Why improving human connection can boost productivity

Connecting with staff can not only make them feel valued, but also improve overall business efficiency. This idea was discussed on 13 December on HR Leader’s “Attracting and retaining talent in 2023” webcast in partnership with Lotus People and Enboarder.

Adam Faludi, head of customer success Asia-Pacific at Enboarder; Iona Colville, divisional manager of HR and talent for Lotus People; and Andrea Kirby, director for Talent Table, joined the event and gave their expertise on the benefits of connecting with your workforce.

Mr Faludi commented: “Creating human connections is the most important thing any organisation can do to keep engaged employees.”

He continued: “[In a study] one of the things that we found … is that if you engaged in more human connections within your organisation … you're 5.4 times more likely to create an agile employee. And what that means is being able to work within ambiguity and change.”

Mr Faludi says that with the uncertainty of the current workforce (as witnessed by the pandemic, the great resignation, talent shortages and quiet quitting), having agile employees is key to navigating turbulent periods.

“The storm that’s coming through or potential recession that could happen … we want to make sure that we’ve got employees that are agile to keep up with that change as well,” Mr Faludi said.

Satisfied employees can have an impact on customers. Mr Faludi says that by fostering good connections, staff are more likely to project those positive feelings onto others.

“We also found that by focusing in on human connection, you’re 3.2 times more likely to have satisfied customers. We know that if you have engaged employees … or employees that are happy and focused on the goal of being able to have a great experience for themselves, they also have a fantastic experience for customers as well,” he explained.

Engagement is what Mr Faludi says is the most crucial takeaway from human connection: “The most important part is that we found that investing in these human connections … you’re 2.3 times more likely to have engaged employees as well.”

Mr Faludi said: “To say that just by doing one little thing to be able to increase the likelihood of having engaged employees, that’s music to my ears. I guess from that study we found … human connection is the most important.”

External recruiters can also play an important role in human connection. Employers may benefit by utilising their recruiters to help build relationships with candidates.

“There’s a huge difference between signing a contract and actually starting a role,” said Ms Colville.

“The way that external recruiters can come in and help deal with this is you’re handing over the communication, that human contact, that we can be there for them every step of the way and we can help manage that onboarding process.”

Ms Colville added: “It’s within everyone’s best interest to make sure that everyone’s happy at the end of the day.”

The transcript of this webinar, when quoted above, was slightly edited for publishing purposes. The full audio conversation and the original webinar can be found here.