Rebuilding Connection in the Post-Industrial Workplace: Why It Matters and What to Do About It

By Erin Eatough and Shonna Waters, Fractional Insights

Adapted from our academic chapter Connection in the Post-Industrial Era of Work published in the Oxford Handbook of Workplace Wellbeing: Connection in the Post-Industrial Era of Work 

Eatough, E., Waters, S., & Reece, A. (2025). Connection in the post-industrial era of work: Finding reconnection in the age of disconnection. In R. Mueller-Hanson, E. F. Sinar, & E. D. Pulakos (Eds.), Evolving the employee experience: An integrative perspective. Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197780251.003.0003

Introduction: A Crisis We Can No Longer Ignore

Human connection is in crisis. In the aftermath of a global pandemic, amid widespread digital transformation and social fragmentation, many individuals feel more disconnected than ever before. And this disconnection is not just a personal issue. It carries real consequences for organizations, communities, and society as a whole.

The U.S. Surgeon General recently declared loneliness and disconnection a national health concern, and studies show over one-third of Americans experience "serious loneliness." At the same time, flexible and remote work have reshaped how, when, and with whom we connect at work—sometimes increasing autonomy, but often reducing organic moments of social interaction.

As work becomes the dominant social institution in many lives, organizations now play a critical role in shaping connection—not just inside company walls but in the broader wellbeing of individuals. Addressing connection is not merely an HR initiative; it’s a strategic business and societal imperative.

In this article, we offer a comprehensive look at what connection truly is, why it matters to individuals and organizations, and how leaders can intentionally design for connection across the modern work experience. We draw on findings from organizational psychology, neuroscience, and our own applied research to offer practical insights for fostering both strong and weak ties in the workplace, even in hybrid and remote contexts.

What Is Human Connection?

We define connection as a felt experience of resonance with another person, grounded in three key elements:

• Shared Experience: Having common reference points that build understanding.

• Positive Emotional Regard: Expressing care, warmth, and appreciation.

• A Sense of Mutuality: Feeling that the relationship is reciprocal and that you matter to one another.

While people might describe feeling connected to ideas, communities, or even places, this article (and our academic work) focuses specifically on dyadic human connection—the felt bond between two individuals.

Connection is not binary; it's not a matter of having it or not. Rather, it exists along a continuum from fleeting interactions (e.g., a meaningful conversation with a stranger) to deeply intimate, enduring relationships (e.g., with a long-time friend or close colleague). It is also dynamic—it shifts and changes over time depending on frequency of interaction, emotional tone, mutual investment, and context.

Some connections may be momentary but powerful; others require sustained effort to grow. Importantly, connection is not always symmetrical—one person may feel a deep bond while the other remains unaware. But mutuality, even if imperfect, is often a defining feature of connection’s strength.

Connection Is Not the Same as Proximity

Just being around others doesn’t guarantee connection. Proximity may increase opportunities for interaction, but intentional effort is needed for real connection to emerge. Even subtle behaviors—like eye contact, mutual gaze, or open body language—can foster a sense of closeness if backed by attention and care.

Virtual proximity, too, is insufficient. Remote work has highlighted that simply being digitally connected—on Slack, Zoom, or email—does not equate to emotional connectedness. Without intention, relationships can stagnate and wither.

What Influences Connection?

Connection is shaped by:

• Individual traits (e.g., attachment style, personality)

• Cultural context (e.g., norms around emotional expression)

• Communication quality (e.g., frequency, depth, and clarity)

• Relationship dynamics (e.g., trust, history, conflict resolution)

• Power structures (e.g., hierarchy, inclusion, access)

And perhaps most critically: context. The culture and design of the workplace itself—how time is spent, how conversations are structured, what’s rewarded or penalized—can support or hinder authentic connection.

Related Concepts: Where Connection Fits

Connection is often confused with related constructs like trust, friendship, or belonging. While related, each has a distinct definition. We've summarized these distinctions in the table below:

Table: Adjacent Constructs to Connection

Construct	Definition	Reference
Connection	A felt sense of shared experience, emotional regard, and mutuality between two individuals	Eatough, Waters, & Reece (2024)
Rapport	Mutual understanding and trust, often during interaction	Tickle-Degnen & Rosenthal (1990)
Intimacy	Feeling deeply known, understood, and cared for	Reis & Shaver (1988)
Attachment	Enduring emotional bond offering comfort and security	Bowlby (1969)
Friendship	Voluntary, mutual relationship facilitating emotional goals	Hays (1988)
Belonging	Feeling accepted and valued within a group or context	Hagerty et al. (1992)
Social support	Perceived availability of care and help from others	Cohen & Wills (1985)
Social interaction	Purposeful engagement and communication with others	Hall (2018)
Social connection	The structural and behavioral components of relationships	Holt-Lunstad (2018)

