How to Combat Loneliness at Work to Build Retention

Bright Ewuru

As inherently social creatures, connection and belonging are fundamental human needs. We want to feel accepted and integrated into a community. The sense of trust, closeness, and support people enjoy from such a group can enhance emotional well-being.

Ideally, the workplace should be a great hub for connection. However, Gallup’s research shows that one in five employees globally report experiencing loneliness at work. Even worse, 46 percent of employees indicate they’re likely to leave their jobs because of workplace loneliness.

Workplace loneliness can have unfavorable consequences and employers and HR managers must take necessary steps to significantly reduce or eliminate it.

Below we explore the nature of loneliness at work, its causes, and its effects. We also examine how to prevent workplace loneliness and how increasing employee happiness and engagement can improve employee retention.

What is Workplace Loneliness?

Workplace loneliness is the feeling of isolation, disconnection, or disengagement from one’s colleagues at work. It’s an unfortunate divide between the degree of social interaction one needs to get from work and what one actually gets.

Ever the shapeshifter, loneliness at work creeps up in different ways. Employees can experience it if they have no one to share ideas with or confide in at work. If they feel misunderstood, unsupported, or like they don’t fit into the organization, they’ll get a sense of isolation.

Workplace loneliness can also kick in if an employee lacks close trusting work relationships. If they feel like their contributions don’t matter to the organization, they’ll feel equally disconnected from the rest of the team.

Causes of Loneliness at Work

Loneliness at work can be caused by any of the factors below.

Remote and hybrid work: The virtual work setup features tech-driven hyperconnection. However, this can lack authentic human closeness and reduce vital informal interactions. The Gallup study reveals that employees who work exclusively on-site report 16% loneliness while those who work hybrid and fully remote report 21% and 25% loneliness respectively.
Poor organizational culture: If the organization emphasizes competition over collaboration or fails to encourage support and socialization, it can easily breed division among employees. Such division can lead to isolation.
Unhealthy workplace dynamics: Cliques, favoritism, and prejudice can alienate employees from one another.
Role-related causes: New employees, organization leaders, or those working in solitary roles are prone to isolation.
Work-related stress: Pressure from a high workload and extremely close deadlines can rob employees of the time to socialize with their team members.

Effects of Workplace Loneliness

Chronic loneliness at work can have devastating consequences on both the employee and the organization as a whole. Some of these effects include:

Anxiety, depression, and other health challenges
High employee turnover
Low motivation and productivity
Poor organizational performance

5 Practical Ways to Curb Loneliness at Work

1. Be aware

Understanding workplace loneliness and watching out for it can help HR leaders and organization leaders fight it.

The awareness can help you identify the different ways it can present itself. It can also help you spot groups of people particularly vulnerable to isolation. With such information, you can properly monitor loneliness in your workplace.

2. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of your current work arrangement

Your work setup might have certain aspects built in that contribute to workplace loneliness. Remote teams, a lack of cross-departmental collaboration, or closed office layouts are some of them. On the other hand, it might have strengths such as excellent peer support, sufficient social interactions, and collaborative tools.

A thorough assessment of the existing strengths and weaknesses allows you to implement informed strategies to combat isolation in your organization. You can double down on what’s working while fixing any loopholes.

3. Set up your team for mutual reliance

You can foster a sense of connection, shared purpose, and belonging by simply designing your team to be interdependent. The frequent collaboration that it drives ensures that organizational silos are broken down and employees are in constant interaction.

Interdependence makes the team’s success contingent on open communication. This nurtures psychological safety as employees aren’t afraid of voicing their thoughts. It also makes team members feel integral to the success of the organization.

4. Encourage healthy relationships and socialization

The battle against workplace loneliness requires that you directly fan the flames of connection.

Consider creating a support network to which your team members can turn during challenging times. Facilitate casual interactions such as water cooler conversations, celebrate milestones, and create other elaborate opportunities for team bonding.

It’s equally ideal to engage with your team members actively and take a genuine interest in their lives. Modeling such healthy social behavior encourages your employees to replicate it.

5. Train your team on empathy and support

Equipping your team members with the skills to build connections is ideal for combating loneliness at work. It helps them recognize signs of loneliness such as withdrawal and other emotional changes.

Similarly, it removes the stigma around asking for help and normalizes admitting loneliness and vulnerability. This emotional training encourages kindness and fosters inclusion all of which contribute to a healthy workplace culture.

How Increasing Employee Happiness and Engagement Can Combat Loneliness and Boost Employee Retention

Increasing employee happiness and engagement can prove effective in keeping the dreaded workplace loneliness at bay. This can, in turn, enhance employee retention.

Fostering employee happiness and engagement can help build meaningful connections at work. Strong interpersonal relationships at work give employees a sense of belonging and nurture companionship making employees less likely to leave your organization.

Likewise, it gives employees a sense of purpose and alignment by demonstrating how their efforts contribute to the organization’s mission. Driving engagement through employee recognition and development also helps employees feel seen and valued. Such emotional validation erases loneliness at work and enhances employee loyalty.

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