Foster a caring and productive workplace.
Demonstrating you care builds trust and gives an employee a sense of belonging, both of which have been shown to increase job performance.
The following actions and reference tools are provided from resource libraries available to UO supervisors and employees such as LinkedIn Learning and Gallup.
Back to topFeatured Action & Tools: Connection at Work
The best managers recognize that people want to build meaningful friendships and that loyalty and satisfaction are built on such relationships.
What we know:
- Employee disconnection is one of the main drivers of voluntary turnover.
- Employees who experience high levels of belonging have a drop in turnover risk, an increase in job performance, a reduction in sick days, and an increase in job satisfaction.
- Employees who have a workplace ‘best friend’ are seven times more engaged.
What You Can Do
The best managers encourage friendships in the workplace by creating the conditions under which such friendships and relationships can thrive.
- Know the characteristics of a connected team:
- Trust -- Confidence in one another’s reliability and dependability.
- Teamwork -- Appreciation of one another’s talents and strengths; can tackle challenges together.
- Emotional Loyalty -- Loyalty to the team is passionate, expressive, and deep-seated.
- Routinely ask yourself:
- Do my employees trust one another and me?
- Does my team work well together?
- How am I building friendships at work?
- How do I create more opportunities to foster friendships?
- Create space for connection between and among team members
- Use the first 10 minutes at the start of a unit/department meeting for social interaction.
- Ask team members to share what they are working on and encourage questions.
- Utilize team building and icebreaker activities.
- Leading Effective Teams: Engaging and Motivating Employees
Reference Tools
Note: Many articles and studies in recent years have taken a closer look at connection in the workplace, especially with the growing number of remote and hybrid workers. The strategies and insights are applicable regardless of work modality.
- How to Collaborate with Your Colleagues to Build Psychological Safety Together New
[LinkedIn Learning course, 25m] - How to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety New [Gallup article, login required]
- Identify and Actualize Your Team Values to Increase Trust and Engagement New
[Academic Impressions course, login required] - Facilitating Safe, Authentic Communication as a Leader New [LinkedIn Learning course, 48m]
- 5 Easy Ways to Create Stronger Workplace Connection [article]
- Creating an Environment That Promotes Interaction and Develops Relationships [Gallup resource]
- The 5-Day Creativity Challenge from The New York Times New [article]
- Engaging in Empathy: Balance the Emotional Demands New
[Academic Impressions course, login required]
Additional Recommendations and References
Recommended Actions
- Take steps to create an environment where team members feel valued, respected, and cared about.
- My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person
[Gallup resource, login required] - Leading effective teams: building an inclusive workgroup culture
[LinkedIn Learning collection]
- My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person
- Support wellness and well-being.
- 10 ways leaders can improve engagement and wellbeing [Gallup, login required]
- Direct team members to the well-being resources available Human Resources
- Consider the needs of fully in-person, fully-remote, and hybrid team members
- Hybrid Workplace Strategies for Leaders and Managers
[Gallup resource, login required]
- Hybrid Workplace Strategies for Leaders and Managers
Reference Tools
- Leading with Emotional Intelligence New [LinkedIn Learning course, 1h 15m]
- The Manager's Role in Employee Well-Being New [Gallup article, login required]
- My organization cares about my overall wellbeing New [Gallup Training module, login required]
- Leading Effective Teams: Building an Inclusive Workgroup Culture [LinkedIn Learning collection]
- How Managers Create a Culture of Belonging [LinkedIn Learning course, 57m]
- Building Trust with Colleagues in the Workplace [LinkedIn Learning path]
- I know what is expected of me at work
[Gallup resource] - At work, my opinions seem to count
[Gallup resource] - How managers can prevent team burnout [LinkedIn Learning course, 50m]
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