Why Connection Matters

The research is unequivocal: high-quality human connections predict:

• Longer lifespans and reduced health risks

• Lower stress and burnout

• Higher engagement, creativity, and job satisfaction

• Better collaboration and team performance

In fact, the health effects of social disconnection are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. In organizational settings, teams with strong internal ties outperform others in innovation and learning, while employees who feel connected are more likely to stay, contribute, and thrive.

During the pandemic, average personal network sizes shrank dramatically—by as many as 200 connections per person. This erosion of everyday connection, even among acquaintances and work colleagues, had ripple effects on belonging, creativity, and resilience.

For leaders, the question isn’t just how to help employees feel connected—it’s how to design systems, norms, and rituals that reinforce connection as a business asset and a human right.

When Work Replaces Community: A Hidden Cost of Modern Life

In today’s economy, work consumes more of our time and attention than ever before. Since the 1970s, the average number of hours worked per week in the U.S. has steadily increased—driven by globalization, technological advancement, and cultural expectations of constant availability. At the same time, participation in community activities—religious groups, clubs, and civic organizations—has declined sharply.

As a result, work has become the primary arena where many people seek connection, identity, and purpose. But here’s the paradox: while work is more central in our lives, it often isn’t designed to support the depth of connection people need to thrive.

Modern work often:

• Rewards individual productivity over collective engagement

• Prioritizes speed and efficiency over reflection and relationship

• Enables constant contact, but not meaningful communication

Flexible and remote work arrangements, while beneficial in many ways, can further erode connection if not intentionally managed. Virtual work reduces opportunities for spontaneous interaction and can lead to smaller, more siloed social networks. One study found that remote employees had 61% fewer weak ties than their hybrid peers, reducing access to diverse ideas and support.

The Organization’s Role: Opportunity and Obligation

Given these dynamics, organizations have both a business opportunity and a moral responsibility to foster environments where connection can flourish.

Why a moral responsibility? Because if employers demand the majority of employees’ waking hours and energy, they must also account for the fundamental human needs—like connection—that might otherwise go unmet. Ignoring these needs leads not only to disengagement and attrition, but to real human harm.

Why a business opportunity? Because employees who feel connected to coworkers, leaders, and purpose:

• Are more resilient in the face of change

• Collaborate more effectively across boundaries

• Are less likely to burn out or leave

• Drive stronger business outcomes across nearly every metric

Still, organizations can’t force connection. What they can do is create the conditions for connection to take root—by designing systems, policies, and practices that invite shared experiences, emotional regard, and mutual investment.

Designing for Connection: Strong and Weak Ties

To build connection, it’s important to understand the difference between strong ties and weak ties:

• Strong ties are close, emotionally significant relationships—like those with team members or trusted mentors. These relationships provide support, safety, and coordination.

• Weak ties are more casual, infrequent relationships across departments or functions. These connections, while less intimate, expose employees to diverse perspectives, information, and innovation pathways.

Organizations need both. Strong ties build trust and engagement within teams; weak ties build networks that enable scale, creativity, and resilience across the system.

When organizations neglect weak ties—such as in highly siloed or fully remote setups—they risk knowledge stagnation, groupthink, and fractured cultures. When strong ties are underdeveloped—such as in high-churn or overly transactional environments—collaboration and psychological safety suffer.

Connection must be cultivated through intentional design.

Practical Applications for Fostering Connection

Building a connected workplace requires strategic design across multiple dimensions. Here are practical, evidence-based ways organizations can intentionally foster connection:

1. Physical Space Design

• Use open layouts and communal areas to encourage spontaneous interaction, while also providing quiet zones for focused work.

• Arrange team spaces for visibility and accessibility—glass walls and central gathering points support approachability.

• Incorporate coworking zones and shared lunch areas to mix departments and encourage informal relationship-building.

2. Virtual and Hybrid Work Strategies

• Invest in video conferencing and digital whiteboarding tools to mimic co-presence.

• Schedule unstructured virtual time (e.g. “drop-in” hours, coffee chats) to spark spontaneous conversation.

