Do you have friends at work?

As the new research suggests, the more friends you have at work, the more engaged and satisfied you will be.

Photo by Chris Greenhow on Unsplash

Employees spend almost 50% of their work day on digital vs. in-person communication, and more than half of them feel lonely as a result, says The Work Connectivity Study.

The survey of over 2,000 managers and employees in different countries found out that employees heavily depend on technology tools to communicate with their colleagues:

• email (45%)
• text messaging (15%)
• instant messaging (12%)

The study found some thought-provoking effects of such heavy usage of tech tools on the mental and social well being of workers:

1. The number of friends you have at work influences your engagement, mental well being and loyalty to the company:

• 7% of all employees do not have friends at work, and almost 50% have five or fewer friends;
• 72% of emlpoyees with 5 or less friends say they aren’t engaged;
• 60% of respondents would be more inclined to stay with their company longer if they had more friends. This was especially true for Gen Z (74%) and Millennials (69%)

2. Loneliness and low engagement quite often urge remote workers to quit:

• 5% of remote workers see themselves working at their company for their entire career (vs. 28% who never work remote);
• 2/3 of them say they are not engaged.

3. Men, young generations and introverts have a higher need for work friendships:

• 57% of men and 63% of introverts feel lonely at work (compared to 43% women and 37% of introverts);
• 45% of GenZ and 47% of Millenials feel lonely at work (compared to 36% GenX and 29% of Baby Boomers).

As the research suggests, leaders can support stronger relationship between team members by encouraging connection in-person, as lots of employees lack authentic human connection at their workplace.

Back to Human Office Party

Full results of the research can be found in the new book, Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation, by Dan Schawbel.

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