Social Capital

For many people working from home has been a welcomed change. More time spent with the family, more flexible hours, less time spent in unproductive meetings and less time travelling have all been highlighted as advantages. But one of the key challenges has been how to maintain and build a community spirit and shared culture in a remote working environment.

Feedback from recent surveys we have run with clients highlighted that many employees are unsurprisingly missing the human element of the office. As we continue to spend time physically distanced, leaders will need to manage the connections and bonds between individuals and teams that are imperative to organisations running smoothly and being attractive places to work.

Social capital can be described as the value embodied in a strong and well-functioning community. Leveraging earlier work by the UK Government to measure social capital in local communities, we have been conducting social capital surveys for over 15 years on behalf organisations seeking to understand the dynamics, value and potential of their employee communities. Working from home and hybrid models undoubtedly impact how we interact, collaborate and socialise. If we are to ensure these new models are a success, it will be crucial to invest in the strength of organisational communities.

Our social capital tracker survey analyses 4 dynamics of organisational communities:

• Trust & Reciprocity

• Social Behaviour

• Social Engagement

• Active Collaboration

Understanding performance in these 4 areas establishes a benchmark score and identifies issue and opportunity areas, enabling organisations to design interventions to increase the strength of their social capital over time.

As we progress into the new year we want to help organisations of all kinds to put people first. Making sure teams are together and thriving not only leads to improved outcomes but ensures employees are provided with emotional support in a challenging time.