When those in senior living talk about loneliness, thoughts usually turn to residents. A new study, however, reveals that loneliness can be an issue for employees, too, even as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes.
In fact, the Society for Human Resource Management is calling loneliness “the next pandemic” in the workplace. But fortunately, solutions exist, the association says.
The society surveyed HR professionals and US workers in general between November and January and learned that only about a fourth of employees say that loneliness has decreased over the past three years.
Results were presented at the association’s recently concluded annual meeting, and they point to the benefits of the spontaneous social interactions that can occur in the workplace.
“This new research shows that Generation Z and millennial workers tend to experience more frequent loneliness and also to value ‘casual collisions’ more than working adults in general,” SHRM Research Vice President Annemarie Schaefer said. And those “collisions” can be good for workers’ mental health.
“While no work structure is immune to worker loneliness, the data does suggest that unplanned, in-person interactions positively influence employees’ mental health,” Schaefer said.
Among the 24% of workers who report that their mental well-being has improved, almost half also report experiencing casual collisions more often now. On the other hand, among the 20% of workers who report that their mental well-being has declined, almost half said that they participate in fewer casual collisions now.
The survey results do contain some good news. Almost 80% of surveyed workers said they feel no lonelier at work now compared with three years ago. And when asked whether their personal/professional life balance has improved over the past three years, 70% of participating workers agreed that it has at least somewhat.
But more than one-third of polled employees reported feeling greater burnout from their work today compared with three years ago. And SHRM data suggest that burnout rates are fairly consistent across generations, with 35% of all workers versus 36% of millennial and Gen Z workers reporting burnout.
“As employers consider ways to support their employees’ mental health, the concept of having permission to take mental health days has broad appeal. It is also important to look at a full spectrum of mental health offerings,” write the authors of the report sharing survey results, titled “The Next Pandemic: Loneliness and the Power of Casual Collisions.” “Balancing formal mental health services with self-service educational resources, team-building events, and yoga or other exercise classes may encourage employee participation and satisfaction.”
According to the report, workers in their 20s and early 30s may be the loneliest and therefore especially may value workplace interactions.
To help address worker loneliness and mental health, the publication recommends fostering collaboration during in-office gatherings, relying on electronic technology to help employees who work in various locations stay connected, paying special attention to younger workers and remote workers, allowing workers to take paid time off — paid mental health days or paid personal days — when they feel unwell mentally or physically, and offering employees a range of options to support their mental well-being, and regularly promoting those options.
“Offering a range of options, from formal mental health services to casual group activities such as employee-centric social events, allows employees to choose the types of experiences they derive the most satisfaction from and may generate more widespread participation,” the authors stated.
Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Living. Read her other columns here.
