#LonelinessInTheWorkplace #loneliness #workplaces #SolitaryJobs
Some people are lonely at work.
So what? Who cares?
Well, loneliness has a cost to employers, according to an article by Danielle Paquette for the Washington Post. It was also published March 31, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“According to researchers who study the issue, the economic damage caused when employees suffer feelings of isolation could soon worsen as offices become increasingly automated and more people work remotely,” Paquette writes.
“Employers who tackle the issue now – rather than brush it off as a personal matter – will save money in (the) future,” Paquette quotes Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, a psychiatrist and chief innovation officer for BetterUp, a workplace consulting firm in San Francisco.
According to the article, Kellerman’s team crunched data from a survey of about 1,600workers across the country to better understand the risk by profession. The results, published in the Harvard Business Review, alarmed Kellerman: “Sixty-one percent of the lawyers in her sample ranked ‘above average’ on the loneliness scale from UCLA,” Paquette quotes Kellerman.
“Generally, the happiest – and most productive – workers feel like valued team members,” Paquette quotes Kellerman.
So, are you feeling lonely at work? Do you often – or always – work by yourself? Do you get to talk to anyone during your work time? Does your employer ONLY care about what you do, rather than who you are?
What if someone could show you a way to make money that would essentially REQUIRE you to interact with people. What if someone could show you a way that could not just potentially put extra money in your pocket, but also potentially exceed your current income? And, what if someone could show you a system in which advancement depended on how many people you helped succeed? To learn about such a vehicle, message me.
The article quotes a Gallup poll that found 42 percent of working Americans said they did some of their job remotely, a four-percentage-point jump from 2012. It also quotes a recent study from the global consultancy firm McKinsey, which predicted that demand for office workers in the U.S. will drop by 20 percent over the next decade because of technological advances. That could mean smaller or more siloed teams, it said.
So if loneliness at work has a grip on you, get a grip. Look for a situation that will allow you more interpersonal interaction. Oh sure, dealing with people can be a pain. But, as the article says, the alternative not only takes a toll on workers, but is costly to employers in terms of productivity.
The proverbial water cooler, cafeteria or other workplace gathering spots may be going out of favor. Try making it a point of sticking your head into someone’s workplace every day, just to see whether they are receptive to people.
Who knows? Maybe you can find people with common interests that you never knew had the same interests as you. Perhaps you can become friends and socialize outside of work, if it’s not possible to socialize at work.
If you are an employer, you might look at ways to conduct team-building exercises, personal growth seminars etc., for the folks that have solitary jobs. You may get a lot more productivity from them by doing that.
Peter