What Employers Get Wrong About How People Connect at Work
Connection in the workplace is commonly thought of as a single dimension that prioritizes interpersonal relationships with co-workers. However, in a recent research collaboration, the research team at the NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI), along with technology firm Akamai, identified that connection in the workplace is, in fact, made up of four interrelated and essential elements: employee connections with their colleagues, leader, employer, and role. This more accurate and nuanced view of workplace connections has implications for how organizations can design intentional talent strategies to create workplaces where employees are committed, engaged, and performing.
These days, many workers are experiencing strained or fractured relationships between themselves and their work, their coworkers, their leaders, and their employers. This is evidenced by quiet quitting, the Great Resignation, and the broken contract between employers and employees.
The rationale is that when employees are connected with each other, that connection drives greater innovation, collaboration, and engagement. Although it’s true that strong social connections can lead to these outcomes, return-to-office policies are not always having the intended results.
In actuality, we’re seeing that productivity can drop when people are forced back, and many employees continue to reject the return to office, sometimes resulting in organizations losing their most tenured employees.
An exploration of existing research suggests that critical evidence is missing from the connections-at-work conversation, and this shortfall is leading organizations and leaders astray.
Four Kinds of Workplace Connection
Connection in the workplace is commonly thought of as a single dimension that prioritizes interpersonal relationships with co-workers. Indeed, research shows social connection is extremely important. However, in a recent interorganizational research collaboration, the research team at the NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI), along with technology firm Akamai, identified that connection in the workplace is, in fact, made up of four interrelated and essential elements: employee connections with their colleagues, leader, employer, and role (CLEAR).
Above and beyond the return-to-office debate, this more accurate and nuanced view of workplace connections has implications for how organizations can design intentional talent strategies to create workplaces where employees are committed, engaged, and performing. Thinking about CLEAR connections is a step in the right direction to stop fracturing and start healing in some organizations, or to maintain and amplify what is already going well in others.
The Nature of CLEAR Connections
Akamai and NLI have been gathering and analyzing data to test and refine this framework using a combination of questionnaires and employee data. Early results suggest that different employees have unique needs surrounding each type of connection. One employee might deeply value leader connection, spending a lot of time one-on-one with their manager, not collaborating much with their peers, and barely thinking about their organization’s mission. Their focus might be on building a strong partnership with their leader and working together to explore advancement opportunities.
Motivating this person requires a different path than the path for another employee who most highly values colleague connection.
Our connection preferences can also wax and wane depending on what’s going on in our lives. For example, an employee who previously had a strong preference for colleague connection might get married, take up an all-encompassing hobby, or experience some other life event that materially alters their desire for partnership at work. While the basic elements in each of the pillars are largely universal — meaning that most employees expect the minimum requirements of working with helpful peers and leaders, being respected in their jobs, and working for a reputable company — the degree to which they want and expect more will vary.
Our connection preferences can also wax and wane depending on what’s going on in our lives. For example, an employee who previously had a strong preference for colleague connection might get married, take up an all-encompassing hobby, or experience some other life event that materially alters their desire for partnership at work. While the basic elements in each of the pillars are largely universal — meaning that most employees expect the minimum requirements of working with helpful peers and leaders, being respected in their jobs, and working for a reputable company — the degree to which they want and expect more will vary.
Communication — the human connection — is the key to personal and career success.
CLEAR Connections and the Return to Office
Through the lens of CLEAR connections, let’s analyze what may be happening when employers issue return-to-office mandates. Colleague connection may increase, because employees are milling about the same office and benefitting from random and serendipitous interactions. But at the same time, leader connection might decrease, because employees feel their supervisors don’t understand their motivations or don’t care about the impact of the return-to-office mandate on their autonomy and their lives. Employer connections can also take a dive as the desire to work hard to see the company succeed is undermined by a feeling of betrayal. And without clear and unambiguous links to why employees need to be back in the office, role connection can be negatively impacted, as people believe they’re being evaluated based on their attendance more than on their performance.
Focusing on only one pillar of the CLEAR connections model, therefore, is clearly detrimental. When leaders are making a return-to-office decision, they should keep in mind that there will never be a single policy that’s fair for everyone. Instead, leaders may rely on the idea of the patchwork principle and strive for a portfolio of policies that incorporate all four pillars of connection.
At this moment in work, when employers and employees are contending with lagging engagement, rapid and constant change, and a general lack of trust, getting workplace connections right is a business imperative. As such, it’s crucial that business leaders move beyond a one-dimensional view, and get clear on what workplace connections really are and how to leverage them to create the best outcomes for their employees and business. Having a conceptual framework for the type of workplace connections employees value is a step in the right direction toward better motivation strategies, as well as better decision-making about work practices overall.
At this moment in work, when employers and employees are contending with lagging engagement, rapid and constant change, and a general lack of trust, getting workplace connections right is a business imperative. As such, it’s crucial that business leaders move beyond a one-dimensional view, and get clear on what workplace connections really are and how to leverage them to create the best outcomes for their employees and business. Having a conceptual framework for the type of workplace connections employees value is a step in the right direction toward better motivation strategies, as well as better decision-making about work practices overall.
MBA, MS, is the author of The Performance Culture, a roadmap to creating thriving workplace cultures. He is the vice president of inclusion, diversity, and engagement at Akamai Technologies, where his team supports employee-centered programs and processes.
Cofounder of the NeuroLeadership Institute and author of Your Brain at Work.
PhD, MPH, is the director of research design at the NeuroLeadership Institute. She helps clients achieve goals through intentional design and targeted measurement. Brigid’s background in community psychology and public health helps her create collaborative relationships and positively impact the workplace, a defining environment in our lives.