of video is a good way to promote this approach for staff who may be working remotely. Although not as effective as in-person interactions for fostering social connections, video conferencing software can help support this process. Other intentional measures, such as virtual coffee get-togethers or online games can be useful in connecting remote workers or teams.
The idea of explicit team-building activities makes many of us shudder or cringe, but, regardless, businesses need to dedicate time to organising and/or hosting events that promote and encourage social interactions. In Aotearoa, events centred around kai (food) can be successful in this regard; this is often a feature of social events in and out of work.
These types of activities can ‘jump start’ the process of building connections via events that emphasise collaboration, communication, and shared problem-solving. It’s important to note this might not always be social or team-building in their focus; training and development events, for example, provide an opportunity for building and strengthening connections.
Supporting employee-led initiatives is an effective way for facilitating relationship building, while also mitigating risks associated with negative interpretations and avoidance of what some staff may interpret as ‘enforced fun’. Similarly, leveraging informal activities such as morning teas, lunch gatherings, or team walks can be effective in strengthening connections.
Consider workplace design
Businesses with staff who work on-site (as opposed to remote work) need to carefully consider how they design spaces. In office environments, where open plan and activity-based working may be the norm, businesses need to carefully balance the use of furniture, greenery, and layout to reduce noise and increase privacy with elements that promote social interactions, communication, and collaboration.
The way offices are designed may have a ‘make or break’ effect on collaboration, engagement, and the development of workplace friendships.13
It’s important workplaces are designed to facilitate different types of interactions by including a breadth of different work ‘zones’. This can include:
small and large meeting rooms
communal areas where staff can gather for formal and informal discussions; and
indoor and outdoor areas where team members can have lunch or coffee breaks.
As noted above, a key component of building and maintaining connections at work is ensuring workers feel a sense of belonging. One design element that research points to as significantly undermining this feeling is hot-desking.
Although businesses tend to favour the approach - primarily due to the cost-savings it affords - research has consistently demonstrated the damaging effects this approach has on workers’ health and well-being. When staff have to work with hot-desking or shared desk arrangements, they feel dispossessed and isolated and, when they have moved to this approach from dedicated or allocated workspaces, they experience a sense of loss.
This sense of isolation and dispossession results in workers feeling disconnected from direct team members which, in turn, has a downstream effect on collaboration, productivity, and job satisfaction, while also resulting in a loss of identity within the work context.14
Hot-desking can disrupt our sense of belonging at work by preventing us from personalising our workspace. This has been described as a ‘violation’ of our psychological needs and as something that “seems ‘to work against something fundamentally human’”.15 Crucially, hot-desking has been identified as one mechanism by which our connection with others at work can be severed.
Build a climate of trust
Trust is key to all positive connections with others, regardless of the sphere of our lives in which they exist. At work, a key component of trust is psychological safety: if we ask questions of managers or co-workers and we are punished or reprimanded in some way, our trust is broken. This may also break others’ sense of trust if they witness a negative consequence of what should be a positive exchange.
High-trust relationships give those involved greater freedom to be themselves and let their guard down with each other, thereby strengthening feelings of trust.
Trust can be built in different ways, including (but not limited to):
sharing information openly and without a cost to the recipient(s)
where appropriate, self-disclosing (e.g., if you are neurodivergent)
using inclusive language
sharing or giving away control and/or responsibility
giving others access to valuable resources
seeking and positively responding to input from others; and
not:
accusing others of ill intent
demeaning others
engaging in ‘check-up’ or surveillance behaviours; and/or
punishing others when they make a mistake.
Effective conflict resolution and communication
Another important step businesses need to take is to ensure they have robust, effective processes and practices in place for resolving conflict between staff. When these are absent, the risk of allowing low-quality and/or negative connections to develop increases, resulting in negative outcomes for individuals, groups, and the wider organisation.
Key to this approach is the promotion of respectful, effective communication that is characterised by a high level of psychological safety. To establish this, several things need to happen:
Businesses need to establish a culture that reflects and values positive communication.
Senior and junior managers need to establish explicit mechanisms that reinforce this approach (e.g., reward/recognition for/of positive communication or incorporating exploration of expectations during performance management discussions).
