Why business leaders can’t ignore loneliness in the workplace

Employee loneliness isn’t just a wellbeing risk; it’s a significant business risk for organisations, writes Neal Woolrich.

The effects of loneliness don’t just permeate an individual’s personal life, it can also negatively impact their work life. In fact, when employees lack camaraderie or a sense of belonging at work, their performance declines.

Organisations have taken early steps to mitigate loneliness by targeting interactions within the workplace and beyond, such as mandating employees to return to the office to boost collaboration and connection. However, proximity alone isn’t a cure for employee loneliness as it ignores the root causes of the issue.

Moving forward, HR leaders need to address loneliness in the workforce by improving in-role connectedness to boost productivity, as well as supporting out-of-work connectedness to meet employee wellbeing needs.

According to a Gartner survey of 855 Australian employees, collected between January and March 2025, 55.2 per cent believe their organisation helps foster positive relationships with co-workers and 39.2 per cent with managers. In addition, employees believe their organisation helps them strengthen their family (24.8 per cent) and community (26.1 per cent) connections outside of work, which makes them feel understood.

Improve in-role connectedness

Employees need to have autonomy when it comes to building personal connections, as well as guidance from HR on how to make the most of their interactions. That requires HR leaders to foster guided interactions that engender interpersonal cohesiveness and naturalise sharing behaviour, establishing a new, more human-centred set of collaboration norms.

There are three simple actions HR leaders can take to achieve this:

1. Empower employees to personalise connection building

Give employees ownership of building their connections with one another. This promotes personalisation of how they strengthen these relationships, which encourages them to make connections according to their own needs or preferences.

HR leaders can help employees fortify these peer connections over time with communications leaders. In turn, they can grow employees’ connection with the organisation’s culture and community through socialisation.

2. Encourage employees to be intentional about their collaboration needs

Gartner research found satisfaction with collaboration significantly impacts employee performance. Not all collaboration supports connectedness or productivity. Intentionality helps employees think carefully and understand which mode of collaboration best suits the nature of their work and their individual preferences.

Through guided collaboration – actively reshaping the needs and norms of how individuals interact – HR leaders can equip teams to have intentionality and reciprocity when collaborating. Gartner research found organisations practising guided collaboration achieve profit goals 10 per cent more often than those that don’t.

3. Support affinity groups that connect employees and encourage breaks

HR leaders should foster connections between employees beyond work-related tasks. Affinity groups, akin to employee resource groups, connect employees based on common interests that align with the company’s business model and values. Imagine a surfboard company offering time off for employees to surf together. These benefits can boost engagement and lead to a more motivated workforce.

Support connection outside of work

Employees who feel their employer supports their lives outside the office are more motivated to perform in the workplace.

There are several ways HR leaders can support employee connection outside of work:

1. Offer employees “volunteer time off” (VTO)

VTO policies grant employees paid leave for volunteering activities. Some corporations allow staff to take a set number of hours each week; others grant up to a week of leave. VTO initiatives can enhance employee engagement, build connections with local communities and showcase corporate social responsibility.

2. Provide interpersonal, out-of-work connection perks

Some progressive organisations offer enhanced support to help employees find and make meaningful personal connections outside of work. This includes things like offsetting fees for bike passes to encourage wellbeing in connected social settings. These out-of-office perks also provide talent attraction and retention benefits.

3. Make it easier to take a break with global recharge days

With many employees either not taking holiday leave or working while on vacation, some organisations encourage employees to use their holiday leave jointly to disconnect from work. If most, if not all, employees take holidays at the same time, they can all fully disconnect from work and recharge.

Many factors have contributed to the epidemic of loneliness in the workplace, and these feelings of isolation have real business implications for organisations that don’t address them.

With CEOs hyper-focused on growth in 2025 and seeing employee productivity as key to achieving it, HR has an important role to play in removing any productivity barriers, including hidden ones like loneliness. By treating loneliness both in and outside of the workplace, organisations reap the benefits of a healthier, more productive and engaged workforce.

Neal Woolrich is the director of advisory in Gartner’s HR practice.