The advent of remote and hybrid work arrangements has revolutionized the traditional office environment. This shift has brought about numerous advantages, such as increased flexibility and improved work-life balance. However, it has also exposed remote staff to the risk of isolation and the potential loss of social connections with their companies. Although organizations may provide the necessary IT tools to facilitate remote work, the need for social interaction is often overlooked.
This Blog post explores the challenges faced by remote staff in maintaining social connections, the consequences of such lost connections for businesses, and the importance of fostering a sense of belonging in the remote work landscape.
Businesses have generally done a great job in enabling the remote working model
Companies who were faced with a panic situation during the pandemic and had to quickly put remote working facilities in place for their staff had to venture into unknown territory to achieve this in many cases and in the evolution from Remote to Hybrid working many companies have enhanced their IT infrastructure to make this more sustainable. Cloud based computing, SaaS applications, Video Conferencing, Collaboration tools, Shared repositories and enhanced Security are areas where the natural IT evolution has made working from home really viable.
Some Market Data
Kantin Software have undertaken a series of market surveys to further explore the remote working experience where we asked various companies to put a set of statements relating to the Social Connection in the workplace to their staff and ask them to score each statement 1-10 based on their level of total agreement ( 10 ) or total disagreement (1) . As can be seen from this case study example from a company ( which happens to be in the ICT sector ) , the feedback from the participating staff of approx. 100 employees is that overall they can execute their role in this environment quite adequately with the majority of staff scoring this at 6+. The outliers in this case are likely to be roles which might not be possible to do effectively without being in the office.
When we look a little deeper at this sample company we can see that from a Social Connection perspective the staff feedback is that for colleagues with whom they have common “projects” or who happen to be members of the same team or work function, the level of social interaction is also reasonably good with the majority of scores still being 6+ though still not as good as one might expect in an office-based environment.
However it is when you start to look at the level of social engagement between staff who may not be part of the same projects or the same team that you can start to see some interesting feedback. Here we see that the majority of staff are scoring this in the range of 4 to 8 indicating that for many employees this is an area which could be significantly better.
Sense of Isolation of Remote Staff
Remote staff often find themselves physically distanced from their colleagues and supervisors, leading to a lack of spontaneous interactions and face-to-face collaboration. The absence of water cooler conversations, impromptu brainstorming sessions, and casual socializing can create a sense of isolation for remote workers. The isolation may be further exacerbated for those in hybrid work arrangements, who witness their in-office colleagues bonding and connecting on a regular basis. The resulting feeling of being left out or missing important social interactions can negatively impact remote staff's overall job satisfaction and engagement.
Isolation among remote staff can have detrimental effects on both individuals and organizations. From an individual standpoint, a sense of disconnection from colleagues and the company can lead to decreased motivation, increased stress, and a decline in mental well-being. Remote workers may feel alienated, lacking a support network or sense of camaraderie that is often present in a physical office. This isolation may also hinder professional growth, as remote staff may miss out on networking opportunities and access to informal learning. It can often manifest itself in staff a feeling of not “Belonging” to a company as we can see in the chart below which one would expect to score much higher in an office-based environment.
For organizations, the consequences of remote staff isolation are equally concerning. Companies risk losing productivity and innovation when their remote workforce is disengaged. The lack of social connections can impede effective collaboration, teamwork, and knowledge sharing. In the following charts we see the impact of lower social interaction on Collaboration, Innovation, Problem-Solving and Delivering Customer Satisfaction and in each case it is very evident that not enough staff feel strongly enough about these statements to really score highly hence the distribution of scoring ranges from 3 to 8 with the majority being in the middle i.e. around 5 or 6.
It is sometimes difficult to directly associate greater levels of Collaboration, Innovation, Problem-Solving and Delivering Customer Satisfaction with increased social interaction amongst staff but one thing is certain - a happier staff who are familiar and comfortable with their fellow colleagues and within their work environment is much more likely to be a high performing, highly productive staff.
We also asked participating companies to ask their employees to score the “sense of fun” the staff experience within the company. This may be intangible but it is nonetheless an influencing factor in terms of overall employee experience and once again this example below shows a heavy distribution towards the middle and lower range of scoring and a distinct lack of high scores in this instance.
A much more tangible and quantifiable impact of perceived lack of social engagement could be seen through measuring the sense of “Loyalty” to the company. Similar to the sense of “Belonging” this can indeed indicate whether Attrition could become an issue if many staff are not definitively scoring this as very high within the scoring range.
Isolated, remote staff may experience decreased loyalty and commitment to the organization, leading to higher turnover rates and also difficulties in attracting and retaining top talent.
To address the challenges of isolation, organizations must recognize the significance of social interaction and actively promote it within remote work environments.
To address the challenges of isolation, organizations must recognize the significance of social interaction amongst it’s staff and in particular be conscious to actively promote it within remote work environments through innovative communication and employee engagement initiatives which are not seen as “false” or “forced” and which can simulate the work office environment and the clear benefits this brings.
Conclusion
As remote and hybrid work become the new norm, organizations must recognize the potential isolation faced by remote staff. Simply providing IT tools to facilitate remote work is not enough and fostering social connections and a sense of belonging amongst the staff are equally crucial. This is an area where many business have under-estimated the risk but by implementing strategies and introducing solutions to promote regular communication, virtual social activities and support networks, organizations can mitigate the risks associated with staff isolation and ensure that the new working norm is both sustainable and maximizing the benefits for both company and employee. Kantin Software ( https://kantin.software ) is helping to address this issue through a simple audio application aimed at simulating the office canteen where much of the lighter, impromptu social interaction typically takes place. Email hello@kantin.software for more information
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