[Real Beat] How to Cope with Loneliness of Working Alone... Emerging 'Connection' Technology [Office Shift] (28)

Messenger, Video Conferencing, AI, Metaverse and Other Technologies Enter the Office
‘Relationships and Emotional Exchange’ That Remote Work Cannot Replace... Impact on Productivity

Editor's Note[Jjinbeat] is an abbreviation for 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and also means 'the real business trend.' This section highlights trends in the evolution of work. One segment within Jjinbeat, 'Office Shift,' closely examines the changes in office spaces that began with the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to provide a foundation for exploring answers to different work models based on experiments we've experienced together. The column is published every Saturday and Sunday morning. After 40 installments, it will also be available as a book.

"We live in the most technologically connected era in history. Yet, the rate of loneliness has doubled since the 1980s."

Four years before the COVID-19 crisis, a warning was already issued. Vivek Murthy, a physician and the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), pointed this out in a September 2017 article for the Harvard Business Review (HBR). He referred to this phenomenon as the "Loneliness epidemic." He emphasized, "How socially connected someone is depends largely on the institutions and places where they spend the most time during the day. The workplace is included in this. New forms of work such as remote work offer flexibility, but they reduce opportunities to build relationships."

Six years later, the warning alarm sounded again. Earlier last month, now serving once again as Surgeon General under the Biden administration, Murthy released an 80-page report titled "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation 2023." He pointed out that now, after the world has experienced daily life disruption due to COVID-19, loneliness has become a public health threat, much like smoking or obesity. He expressed concern, saying, "The impact of social disconnection is similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day."

◆ Reflections from the COVID-19 experience... Digital technology is still advancing

As the world was paralyzed by COVID-19, it was technology that kept people connected. Working from home offices, employees used the internet to meet with colleagues via laptops, conversing through high-quality microphones and speakers while seeing one another through webcams. Work documents could be easily shared throughout the day via email and messengers with little restriction. Even without business trips requiring long flights, meetings with colleagues overseas could take place virtually. It was believed that remote and hybrid work would still allow enough interaction and connection with colleagues.

However, a flood of posts and photos appeared on various communities and social media platforms from people seeking communication and empathy. Some posted pictures of carefully prepared meals at home, saying, "Eating alone while working from home feels lonely," while others shared images of their newly decorated home offices with captions like, "Here is my home office setup." Office workers, unable to meet even family and friends due to the pandemic, expressed feelings of isolation and fatigue in this non-face-to-face work environment.

Communication through online messengers and video conferencing technology occurred seamlessly, but something was subtly different. Although everyone remained perpetually connected in virtual space, in reality they were isolated in separate locations, making emotional exchange difficult. Saving time on commuting and severing unnecessary relationships were touted as advantages. Nevertheless, doubts grew about interpersonal connections and communication within organizations enabled by digital technologies.

It was for this reason that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, who initially pledged to continue remote work during the early days of COVID-19, stated this year, "It is easier to build trust face-to-face (than remotely), and such relationships help teams work more effectively."

Beyond the internet and computers, various technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse are rapidly entering the office space, making it feel as though we are a step closer to a world where people work together without meeting in person. Will the advancement of digital technologies intensify the loneliness experienced by office workers? Is there a way to establish connections and foster collaboration at work while taking advantage of technology that transcends time and space constraints? Global companies and offices now face the need for deep reflection and subtle responses to these issues.

◆ Loneliness—the 'modern epidemic'—is a direct blow to productivity

From a company's perspective, employee loneliness is truly "toxic."

Sigal Barsade, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who has studied organizational culture, explained in a past CNBC interview that loneliness impacts corporate performance in two ways. Employees who feel lonely are less motivated to work hard, pay less attention to work, and thus have difficulty achieving good results. Furthermore, the very feeling of being lonely hinders additional communication with colleagues. This creates situations where it is harder to trust colleagues, which in turn makes it difficult to freely share information.

It is already well-proven through numerous studies that teams with good interpersonal relationships achieve higher performance. When employees have strong bonds with one another, work-related exchanges become more active, and their engagement and commitment to the company increase. According to a report by Accenture, annual sales growth rises by 7.5% when employees feel a strong connection with colleagues such as peers and managers. Another study by McKinsey found that employees who feel well-networked with their coworkers are 1.5 times more engaged with their work.

This is why Gallup, in its surveys designed to measure employee engagement, asks whether employees have a best friend at work. Jim Harter, Gallup's chief workplace scientist and well-being researcher, emphasized that "having a best friend at work has become much more important with the explosion of remote and hybrid work," adding, "Data generally shows that the younger people are, the weaker their sense of connection to the workplace."

◆ Just seeing faces doesn't build relationships... 'Genuine connection' matters

So, is returning to the office essential for forming relationships and building trust—things technology can't fully replace? In the endemic era, many CEOs have emphasized the importance of bringing employees together in a single place to collaborate and generate synergy. Hybrid work, which reduces remote work, has risen as a solution—leveraging technology for greater efficiency while maintaining the office as a place to build relationships and trust, ensuring employees have time to collaborate in person.

However, it's worth noting that Surgeon General Murthy raised this issue even before the COVID-19 crisis. He stated, "Even working at the office does not guarantee meaningful connections. You could be in an office full of colleagues—in open space—yet everyone is just staring at their computers."

In a survey conducted by global consulting firm Accenture last year of 1,100 executives and 5,000 employees across 12 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, and China, respondents were asked, "Do you feel well connected to your colleagues?" Of those working in the office, 4 out of 10 answered "No." Ironically, among hybrid workers balancing remote and in-office work, 36% responded "No," and among fully remote workers, the figure was just 22%.

This means that some people feel more connected when working from home than when working in the office. Rather than simply gathering in the same place, dedicated efforts to build relationships are what really matter.

Just as technological changes are transforming relationships in the office, Airbnb—which has adopted remote work as its main working model—now holds a week-long in-person social event every quarter. Some companies offer allowances for team dinners and other activities to foster relationships among employees.

Ellyn Shook, Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer (CLHO) at Accenture, noted, "Culture does not come from the physical space but from human relationships," and added, "Not only are people experiencing a new world of work, but they are also living in a new world in life itself. Of course, it's natural that our basic thinking about how we should connect with each other is undergoing a profound transformation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.