Employee Connection in 2024: What The Research Says

If you’ve been in the workforce long enough, you’ve likely made a few friends from work. Most people would agree that having friendships at work makes all the difference in their employee experience, and research confirms the tremendous benefit when individuals feel connected to the people they work with.

In Gallup's research study on friendship and employee connections in the workplace, they uncovered that when an employee has a friend at work, they’re significantly more likely to engage customers and partners, get more done in less time, support a safe workplace environment, share ideas and innovations, and have fun while at work.

Given the importance and benefits of meaningful personal connections at work, we set out to understand the state of employee connection in 2023. In this article, we explore the meaning of employee connection, the current reality of employee connection, the benefits when employees feel connected to their colleagues, their work, and the company they work for, and what leaders and organizations can do to foster employee connection.

Jump To:

• What is employee connection?
• The state of employee connection
• The benefits of employee connection
• What can be done to increase employee connection

WHAT IS EMPLOYEE CONNECTION?

Employee connection refers to the relationships employees have with their colleagues, work, and the organization they work for. When employee connection is strong, individuals feel like they belong at work, are included by their peers and leaders, and happily promote the company and its workplace culture.

The State of Employee Connection

Given the events of the last several years, it is no surprise that leaders and the organizations they work for are concerned about employee connection and belonging at work. Here are a few recent employee connection statistics that highlight the state of human connections at work.

• Employee Connection Is On the Rise: 93% of employees feel connected to their coworkers, and over half (56%) feel very connected. In comparison, when employees were surveyed in August 2021, only 83% felt connected to their coworkers, and just 31% felt very connected. - Enboarder, 2022
• The Majority of Employees Have At Least One Friend at Work: 9 in 10 American employees (89.6%) report having at least one good friend at work, with nearly 7 in 10 (68.1%) reporting three or more friends in their workplace. It's essential also to note that 10.4% of American employees say they do not have a single friend at their workplace. - Snappy, 2023

• Employees Don’t Think Their Companies Are Doing Enough: 45% of U.S. workers say employers aren’t investing in employee connection. - Eagle Hill Consulting, 2023
  

The Benefits of Employee Connection

When employees feel connected to each other, their work, the organization, and the company’s culture, it can increase employee satisfaction and engagement, improve the customer experience, reduce turnover, and boost productivity. Here are a few statistics that highlight the positive outcomes of employee connection

Improves Work and Customer Outcomes in the Public and Private Sectors

• All Sectors: Employees say feeling connected to their work improves their ability to do their job (60 percent), day-to-day work quality (58 percent), desire to go above and beyond (55 percent), and ability to serve customers (47 percent). - Eagle Hill Consulting, 2023
• Public Sector: Government employees say feeling connected to their work improves their ability to do their job (57 percent), day-to-day work quality (55 percent), desire to go above and beyond (53 percent), and ability to serve agency customers (46 percent). - Eagle Hill Consulting, 2023

Increases Employee Engagement

• Connected employees were twice as likely to agree that their workplace motivates them to go above and beyond their responsibilities. - Enboarder, 2022
• Conversely, employees who lack a strong sense of belonging are up to 12 times as likely to be disengaged. - Gallup, 2022

Reduces Turnover

• 48% of employees say connection to their work impacts their decision to stay or leave their job. - Eagle Hill Consulting, 2023
• 3 out of 5 employees report they would consider leaving their current position if they didn't feel connected at work. - Blueboard, 2022
• 79% of frontline workers who feel a sense of belonging at work have no plans to look for a new job. - Workday, 2023

What Can Be Done to Increase Employee Connection

The evidence is clear - fostering employee connection to each other and the organization is good for both the individual and the company they work for. According to recent research, here are a few things you might consider doing if your goal is to increase employee connection in the workplace.

1. Develop Strong Leaders

• The top factor contributing to disconnectedness among employees was an unsupportive or passive manager (29%) - Enboarder, 2022

• Very disconnected employees were twice as likely to say it's because their manager doesn't provide much support and/or invest in their professional development. - Enboarder, 2022 
• Conversely, a supportive manager can improve a frontline worker's likelihood of retention by 300%. - Workday, 2023
  
  

2. Provide Meaningful Recognition

• When employees are recognized at work, they are up to 10 times as likely to strongly agree that they belong at their organization. - Gallup, 2022
• Employees with high-quality recognition experiences are up to seven times as likely to strongly agree that they have meaningful connections or a best friend at work and as much as ten times as likely to strongly agree that they belong. - Workhuman, 2022

3. Be Intentional About Connecting With Remote Employees 

• 51% of respondents say they miss spontaneous conversations with coworkers, and 47% have felt isolated from their coworkers since people started working remotely on a more regular basis. Gen Z is feeling the lack of connection more acutely than overall workers, with 56% feeling isolated. - Wisq, 2022
• Employees across all work situations selected team meetings and 1:1s with managers as two of the three top activities that help them feel connected in the workplace, while virtual bonding events ranked in the lowest two activities for all groups.   - Enboarder, 2022
• 73% of employees say they need a better reason to go into the office besides company expectations — but they would be motivated to go in if they could socialize with co-workers (84%) or rebuild team bonds (85%). - Microsoft, 2022