Social Connections Increase Happiness & Success in Business

As humans, we crave contact and connection with other people. Strong social relationships are the best predictor of human happiness, trumping wealth, income and material possessions. Satisfying relationships will not only make people happier, but are also associated with better health and even improved mortality.

The importance of social connections was dramatically displayed during the Coronavirus pandemic. Given that respective governments ordered citizens to maintain social distancing, people worldwide yearned for social interactions, coming up with fun and innovative ways to interact with their fellow human beings. Virtual quizzes and Zoom happy hours became weekly events to connect with loved ones and break the monotony of home working. Heart-warming videos emerged of residents standing on their balconies singing and playing musical instruments for their neighbours while families organized drive-by birthday parties and other celebrations. There was seemingly no end to the creative way that people invented to stay connected to one another.

The Impact of Covid on Workers’ Mental Health and Wellbeing

It may be easy to reflect fondly on the novelty of lockdowns, yet for many people, the toll of the pandemic and the resulting economic recession have negatively impacted their mental health and wellbeing. During the pandemic, 4 in 10 adults across the U.S. experienced symptoms of anxiety or other depressive orders. Another poll taken at the height of the pandemic found that many workers suffered negative symptoms from poor mental health and wellbeing, including:

·? Difficulty sleeping (36%)

·? Difficulty eating (32%)

·? Increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%)

·? Worsening chronic conditions (12%) due to worry and stress over the coronavirus

Two years later, many employees still work from home after their employers implemented remote or hybrid work. While employees appreciate saving time, shedding the stress of commuting, and having more flexibility to balance their work and personal lives, remote work has downsides beyond domestic distractions and blurred work-life boundaries. In particular, the quality, frequency, and nature of interactions change when colleagues are physically remote, and there is less dynamic spontaneous communication.

Collective Effervescence & Happiness

Peak happiness lies in moments of collective effervescence. This term was first coined over a century ago by pioneering sociologist émile Durkheim to describe the ripple effect of positivity and euphoria people feel when they come together around a shared purpose. émile Durkheim’s observations may be over 100 years old, but they have never been timelier than now. While scientists are still unsure how collective effervescence occurs at a physical level, the consensus is that it comes from a state of mutual harmony where people sharing an experience have their very physiology fall into a unified rhythm. This synchrony can be achieved during brainstorming sessions with work colleagues, training practice with teammates, or on the dancefloor with complete strangers. And during the pandemic, it has been largely absent from our lives.

In a purpose-driven work culture, employees have a genuine sense of ownership for their purpose: purpose energizes employees, informs their decisions, and guides their day-to-day behaviour. There has been much research on the correlation between happiness and purpose-driven work culture. The results are resounding: the purpose instils a stronger sense of employee happiness.

A happy employee is more likely to be more energized, creative, and, ultimately, more productive. Their infectious attitude can affect those around them and translate into better work and customer service that, in turn, inspires customer loyalty and brand advocacy. This is not a homoeopathic business remedy. Various studies have demonstrated the correlation between happiness and productivity, one of the more recent by the University of Warwick, in which a team of economists conducted several experiments to test the idea that happy employees work harder. They found happiness made people around 12% more productive.

This raises the question: how to create a purpose-driven work culture, one that strengthens social connections between employees, improving employee happiness, morale, and productivity? As the old saying goes, it starts at the top.

Conscious Leadership Shapes the Work Culture

Culture change comes from substantial and noticeable changes in leadership behavior, starting with fostering high-quality connections (HQCs).

The key to developing a purpose-driven work culture is to build and nurture high-quality connections which contribute to an individual flourishing and overall organizational effectiveness.

People who have HQCs are not only physically healthier but psychologically too, with enhanced psychological resources to respond to challenges as well as greater cognitive functioning, broader thinking, and stronger resilience.

The beauty of high-quality connections is that they do not require significant amounts of time to build because they can be created instantaneously by treating employees with respect and kindness.

Join The Argonauts Community

Our community fosters social connections and collective effervescence by providing an opportunity to interact and grow with other conscious leaders from across the globe.

The core qualities of any purposeful leader and qualities we cherish are awareness, responsibility, and empathy. Sharing the qualities with like-minded individuals helps promote positive impact and change, fostering high-quality connections, building purpose-driven work culture and most importantly, creating a positive work environment for your employees, boosting productivity and happiness.

Join the community of conscious leaders https://community.the-argonauts.com/signup