Social Capital

Social capital is the name given to those informal interactions we used to have more of in the days of going to the office every day.  The ‘how was your weekend’ and ‘how did that date go? ‘chats and connections.

We are having more meetings than ever, but employees report more isolation and less connection.

We can point the finger at a number of causes such as hybrid and remote working, new teams with less interaction, friends and teammates having changed roles and companies.

Productivity and innovation are two victims of this phenomenon, but I think connection, belonging and feeling valued are far greater costs to the business, the people and the culture.

It won’t happen in official meetings.  Non-work chats, helping others build their networks and manage challenges, sharing workload to relieve stress all build the social capital we all need to feel like we belong.

Quiet quitting won’t endear you to anyone else in the team, but that is for another conversation.

Burnout is everyone’s business, so look out for each other.  Can you strike up a conversation with someone who may need it?