The Power of Social Connection in the Workplace

With Kieran McCann, Senior Designer

February 2026

When was the last time you had a genuine, tension-breaking, laugh at work?

If you’ve been lucky enough to have had a chuckle with colleagues recently, there will have been more benefits than meet the eye, for you and your organisation.

Tight-knit, trusted communities are better able to form, and build upon, innovative ideas, particularly when co-workers are seen as teammates, rather than work colleagues.

Workplaces create the perfect opportunity to interact with others through formal, or informal, meetings, shared workspaces and breaks, walking meetings, lunches, commuting and traveling together. 

When co-workers can’t interact, possibly due to the size of an organisation, the small cog/big machine mentality can prevail and the productivity metrics serve to drive process, rather than connection, meaning beneficial group dynamics are lost.

The Human Side of Work

A strong workplace culture results from a sense of trust and belonging and social activities can create or strengthen this. They are more than just fun ‘extras’.

After work socials may be where we download our day, take a breather, potentially learn that others are experiencing similar issues to us and what their strategies are to deal with these situations.  This natural bringing together of people, through shared experience, helps to bring about belonging - imposter syndrome may fade!

More formal team away days can provide an arena for pushing people to try their hand at events or activities they might not otherwise, through opportunities for togetherness and support.

Creating opportunities for these connections is invaluable.

Performance, Productivity and Innovation

A prominent study by Teresa Amabile, and her colleagues at Harvard, looked at social and environmental factors affecting creativity in organisations.

They found that successful, highly creative projects shared the following traits:

• Teams who welcomed new ideas with support and trust
• Clear communication and valued individual contributions
• Free flow of ideas within the organisation

So, could investment in the promotion of social connection boost innovation and creativity?

When trust is high, ideas flow and communication and collaboration are improved.  This leads to faster problem-solving, innovation and shared information, meaning better teamwork, smoother projects and happier employees.

When communication is poor it can introduce stress, information is lost and projects can derail.  Reputation has the potential to be damaged.

Collaborative teams are an organisation’s superpower. The level of connection employees experience can also have a ripple effect, compounding the impact on their teams. Research shows that quality workplace relationships help predict whether teams can navigate through uncertainty and change with vigour, and embrace new ways of thinking and diverse perspectives. (BetterUp’s The Connection Crisis, 2022)

Take, for example, a charity event or away day. When you’re pushing yourself from your comfort zone, your teammates can make all the difference and can work together to help you succeed.  Without their support, the same situation could be tortuous with no possibility of a win, or the bragging rights back in the office!

When this psychological safety exists, individuals are more likely to take calculated risks, increasing performance. It creates an inclusive environment and allows for innovation, without fear of marginalisation or embarrassment.

Connection as a Safety Net

According to the Mayo Clinic, ‘Adults with strong social support have a reduced risk of many significant health problems including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy BMI’.

It’s also noted that research found older adults with a rich social life and quality relationships are likely to live a longer life than those with fewer social connections.  This is important for organisations, because healthy employees tend to have higher levels of work performance, take less sick days and bring more energy to the workplace.

If things go wrong at work, nothing’s worse than having to navigate an office full of strangers but, with connections, empathy and support comes into play relieving stress for the individual and the business.  Separating work from home also ensures that stress is parked well away from places associated with rest and relaxation.

A simple team lunch can serve as a bonding opportunity but, when common interests and connections are found, can be a complete tonic, particularly at times when work is serving up challenges and deadlines. 

Laughing de-stresses us and might not always be accessible during the working-from-home day.  We are lucky in that It would be an unusual day if there was no laughter in our office…

Cultivating social connections doesn’t mean everyone has to get on all of the time, it’s about fostering an environment which supports mutual respect, trust and belonging.  And, as individuals have an intrinsic need to form social relationships, they tend to be more satisfied with their jobs and can navigate workplace stress more effectively when connected and supported.

Positive interpersonal interactions lead to a stronger sense of belonging whilst negative experiences (being excluded or competing with colleagues) can lower this.