• Use intentional onboarding practices—such as buddy systems and cohort introductions—to help remote employees integrate and form early ties.

3. In-Person Time with Intention

• Don’t default to bringing people into the office without a purpose. Optimize in-person moments for deep collaboration, celebration, or personal storytelling.

• Design team offsites or on-site days with shared meals, reflective sessions, and storytelling opportunities to deepen mutual understanding.

• Train managers to create rituals that build emotional warmth and recognition into meetings and team rhythms.

4. Psychological Safety and Vulnerability

• Foster environments where people feel safe to share, ask questions, and be themselves.

• Leaders should model vulnerability by acknowledging uncertainty, asking for input, and offering personal perspective.

• Don’t mandate personal sharing—create space for it. Voluntary vulnerability in psychologically safe contexts is what leads to genuine connection.

5. Active Listening and Communication Culture

• Train employees in active listening, empathy, and paraphrasing.

• Recognize and reward behaviors that demonstrate listening, inclusion, and relationship-building.

• Include these interpersonal skills in leadership development and team performance conversations.

6. Manager Enablement as Connection Champions

• Equip managers with toolkits and coaching to facilitate connection.

• Recognize managers who actively support team relationship-building.

• Encourage managers to “open their networks” and facilitate introductions across the org.

7. Embed Connection Across the Employee Lifecycle

• Onboarding: Pair new hires with social guides or peer mentors.

• Recognition: Celebrate not just output, but relationship-building behaviors.

• Exit and Alumni: Maintain warm offboarding practices and alumni networks to extend community.

8. Support for Connection Outside of Work

• Design jobs to respect personal boundaries and energy—reasonable hours, manageable load, and schedule flexibility matter.

• Consider subsidizing or promoting involvement in community service, arts, or social groups that reinforce belonging.

A comprehensive strategy for fostering connection considers all of these dimensions—not as isolated perks or programs, but as an integrated part of how people work, relate, and belong.

Strategies to Foster Connection in the Workplace

Strategy	Description	Application Area
Design communal workspaces	Use shared spaces and open layouts to spark spontaneous interaction while balancing privacy needs.	Physical Environment
Enable virtual “drop-in” chats	Schedule non-structured digital time for spontaneous interactions across teams.	Virtual Collaboration
Purpose-driven in-person moments	Optimize in-office time for emotional resonance—celebration, reflection, and storytelling.	Hybrid Strategy
Train in active listening	Build empathy and paraphrasing into leadership and team communication training.	People Development
Model psychological safety	Leaders demonstrate vulnerability and invite feedback without punishment.	Team Culture
Empower managers as connectors	Encourage managers to facilitate cross-team relationships and introductions.	Manager Enablement
Social onboarding experiences	Use buddy systems or cohort onboarding to embed early relationship-building.	Employee Lifecycle
Reinforce mission and values	Consistently communicate shared purpose to foster mutuality and identity.	Organizational Culture
Support connection outside of work	Design for reasonable work hours and flexibility to preserve energy for personal relationships.	Job Design

Connection Is Infrastructure—And the Foundation for Human Flourishing

We tend to think of connection as a byproduct—something that “just happens” if everything else is going well. But what if connection isn’t the outcome of great work, but the precondition for it?

Connection is not a perk. It’s not a “nice-to-have.” It’s not an extra line in an engagement survey. It is, fundamentally, infrastructure: invisible but essential. Just like water systems or broadband networks, when it’s missing or broken, everything else suffers.

When we invest in the social architecture of our organizations—when we make connection a priority in how we design jobs, develop people, structure time, and build culture—we unlock a different kind of performance. One rooted not in constant hustle, but in human possibility.

In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, connection is not a soft value. It is a strategic asset, a health imperative, and a source of resilience for people and systems alike.

As we navigate the next era of work—one defined by distributed teams, AI augmentation, and cultural transformation—organizations that prioritize connection will not only outperform. They will outlast.

Final Thought: A Call to Lead with Humanity

We believe the future of work belongs to organizations that recognize what’s most human about work: our need to belong, contribute, and matter to one another. The connection crisis isn’t inevitable. It’s a design problem—and a leadership opportunity.

The question is not whether connection matters. The question is: Will we choose to build for it?

To explore the full academic foundation behind this article, see our peer-reviewed chapter: Connection in the Post-Industrial Era of Work.

Reach out to us at erin@fractionalinsights.ai to learn how Fractional Insights can help your organization build systems of connection that scale human potential.

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