For decades, we’ve been living lonelier, more isolated lives. As our social connectedness has decreased, so has our happiness and mental health. And with more aspects of our lives becoming digital, it has reduced our opportunities for everyday social interaction. The nature of our work, in particular, has shifted.
Rekindling a Sense of Community at Work
A recent survey found that employees’ sense of community declined 37% during the pandemic. Here’s how to rebuild it.
August 26, 2022
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Summary.
During the pandemic, many of us became more isolated than before. Community, which the authors define as a group of individuals who share a mutual concern for one another’s welfare, has proven challenging to cultivate, especially for those working virtually. To learn more, they conducted a survey with the Conference for Women in which they asked nearly 1,500 participants about their sense of community at work before and since the pandemic and found it has declined 37%. When people had a sense of community at work, they found that they were 58% more likely to thrive at work, 55% more engaged, and 66% more likely to stay with their organization. They experienced significantly less stress and were far more likely to thrive outside of work, too. People can create community in many ways, and preferences may differ depending on their backgrounds and interests. The authors present several ways companies have successfully built a sense of community at work that leaders can consider emulating at their own organizations.