
Tackling loneliness at work
An international study found one in five employees report feeling lonely at work. Being in the office isn’t the key solution, according to researchers from Canterbury University (UC) and the Institute for Life at Work.
University Associate Professor Sarah Wright and Chief Scientist at the Institute for Life at Work Dr Constance Noonan Hadley surveyed 1000 employees across 20 industries to understand loneliness in the workplace. The research was published in the Harvard Business Review.
The survey included young professionals through to senior managers. Of those surveyed, 42% reported working from the office, 37% hybrid and 21% fully remote. They were divided into three categories, highly lonely (24.9%), moderately lonely (38.3%), and minimally lonely (36.8%) – with the highly lonely group reporting 31% fewer organisation-sponsored social opportunities than the minimally lonely.
Their findings debunked some common myths, and reinforced how far small initiatives can go in reducing loneliness, “Loneliness can’t be resolved solely by returning to in-person work or forming teams. High workloads and toxic organisational cultures hinder relationship-building efforts,” says Sarah.
“We found that things such as communal lunches, happy hours, and informal chit-chat have the highest impact on reducing loneliness.
“We need to therefore prioritise social connection at work,” Constance adds. “We need more slack in our schedules to accommodate human connection. We need more well-designed relationship-building opportunities throughout the year. We need more rewards for the people who put effort into building the kind of cohesive team and organisational cultures that matter.”
Organisations can use loneliness assessment tools such as the Work Loneliness Scale the co-authors developed to understand how their employees feel. Other simple steps include:
• Allowing time to build trust
• Creating a culture of inclusivity
• Kindness and meaningful relationships,
• Having casual check-ins and team lunches