It’s no secret that the key to living a happy, healthy, and long life is to foster a sense of community and quality relationships with friends, family, and loved ones. This approach was described in a recent New York Times piece from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in which he opined on the loneliness epidemic in our nation.
The benefits of having high-quality relationships and a sense of community apply not just to everyday life but also to our workplaces. In fact, the White House just released an advisory stressing the importance of mental health in the workplace, as more than one-third of a person’s life is typically spent working.
Workplace loneliness begins to set in when employees feel there isn’t anyone in the organization who understands their struggles or challenges, and this is true even if they’re physically surrounded by coworkers. These feelings of isolation are actually more common than one might realize. And it’s not just impacting jobs that are more solitary in nature, like truck driving, night security, and overnight factory work.
The Real Cost of Workplace Loneliness
The diminished efficiency and output caused by workplace loneliness can cost organizations a lot of money. According to research by Cigna, this cost can be as high as $154 billion yearly due to lost productivity resulting from absenteeism. In fact, workers suffering from loneliness are twice as likely to miss work due to illness and more than five times as likely to miss work due to stress compared with coworkers who aren’t lonely. Perhaps more importantly, experts say these lonely workers are likely to report burnout and, consequently, leave the organization.
Workplace loneliness can also cause major physical health concerns, with recent studies finding that lonely individuals are at a substantially higher risk of stroke or heart attack. This reality, however tragic, can increase an organization’s insurance costs, which may reduce company profitability.
Who Is Affected by Workplace Loneliness?
For many people, work is a core center of their community. While remote and hybrid work arrangements don’t necessarily directly translate to increased workplace loneliness, there’s certainly the potential they exacerbate it. Pre-pandemic figures estimated that nearly 40% of workers experienced workplace loneliness, and now that number is up to almost 60% for employees with less than 5 years of work experience and 50% for those with 6 to 10 years of experience. The percentage skyrockets as workers, particularly women, climb the corporate ladder. HR professionals need to care about this because lonely workers are at a higher risk for burnout, absenteeism, attrition, and physical health issues.
For remote and hybrid workers, it’s even easier to feel isolated. A majority of employees working from home admit to feeling some of the negative mental health impacts of isolation. While opinions differ on the pros and cons of remote or hybrid work, these working conditions are clearly here to stay, and HR leaders must be mindful of both the risks and the benefits of such arrangements.
How to Reduce Loneliness at Work
HR leaders should have a vested interest in combating workplace loneliness. They can take a step toward “curing” this problem by fostering a workplace culture that encourages deeper, more meaningful connections at every level, as well as between levels (managers and employees). HR leaders should also offer resources that address the factors that often contribute to this problem. Recent data reveals this is particularly true for organizations with younger workers. A Glassdoor Economic Research report found that nearly 30% of workers under age 35 said they would stay at a job if the workplace social life was good, even if they didn’t like the job itself.
Here are a few ways HR professionals can address loneliness in the workplace:
- Assess benefits packages closely. HR managers should be working with HR teams to assess and offer benefits packages that address loneliness both within and outside of the workplace. Reducing employee loneliness holistically through innovative solutions can make a major impact on how your workforce experiences human connection, regardless of their location.
- Encourage connections.HR managers should be regularly setting up time for employees to form deeper connections through meaningful and substantive interactions. This can include formal relationships like mentorships or informal teambuilding interactions in small group settings. Create opportunities for employees to learn more about each other on a personal level and validate each other’s experiences. This is especially important when employees are remote.
- Experiment and find workarounds. Constantly explore new ways to create interactions that go beyond work-only agendas, and include plenty of time for building a culture of connection, whether through events, one-on-one meetings, periodic feedback, or special recognitions. Can’t-miss social gatherings, including those conducted remotely, can be particularly valuable for building goodwill, shared experience, and connectedness in your workplace community.
Cultivating a workplace that addresses the issue of loneliness is now a requirement, not simply a “nice to have.” From issues of absenteeism to retention and physical health, there’s a host of problems associated with letting workplace loneliness continue to mushroom.
It’s up to HR leaders to help organizations get creative when it comes to recognizing and addressing loneliness in concrete ways that will make a difference. After all, the next generation of leaders, from the new college graduate to the new VP of operations, all deserve a workplace culture where human connection is valued and prioritized.
Cindy Jordan is the CEO at Pyx Health.