Our collective reliance on digital connection was accelerated over the pandemic years, as we shifted how we carried out work and life. Morning meetings, school days, and casual catchups were suddenly done within the confines of our homes, with us sitting in front of our devices wilfully ignoring the strangeness of our predicament. While many of us tried to focus on the silver lining of work-from-home flexibility, the cloud of loneliness was a difficult one to ignore.

 

Now, as we all emerge from our social distancing bubbles and step into some semblance of cautious normalcy, many of us are seeing the value and importance of face-to-face social connection more than ever before. Specifically, how it can positively impact our physical health and mental wellbeing.

 

Understanding the power of social connection, AIA Australia is working to help combat loneliness in a post-pandemic world by encouraging social connectedness in the workplace, while balancing the expectations of our new normal.

While the digital landscape gave us the opportunity to continue working in isolation, the limitations of digital connection in the context of working life became more evident as the pandemic went on. Specifically, in relation to our connectedness to the organisation and its purpose.

 

As AIA Australia CEO, Damien Mu, states, “from an employer perspective, it has been very challenging because we’re trying to support what people are saying, their desire to have very flexible working arrangements… but at the same time, I’m observing and seeing the impact that is having on the connections that they’re making with the organisation and with each other.”
While it’s obvious that work-from-home has its advantages, the connection people feel to the purpose of the organisation and to the team at work is not as strong. The answer to this issue, however, might lie in nurturing meaningful social connections within the workplace itself.

Alison McLean, our general manager of shared value partnerships, is an occupational therapist who has studied the factors that impact disability outcomes. One of the biggest predictors was meaningful social connection, and the number of people a person can call on if something goes wrong.

 

Currently, Alison and her team are implementing Connecting You ’22, an initiative helping examine the importance of connections in the workplace. This initiative “is looking at how organisations can support their staff transitioning back to the office after working from home for an extended period of time.”

 

Not only does this project help AIA Australia engage with our staff, but it is also supporting important research to help other organisations moving forward. As Alison said, “We’re partnering with leading behavioural scientists from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to examine connections in the workplace and will share our findings to help other organisations facing the same transition.”

 

It is our hope that this important work will become the blueprint of building social connection in the workplace in the post-pandemic landscape. If you would like to know more about how social connection and the Connecting You ‘22 initiative can help your business, please contact your AIA Strategic Partnership Manager.