The past six months have been incredibly tough on businesses and employees alike. COVID-19 has changed the face of our working world as we know it and workers are starting to feel the strain.
An accelerated move towards remote working is causing a lack of connection between colleagues, and a trend of decreased engagement with their organisation.
The following article looks to establish why connection and engagement are important and how we can reconnect team members to increase business performance.
Engagement versus Connection. Why are they important?
A connection is the relationship or bond that exists between peers or colleagues within an organisation. Whereas engagement is the emotional connection an employee has to their organisation, it’s values and goals.
So why are they so important?
Typically the stronger the relationship between peers and the higher the engagement with the business, the stronger the organisational performance.
Human connections play a vital role in performance in the workplace. Gallup Consulting found that workers who “strongly agree to having a good friend at work are more than twice as likely to be engaged (63%) when compared with workers who say otherwise (29%)”.
Engaged employees do their best work to achieve the business’s goals and they are willing to go the extra mile to contribute to the business’s success. However, a staggering 87% of employees worldwide are not engaged according to the same study from Gallup.
Ultimately, when employees possess a deep sense of affiliation with their teammates and believe in the values of the business, then they are driven to take positive actions that benefit the business. The increase in remote working has decreased the level of time spent with colleagues and this is starting to affect performance.
Team building can improve Connection and increase business Engagement
As remote working becomes the norm for many organisations, encouraging communication between team members on a regular basis will play an increased role in improving engagement with the business unit.
The Be Challenged team offers a number Fun and Team Building, Conferences and Meetings, Learning and Development Programs. These can be delivered as face-to-face, virtual or hybrid programs and can help improve the connection and engagement of your employees no matter your situation.
Get in touch with the Be Challenged team to discuss your own bespoke Annual Connection Plan to keep your team connected.