Prioritising employee connections in a hybrid world

Organisations with greater employee connection can expect greater organisational flexibility, higher customer satisfaction and stronger employee engagement – yet recent challenges threaten to undermine connection as an organisational priority.

Employee connection is one of the most talked about organisational priorities of the day. In an era of remote work and rising mental health pressures, it’s no wonder that leaders are looking for guidance in the area.

In a recent survey, Enboarder found that organisations with greater connections between employees are, on average:

• 5.4 times more likely to be agile.
• 3.2 times more likely to have satisfied customers.
• 2.3 times more likely to have engaged employees.

According to Enboarder, there are two major kinds of employee connections: intellectual and emotional. From an organisational point of view, managers should know that a balance between the two kinds of connection needs to be struck.

For instance, strictly emotional bonds might fail to deliver on operational objectives since work is put to the side. Conversely, colleagues might be reticent to push back or contribute evenly if their emotional needs are being overlooked in a strictly intellectual connection.

The study also identified five key challenges often faced by business leaders in trying to build stronger connections between employees, namely:

1. Definitional confusion

Knowing what “connection” really means in a hybrid context is an ongoing challenge. Often, connections are formed unintentionally through incidental socialising in the office. From a distance, however, there are fewer occasions for serendipity.

2. Unprecedented environment

Building on the previous point, leaders have been scrambling to innovate to solve the connection crisis in the absence of instructive data. As noted by Enboarder: “No organisation can bring everyone face to face again and expect connection to return to the way it was three years ago. You’re in uncharted waters.”

3. Overwhelm and burnout

Employment lawyer Michael Byrnes told HR Leader that social skills require constant upkeep. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, employee social skills have been somewhat blunted.

“People are a little bit out of practice,” said Mr Byrnes. “They’ve lost some of that polish and diplomacy, as well as that ability to read social cues and to know, innately, where the line is appropriately drawn. This was second nature when we were having day-to-day interactions through face-to-face connection.”

Efforts to build stronger connections between employees could be hampered by these new social challenges. As noted by Enboarder, these challenges are only more pronounced against a backdrop of heightened employee burnout and overwhelm.

4. Social division

“Some of our society’s social and political divisions are percolating into organisations,” said Enboarder. “[This is] potentially making it harder for employees to connect in all the ways they need to.”

Indeed, business leaders are scrambling to minimise fallout in a particularly fraught time of global conflicts and fractured politics. As noted in a recent HR Leader article, recent controversial topics like the Voice to Parliament referendum and the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict have been stressing managers.

5. The economy

In times of financial downturn, matters like social connection risk being overlooked. As noted by Enboarder, short-term security and cost-cutting measures tend to take priority over other interests with less obvious financial returns.