Human Connection

“It’s not personal. It’s business.” 

How many times have we heard this phrase? Is it just me, or is there a problem with that overused phrase? In my estimation, business IS personal. And if it’s not, it should be.

The secret to long term success – personally or professionally – is human connection. You’ve likely read the stats: people with the most friends tend to outlive those with the fewest friends by 22%! Better yet, a clinical review of nearly 150 studies found that people with strong social ties had a 50% better chance of survival, regardless of age, sex, health status, and cause of death, than those with weaker ties.

Human connection is an energy exchange between people who are paying attention to one another. It’s people caring about people. It has the power to deepen the moment, inspire change, and build trust. Human connection is created when people feel seen, heard, and valued. Simply put, we crave connection.

Think of it as a superpower that helps people and organizations thrive.

Have you experienced connection at work? A positive connection? Positive connections energize you while others can suck the life out of you. A high level of positive human connection in the workplace improves employees’ health and well-being, raises employee engagement, tightens strategic alignment, enhances the quality of decision making, and stimulates innovation. These five benefits add up to a powerful performance advantage.

When your employees feel a sense of connection to a group of people at work, they will be more likely to give their best efforts, align with the group’s goals, share information needed to make the best decisions (a demonstration of trust), and engage in honest conversations that drive positive results.

How can YOU create a meaningful human connection within your company? Here are a few suggestions:

• It starts with meaningful on-boarding. Help new employees form meaningful relationships and get them involved in cross-functional teams and projects.
• Mentorship programs is another effective way to deepen engagement, show appreciation, and build a bench for your future leadership team.
• Make it personal.  Ask people about their weekends or their families, and genuinely care about their responses. Be yourself. Share your experiences as well!
• LISTEN. I can’t say this enough. Smile. Be curious. Ask questions. Lots of them! Actively listening to people alerts you to opportunities: opportunities for improvement within the company, opportunities to engage employees who feel underutilized, or opportunities to help an employee who feels like they are drowning. Listening also includes observing and analyzing nonverbal cues, including body language. Most importantly, make sure that the other person feels heard.
• Appreciate your people. Almost everyone wants to feel appreciated at work and are more productive when they hear things like “thank you” or “you’re an important part of the team” and “we couldn’t have done it without you!” Be sincere with your praise or it will fall short of the mark and have the opposite effect.
• Make eye contact. Don’t hide behind your phone. Many of us are guilty of checking email, texts, etc. when we’re walking somewhere (like a meeting). Seek out interaction! Smile. Have a quick conversation to follow up on something that an employee shared with you previously. People feel cared for and will likely reciprocate with an increased passion in their work. 
• Be kind! Show concern for others, value who they are, and appreciate what they do.
• Be accountable. Simply stated, do what you say you’re going to do.
• Talk so people will listen. Know your audience. When you recognize how your audience wants to be addressed and you use that to engage with them, the communication becomes much more meaningful.  Abd skip the corporate speak. We have all played corporate bingo. Admit it. Those buzzwords? Avoid them. Using common language that all can understand and relate to is your best bet.

Human Connection = employee engagement. Employee engagement  = increased profits. Towers Watson found that companies with low employee engagement scores had an average operating margin just under 10 %. Those with high traditional engagement had a slightly higher margin of 14 %. Companies with the highest “sustainable engagement” scores had an average one-year operating margin of 27 %!!  My advice? Take the time to evaluate the element of human connection in your own business! Do you need help conducting this assessment? Call us! We’re on it!

People will forget what you said and did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou