Over the last three years, I have noticed that it has become a common practice around our society to shift blame away from loneliness and lack of motivation whether from an individual or greater level, on the fact that the world is no longer the same as it once was. This self-serving bias can be attributed to a variety of reasons, including a global pandemic, a worldwide financial crises, rising global political tension, internal social issues such etc. Many organizations are well aware of the lack of motivation and productivity as including employee negative morale absenteeism, and withdrawal from social activities. In fact, organizations are stating “a return of the new normal” to the office including team retreats, departmental 360 degree feedbacks and focus groups. Many are relying on increased social interaction and resuming interpersonal relationships as being the cure-all to the individual experiences of employees. This is done regardless of age, gender, race, religion, and sexuality. However, the real problem of loneliness resides in something much bigger than just a lack of social interaction—it is something that can be just as easily influenced and caused by the work environment itself. This is something that reverberates from employees’ individual doubts and career confusion, and cascades to families and our culture as a society. It is a real phenomenon and yet it is entirely dismissed.
Workplace isolation is what we are referring to here, of course. This is a type of social isolation that occurs specifically in the workplace as a result of factors such as generational gaps, cliquey work environments or company cultures that encourage avoidance, results only and the idea of teams rather than a culture of teams.
It is vital to ask yourself: does your workplace encourage or dismiss interactions or perhaps neither?
Social isolation exists and only continues to thrive if any members of a company allow it. Companies with several teams or divisions that are located in different areas (sometimes across the country or world wide) allow immense physical distance, which if not accounted for in a way that really connects teams and organizes communities to communicate with one another, can stir feelings of isolation, apathy and detachment. Thousands of companies are just now discovering how the working environment can be represented to increase meaningful interactions in the workplace, and boosts productivity, engagement and connected relationships. The future of work means being open for business beyond the wall of the building which employs the human capital. It means truly opening the lines of communication, across levels and locations, business units and divisions to support one another’s projects and goals. Loneliness will only perpetuate if each of us focuses on our work and safety and avoids learning from one another and relying on our collective talent. We all worked physically distant during Covid and the aftermath of Covid. It got us through but left us with a glorified list of mental health issues, divorces, and hospitalization. We had to do what we had to do to survive, but now what got us here, will not get us to prosperity and success; it is time for trust, openness, communication, and clarity.
For employers, putting as much trust into your team as your team puts into you is significant and will greatly serve to bloom each budding relationship. This means promoting interactions between different teams, promoting managers that have a pulse on relationships and not just results and growing accustomed to listening rather than telling. It mean utilizing digital tools that enable your talent to understand their significance in the organization by collaborate with others in creative and non-results oriented ways. It means developing quick and effective forums, hives and town halls where people are not watched but rather join to have fun and get to know each other and unwind. Who pays for it you may ask? Well, you already are. Costs such as rehiring, turnover, workers comp, sick days, and now mental health days are already being paid by you courtesy of the result mentality we have had for decades now, how about turning those numbers to your advantage now instead?
Remember, every day is a new day to be your best.
Email: info@worklifecounseling.com
Website: https://centerforworklifecounseling.com
Phone: (321) 758-5161
