How can employers foster workplace friendships in a remote world?

For the average adult, going into the office regularly was one of the most constant forms of socialization they had. But as workforces become increasingly more dispersed in the name of flexibility, employees are yearning for those workplace friendships again — and they want their bosses to help. 

According to recent data from BetterUp, 96% of organizations say they recognize the importance of cultivating relationships among employees, yet 43% of employees reported they no longer feel a sense of connection to their co-workers and 22% went as far to say that they don't even have a single friend at work. Overall, 53% of employees say they don't look forward to working anymore.

"In the past, [friendships] happened naturally. Your best friend was often the person you sat next to or worked on projects with," says Susan Hanson, chief people officer at software company RainFocus. "That just doesn't happen anymore." 

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While hybrid work has offered employees a significant amount of flexibility, the lack of in-person interaction has deeply affected their perception of work. Sixty-five percent of employees said they would choose to keep workplace relationships over an increase in salary, according to software company HubSpot's 2023 Hybrid Work Report. Sixty-six percent of those surveyed reported that having a close friend at work impacts their intent to stay with their company. 

"In the beginning of the pandemic, companies made an effort to help in the areas that were making it hard to make friends, like using Zoom or having cameras on during meetings," Hanson says. "But now that everything's open again and things are back to normal, managers have moved away from prioritizing that." 

Some employers may believe that sacrificing workplace friendships is an inevitable consequence of remote work, Hanson says. But the data doesn't support that notion — in fact, 62% of remote employees are more likely to know of their coworkers' family or pets, compared to 54% of in-office workers, for example. Despite their new office setups, employees are still very much interested in fostering those kinds of relationships at work — and employers should take that as a sign to help them do it. 

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"Companies  still need to get people together while being a virtual company," Hanson says. "For example, plan your budgets around getting people together. If teams need to work on big projects like events, send a few more people to the events and then get a few more people in an office together to co-work. If there's pockets of people in certain states, get them together and send some more people there." 

Managers can also start promoting that culture as early as the on-boarding stage, which in a post-pandemic world, can be lonely and boring.  Managers can use orientation as a way to not only create meaningful relationships with the new hires themselves — by connecting with them, sending them gifts and making sure they're engaged and welcomed — but as an opportunity to connect them with other employees, through buddy systems or in-office events. 

"I think we will be able to continue to foster great relationships at work," Hanson says. "I've only been at RainFocus a year and I've already met people that I will continue to be friends with throughout the rest of my life. So it can be done, I just think it will be a little bit harder."