Teams need to work together to map out their culture, identifying agreed-upon values, behaviours, and expectations etc.
Staff need to explore a shared understanding of ‘positive communication’ at multiple levels (e.g., the wider business, business units/groups, teams, and sub-teams).
Positive conflict resolution strategies can be supported by positive communication behaviours such as:
engaging in active listening
being fully present during interactions
adopting a genuine, affirming approach; and
communicating in a supportive way.
What we say and how we say it should denote respect, appreciation, and dignity…words and questions should be engaging, affirmative, and positive as much as possible because they are fateful and eventually orient the direction of the communication.16
To assist with embedding positive, effective approaches to conflict resolution and communication and, by extension, supporting connection-building, businesses should look to leverage training. Using this approach is a good way of ensuring everyone working at the business or organisation - regardless of their role or position - understands the benefits of social connections at work and the strategies and approaches that support this activity.
Collectively, these strategies facilitate our ability to develop and maintain connections with others at work.
Effective leadership
Time and again, research underscores the importance of leaders and managers in supporting workers’ health, safety, and well-being at work. Not surprisingly, this remains true for building social connections.
If you’re in charge of a team, larger business unit, or the entire company, you need to lead by example. This includes:
modelling the behaviours that support a positive workplace culture
building and maintaining positive relationships with workers
promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion across the business
employing effective conflict resolution strategies; and
ensuring staff feel a sense of belonging at work.
One particular challenge for leaders is to stretch themselves beyond what they would personally find engaging or enjoyable. This means leaders need to invest time in knowing and understanding their team members. By facilitating a sense of individuality and ensuring they understand workers’ individual differences, leaders/managers can smooth the way for their staff to establish connections and work together, while supporting DEI strategies and initiatives.
Knowing and understanding team members is particularly important when we consider that staff living with mental illness are more susceptible to feelings of loneliness and social isolation.
For those experiencing mental health challenges, stigma perpetuates loneliness and leads to a reluctance to engage in help-seeking or treatment-seeking behaviour, which can further perpetuate feelings of loneliness.17
Consequently, it’s important leaders invest time getting to know - and understand the needs and preferences of - their team members.
Businesses’ support for leaders
The responsibility for supporting employees to develop and maintain connections at work, and feel a sense of belonging in the workplace, should not fall solely at the feet of individual leaders/managers.
Businesses must support leaders and managers across their organisation. Primarily, this takes the form of training and development, including supervision and mentoring. Leaders must be given access to resources so they can learn how best to support their team members effectively, while keeping themselves safe. Similarly, workplaces should strive to develop managers and leaders to “enhance leadership qualities” that emphasise “trust, collaboration, meaningful work, respect, [and] valuing and appreciating all contributions”.18
Research suggests these approaches are particularly effective in helping workers cultivate a sense of belonging.
In general, as humans, we have a psychological drive to build connections with others and to feel like we belong - this need sits behind many of the decisions we make every day. Although we may face innumerable barriers, the workplace provides fertile ground for fulfilling this need.
As we’ve seen, having positive social connections at work and feeling like we belong there is vital to keeping healthy, safe, and well at work. Given this, in Aotearoa, businesses have a responsibility to do what they can to facilitate the process of ensuring that need is met. In doing so, individuals, teams, and the wider organisation will reap the benefits associated with strengthening ties at work.
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Rosales (2015, p.25).
Mastroianni & Storberg-Walker (2014, p.805).
Holt-Lunstad (2022, p.196).
Talukdar (2020, p.12).
Sîrbu & Dumbravă (2019, p.8).
ACE Aotearoa (2024, April).
Sîrbu & Dumbravă (2019, p.13).
Houston (2019).
Cruz (2018, p.7).
Rosales (2015, p.37).
Mastroianni & Storberg-Walker (2014, p.807).
Sîrbu & Dumbravă (2019, p.14).
Walker (2023, p.27).
Ibid, p.17.
Budie, Appel-Meulenbroek, Kemperman, & Weijs-Perree (2019) in Walker (2023, p.19).
Rosales (2015, p.60).
Mohr et al. (2023, pp.11-12).
Mastroianni & Storberg-Walker (2014, p.814).