If this is supported by the organization, this makes people feel valued, recognised, rewarded and wanting to contribute more - whether it’s a breakfast roll on a Friday or an away day!

Outside of the workplace, mixer events, inter-organisational project team get-togethers can take place in less formal environments, breeding friendships.  People can loosen up and, consequently, get on better in a project setting as those interactions are then evidently non-personal.  This provides the best outcomes for clients with a positive, professional, familiar and enjoyable experience resulting, ultimately, in repeat business and advocacy from satisfied customers.

Organisations who facilitate volunteering days for their people encourage loyalty, empathy and understanding, at the same time as bringing important benefits to their chosen charities.  Shared experiences can also influence collaboration and psychological safety by promoting new ways of thinking and building trust.

Belonging as a Strategy

Organisations who prioritise human connections, not as an afterthought or tick box, but as a core strategy, will be employers of choice in the future.  They will be places where people want to come to work, through a sense of being valued and belonging together, rather than just working together.  Teams are created and moulded over time which means people are aware of the value they contribute as individuals.

[Insights Report, 2022 BetterUp]

As professor and author Brene Brown noted, ‘Fitting in is about becoming who you need to be to be accepted.  Belonging, on the other hand, doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are’.

A sense of connection to our colleagues can also keep us focused and working towards shared goals.  These mutual aspirations and sense of shared purpose aid in an area many organisations continue to struggle with: talent attraction and retention.

[Combined Glassdoor and BetterUp insights data]

Larger organizations will naturally form smaller sub-teams of connected communities but, whatever the size, a tight, socially connected group transcends age, gender and background.

Research conducted by BetterUp shared in The Value of Belonging at Work: New Frontiers for Inclusion in 2021 and Beyond, found that:

• Employees with high workplace belonging are five times more likely to stay with their company long-term
• High belonging leads to 56% better job performance and cuts turnover risk by half
• Employees with strong work friendships show twice the engagement, leading to better communication, challenge each other in healthy ways and solve problems more effectively

Evidence shows that belonging isn't just a workplace nicety, but a biological necessity. Building workplaces where people feel truly connected reduces stress, improves health outcomes, and drives business success simultaneously. The cycle creates environments where people grow personally at the same time as contributing meaningfully to shared goals.

What Next?

The next generation of employees is tending to select out employers who reflect their values.

From a learning perspective, they will join companies whose work inspires, and who allow teams into the office to glean information from others. 

Team culture has been propelled into the limelight since the loneliness of Pandemic separation and its associated health and happiness consequences.  A workplace belonging revolution has started and forward-thinking organizations see connection as their competitive advantage to attract and retain talent.

But building a culture of belonging needs intention and consistency.  The return on investment being that healthier, happier employees bring their full selves to work each day.

Creating opportunities for spontaneous interactions can be extremely valuable, as it allows us to share, learn and grow with others without the formal context.  Notably, BetterUp’s research has demonstrated that remote workers are 71% less likely to have these interactions.

Can we design workplaces where relationships thrive as much as results? 

Workspaces will support collaboration where multifunctional areas are used for work and play, encouraging users to gravitate to a central point of need, such as tea points or cafés.

Office design should create a choice of work settings but also opportunities for chance encounters.

Modern communal spaces have already replaced sterile break rooms to become the heartbeat of offices, where ideas exchange and relationships form, but organisations need designated areas for collaboration, socialisation and quiet reflection.

It can be difficult for employees to socialise if they don’t have an area in which they feel comfortable doing so. Creating a social area will provide a space where people can decompress without distracting colleagues.

Numerous studies have highlighted the significant benefits of good office design - a study by the Design Council found that strategic office design can lead to a 20% increase in employee productivity.

If we stop seeing social activities as distractions, we can make them engrained practice - these aren’t one-offs.  An hour or two of dedicated pockets of social time become good breather moments, download opportunities, with benefits for individuals and organisations. 

As AI and remote working continue, the human side of work – laughter, empathy, shared values – will be showcased in great companies who are the digitally enabled, but human-centric, employers of the future.