39. Human Connectedness

Introduction

"...human beings are wired to be social. We are driven by deep motivations to stay connected with friends and family. We are naturally curious about what is going on in other people's minds. And our identities are largely formed by the values we call our own..."
enboarder, 2023

Similarly, in the workplace, your identity is greatly influenced by the values you share with your co-workers and leaders; connection with others forms the bedrock of purpose and meaning.

Need to understand the dynamics and quality of relationships and building connections with others in the workplace so that we are able create a sense of community within the organisation; the most meaningful moments in the workplace occur when sharing experiences with others.

Thus the importance of cultivating satisfaction, connections, feeling like you fit in the organisation, growth and positive experiences within your workforce. This is more than salaries, perks, benefits, etc.

One of the top priorities for employees is to find meaningful work as it gives them a sense purpose. This can be linked with other factors such as being your authentic self at work, fair financial rewards, being cared for by colleagues and being heard at work.

Connections can be at different levels, ie

- within teams

- between teams/units/silos, etc

- accross the organisation
(source: enboarder, 2023a)

NB Physical proximity does not guarantee connection.

There are 4 types of connections

- Emotional (what people feel) vs Intellectual (what people need to know, such as ideas, information, etc)

- Forming (with new people and/or ideas) vs Deepening (with 'known' people and/or ideas)

This is used as a quadrant to help you understand where the effort needs to be put into connections.

Five Main Challenges of Human connectedness

i) definitional confusion, ie what is connectedness? There are many definitions and depends upon the situation, eg remote working vs hybrid, etc

ii) unprecedented environment, ie every situation is different and unique (no 2 situations are the same; what works for one situation is no guarantee in a different situation)

iii) overwhelmed/burnt out, ie this can be linked to technology; it can get confusing (for more details, see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base)

iv) social division (much polarisation, ie social and political; less face-to-face, etc)

v) state of the economy (uncertainty, post pandemic, interest rates and inflation rising, geopolitical factors, etc)
(source: enboarder, 2023a)

Some of the reasons employees are feeling disconnected (late 2022)

- different personality types and work styles from co-workers, ie introvert vs extrovert, etc

- unsupportive and/or passive managers, ie not actively engaged with staff

- lack of transparency

- staff 'do their own thing'
(source: enboarder, 2023a)