There are a couple of recent studies that show some alarming data regarding employees feeling siloed at work.
In a traditional office setting, onboarding is often done partially in a group setting. Grouping new employees together helps them form relationships. Outside of onboarding, we make work friends in many different ways. Maybe we run into a coworker at the local coffee shop and get a chance to chat more than in the office. Perhaps we run into someone coming or going to the bathroom, the break room or the elevators. There are SO many random ways that we find our work friends.
Since the pandemic and the rise of virtual and hybrid working environments, the sense of community has sharply declined. One study analyzed 61,182 Microsoft employees over the course of six months to determine the true effects of firm-wide remote working. That study found “that firm-wide remote work caused the collaboration network of workers to become more static and siloed, with fewer bridges between disparate parts. Furthermore, there was a decrease in synchronous communication and an increase in asynchronous communication. Together, these effects may make it harder for employees to acquire and share new information across the network.”
Another study analyzed more than 1,300 employees at companies across the US and Europe and found that “the average new hire is currently building a network within their company about half (50%) of the size of those with longer tenure – a figure that’s significantly less than before.” They also found a 16% decrease in onboarding effectiveness. These factors combined are causing employees to feel siloed from the very beginning.
Don’t worry! We can help your team to not feel siloed!
Here are some suggestions for how to help your employees not feel siloed.
♦ Build time into virtual meetings for small talk.
– Use five to ten minutes before or after the meeting for non-work talk.
– Encourage employees to share how their weekend went or what their plans are for the week ahead.
~ When one of us goes on vacation at Teamraderie we always share pictures or updates on how our trip was.
– Just five to ten minutes can help build connections drastically.
♦ Schedule new employees together.
– It’s common to schedule one-on-one sessions for new employees and coworkers that they may be working closely. If you are onboarding more than one new employee, consider having some or all new employees do these informational sessions together.
♦ Encourage employees to spend time together outside of work.
– If everyone on the team works virtually but you live in the same city as a coworker, try occasionally working together from a coffee shop.
♦ Onboarding a new employee is the optimal point to do a Teamraderie experience. This will help the new employees learn more about their coworkers in a casual setting. It’s also a great way to refresh a team’s knowledge of each other. Try our Snack Break Experience to Refresh Your Team.
Teamraderie Experiences can be explored and booked online via Teamraderie experience finder. If you are seeking a personalized recommendation, reach out to us at team@teamraderie.com.
