We can’t talk about the future of work without naming The Other L Word: Loneliness. This L word doesn’t just affect people who are working as a team of one. Thousands of people in full teams around the nation are silently suffering from chronic feelings of disconnection at work. According to research by Cigna, more than 60 percent of Americans report feeling lonely on a regular basis. Ignoring this issue or accepting it as “it is what it is” is a defeatist, negligent position that unleashes a cascade of harmful effects on individuals, teams, productivity, and company success. Chronic loneliness prompts the release of hormones that suppress healthy immune function. Biochemical changes from loneliness can accelerate the spread of cancer, hasten heart disease, and accelerate the onset of Alzheimer’s. Loneliness and social isolation are especially harmful for older members of society.

Managers who ignore this issue — because they think that talking about connection, friendship, and belonging are a “touchy feely” waste of time — are a financial liability to their companies. Why? 

• Lonely workers are twice as likely to quit their jobs and head to greener pastures.

• When workers suffer, so does the bottom line. It costs between 50% to 200% of a person’s salary to replace them. The national voluntary turnover rate is 25 percent. To put that statistic into real numbers, consider a company of 100 employees. If 25% of the staff turned over in a year, and each of those employees had a salary of $50,000 then that company would spend between $625,000 and $3,125,000 on staff replacement costs in a single year. That — along with all the institutional memory and expertise of your talented staff — are what you save when you focus on retention. And belonging is the key to retention.

Teams and companies that get this right reap a multitude of benefits. Well-connected teams that have a high amount of belonging and inclusion experience greater productivity, improved decision-making, lower expenses and a more efficient and happy workforce. 

A company is so much more than the output of its production or the shape and size of its office spaces. A company — now more than ever— is a set of experiences for everyone who works for it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that the old ways of working are over. A company is so much more than the output of its production or the shape and size of its office spaces. A company — now more than ever— is a set of experiences for everyone who works there. Without the physical trappings of office buildings, it's a lot harder for a company to use environmental design or physical proximity as the primary method of conveying its vibe, culture, and philosophy. Workers (now and in the future) will evaluate potential jobs not just according to the duties of the role, but also on the experiences, culture, and care that the company provides to those who are a part of it.

Now is the time for the real experience design. Experience designers of all kinds (regardless of what their job titles are) are the ones who will help shape what employment feels like in the future. In an officeless world, the companies and experience designers who use creativity and empathy as they devise avenues for true connection are the ones who will achieve the greatest successes, and their workers will experience more joy, wellbeing, and company loyalty as a result.

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Want to dig into these stats and bring this conversation to your workplace? Book my keynote speech The Other L Word for your conference, company, or organization. Send a message and let’s set up a conversation.