The Importance of Connection and Personal Relationships in the Workplace
Over the last few years, business leaders have grown increasingly aware of the importance of employee experience as a driver of business performance. One of the most important aspects of the employee experience is the connection that employees feel with the rest of the team, and the personal relationships they build with their colleagues.
In this article, we look into the benefits of connection and personal relationships.
Employee engagement: We explore how connections influence employee engagement, helping people find purpose, meaning, and a sense of belonging within the organisation.
Resilience: We also look at the role of personal relationships in building resilience, enabling teams to navigate challenges and adapt to change with greater ease.
Effective networks: Finally, we examine how these connections contribute to a more effective internal network, allowing better knowledge sharing, collaboration and professional development.
Read on to understand why fostering connection and nurturing personal relationships are key to creating thriving workplaces and unlocking the full potential of individuals and teams.
Employee engagement
The importance of Employee engagement
Plenty has been written about the benefits of having an engaged team. Strong engagement drives better business performance in many ways - for example:
Retention: Employee retention is stronger, driving a stronger culture, a more experienced (and more effective) team, and less time and expense on recruitment, training and so on
Motivation: Employees are motivated to do their best work and to produce more output, as they are fully invested in their tasks and eager to make a difference
Understanding of mission/strategy: The company’s mission, vision and strategy is more likely to be understood and borne in mind by employees, meaning that the work they do and the decisions they make are likely to be aligned with the company and with each other
Client interaction: Engaged employees tend to have better relationships with customers and clients, as their enthusiasm and dedication come through in their interactions
How Connection drives Engagement
Connection is one of the five pillars of employee engagement (along with purpose, growth, recognition & feedback and balance & wellness). When employees feel connected to their colleagues and managers, they are more likely to feel engaged and committed to the organisation.
Resilience
The importance of Resilience
Resilience is a vital attribute that drives business performance and helps ensure long-term success, particularly in challenging situations. Let's explore a few scenarios where resilience plays a critical role:
Everyday frictions: Conflicts and frictions between different functions, such as Sales and Operations, are very common. Resilient teams can navigate these challenges with more open communication, better understanding, and more collaboration. By maintaining strong connections and promoting a culture of resilience, organisations can help bridge functional gaps.
Changes of strategic direction: Every company, eventually, will have to shift strategic direction to stay aligned with market conditions or other factors. Such shifts can be disruptive and may cause uncertainty among employees. Resilient teams adapt quickly to these changes, embracing new strategies, and working together to achieve common goals. By fostering connection and resilience, companies can reduce resistance, ease the adoption of new strategies, and maintain focus on delivering results.
Difficult periods (e.g. layoffs): Every organisation goes through challenging periods. During such times, resilient teams cope better with the emotional impact and persevere through uncertainty. Employees who have built strong connections provide support to their colleagues, foster an environment of empathy and compassion, and help the organisation move forward with resilience. By fostering connections and resilience, companies can mitigate the negativity of difficult situations, maintain employee morale, and enable a smoother transition to the next phase.
How Connection drives Resilience
Connection and strong relationships among employees form the foundation of organisational resilience. Here's how connection contributes to building resilience:
Emotional support: When employees feel connected, they are more likely to provide emotional support to one another during challenging times. This support system helps individuals cope with stress, uncertainty, and setbacks, fostering resilience and maintaining well-being.
Trust and psychological safety: Connection cultivates trust and psychological safety within the workplace. When employees trust and feel safe with their colleagues, they are more willing to take risks, share ideas, and talk openly. This psychological safety improves resilience by creating an environment where individuals can learn from failures, adapt, and bounce back stronger.
Shared purpose: Connection builds a shared sense of purpose among employees. When individuals feel connected to a collective mission, they are more motivated to persevere through difficulties, knowing that their efforts contribute to a greater purpose. This shared purpose fuels resilience and determination in challenging times.
Effective Networks
The Importance of Effective Networks
Organisations benefit when their internal networks are effective. This means not just that employees know each other personally, but also that they understand each other’s roles and departments, how they fit together and interact, and where different skills and expertise can be found within the organisation. Here are a few specific ways that effective networks improve business performance:
Knowledge sharing and learning: Effective networks drive knowledge sharing, enabling individuals to tap into diverse expertise, insights, and experiences. By connecting with colleagues from different departments or disciplines, employees gain access to a wealth of information, fostering continuous learning and professional development and making them more effective in their roles.
Collaboration and innovation: Building strong connections within and outside of one's immediate team or department enhances collaboration and stimulates innovation. Effective networks make it easier to exchange ideas, perspectives, and creative solutions, helping teams to solve more complex challenges
Understanding the organisation: Getting to know colleagues in different departments helps employees build up a picture of the organisation as a whole, what each function does and how the different pieces fit together. This makes it more likely that they will know the right people to go to with a problem or an opportunity, leading to better outcomes.
Career opportunities and professional growth: Networking is a powerful tool for career advancement. Effective networks increase visibility, open doors to new opportunities, help individuals establish their professional reputation, and ensure that the right people are in the right roles within the company.
How Connection helps build Effective Networks
Connection among your team leads to more effective networks in your organisation. Here's how:
Relationship-building: Strong connections foster trust, respect, and rapport among the team, forming the basis for meaningful professional relationships. Getting to know colleagues in professional and social contexts helps establish and strengthen these connections.
Communication channels: Effective networks rely on open and transparent communication channels. Connection enables individuals to speak openly across different hierarchies and functional areas, breaking down silos within the organisation.
Connection and personal relationships are a crucial driver of business performance, because they build employee engagement, organisational resilience and effective internal networks. But building this connection doesn’t just happen, particularly in today’s remote / hybrid world. Business leaders should take action to encourage these connections and relationships. The most effective way to build connection is with regular team socials outside of work, and Gather makes it easy to organise socials that are inclusive, reliable and varied. To learn more, visit gather-app.co/colleagues.