The True Cost of Employee Loneliness

A few years ago, a tragic story quietly made headlines. A female employee had passed away at her desk in a busy office and wasn’t discovered for days. While the circumstances were unusual, the incident was unsettling. How disconnected must a workplace be for someone to disappear in plain sight?

While most teams aren’t that fractionalized or facing such extreme isolation, the underlying issue of loneliness and disconnectedness is disturbingly familiar. As organizations chase productivity and profitability, some team members may quietly drift into seclusion, which is dangerous. Loneliness isn’t just an employee wellbeing issue, it’s also a threat to your business.

Why Sense of Belonging Can Be So Challenging

We are all still dealing with the pandemic's effects and adjusting to new business standards. While remote and hybrid work provide flexibility and smart employment options for many businesses these days, offsite work also reduces both the professional and casual connections of office life. There is no casual banter at the coffee station. There is no opportunity to casually stop by a colleague's desk for a quick check-in. Zoom meetings and a sense of disconnection from our peers have replaced these simple yet impactful moments of togetherness.

Dynamics such as work silos, employee competitiveness, performance pressure, and technology, even in in-person environments, can create barriers that are challenging to overcome. Large businesses also experience this disconnection, as loneliness is not solely defined by physical solitude. It’s more about feeling unseen, unsupported, and disconnected. 

And how sad is that?

The Hidden Cost of Employee Disconnection

From a personal perspective, employee loneliness correlates with increased stress, poorer physical health, and greater anxiety related to the job. It is safe to say that few, if any, people thrive working in that dynamic, so isolation is detrimental for business too.

Lonely employees are more likely to disengage and underperform. They are also more apt to quietly quit, meaning they perform only the bare minimum requirements of their jobs. No innovation. They don't go above and beyond. All they were doing was simply putting in the necessary effort to reach the end of the day. Ugh.

But guess what? Your company culture is as much to blame for this underperformance and disengagement as these struggling employees' sense of purpose, direction, and fulfillment. Your company culture is as much to blame for this underperformance and disengagement as these struggling employees' sense of purpose, direction, and fulfillment. about it.

Rebuilding Human Connection in Your Business

Creating connection among your team doesn’t require pizza parties and ping pong tables. It's more about building relationships and showing your employees that they matter to you, their peers, and the business.

How you lead your organization and connect with your people matters. Be present. Ask thoughtful questions and possess a keen ear for what the respondent is really telling you. Follow up when someone seems unhappy or discontented, or if something just feels off.

Consider creating team or departmental rituals like peer check-ins, mentorship programs, and one-on-ones with you as their touchstone. Everyone you employ is working for the success of your business, so show sincere appreciation and gratitude.

Business leaders today have so many moving parts to consider, metrics, models, KPIs, and shifting market demands, but beneath every number and data point is a person. It’s your people, not just your processes, who will ultimately drive the business forward.

As you strive for business growth and profitability, make sure no one on your team gets left behind. Because sometimes the most important indicator of success is simply whether your people feel seen.