Social measures whether the employees feel they have good social relations at work.
Typical root causes
Below are the root causes that explain the lower score in the vast majority of cases.
Lack of safety to speak up
Employees experience a low level of psychological safety.Missing time together physically
Employees spend too little time together in the office - e.g. due to remote work.Too few social events
Employees lack more - or the right kind of - social events.Superficial relations
Employees miss being able to be confidential with colleagues one-on-one.Lacking a sense of togetherness
There is a lack of a common feeling of working together and collaborating.
Ideas for improving
Note: The root cause is what guides a good action that will improve the status quo from a bad action that's targeting something that might already be working. It's only possible to provide good ideas in the context of a root cause.
If lack of safety to speak up is the root cause
Ask yourself: In our team, is it safe to speak up or show vulnerability?
There can of course be several reasons for an individual to feel like this, but generally speaking, it is a sign that the team culture is lacking psychological safety, and you have an important role in changing that. Psychological safety can be a somewhat big area to both understand and manage. Therefore, we advise you to read our chapter on Psychological Safety in our Leadership Playbook, where you can find inspiration on how to work with this.
If missing time together physically is the root cause
Ask yourself: Is this a general need for the group of employees?
If yes, you can have a team discussion about the (maybe unspoken) culture of remote work in the team. Some may have expectations or preferences that others (or you) are unaware of. Also, make sure to communicate that it is completely fine to have individual needs - as well as practical reasons for having more remote work.
If just a few employees are missing more office time together, talk to them on 1:1s to find out what their needs are. If most of the team prefer to have more work at home, try and find a solution - maybe where the social butterflies can make sure to spend more time at the office. Sometimes it can be due to unspoken norms of the group that people don’t show up, even though some have the need, because they don’t anticipate others to want to come in to the office.
Ask yourself: Do we have a policy for remote work?
If so - consider how this looks like and if there should be any improvements to this regarding to the needs of your employees. If you do not have a policy about remote work, consider if this would could be a solution.
If too few social events is the root cause
Ask yourself: Do we prioritize resources for planning inclusive social events?
Make sure to prioritize and plan more social events. Maybe someone in the team would be great at (and have fun with) coordinating this - and who would then have the responsibility to plan something that is inclusive to all? Evaluate afterwards and find out who should plan the next event and when.
Not everyone will have the need to attend these events, and that is all good - communicate this to avoid conflicts in the team. Note that if these employees struggle with the social driver - it is not because of this root cause anyways.
Ask yourself: What kind of social events do we plan and are these for everyone?
Make sure to plan social events that vary so everybody has an opportunity to want to participate - also those that are not the wildest party animals. Teambuilding exercises, padel training or yoga class could be some examples of other social events.
If superficial relations is the root cause
Ask yourself: Do the employees get chances to make deeper social relationships at work?
First of all, make sure to encourage a culture where it is socially acceptable to take time for 1:1s / walk’n’talks with your colleagues. Encourage the employees to do this frequently.
Ask yourself: Do we need more time for team-building exercises where we get to know each other better?
Experiencing each other outside of their comfort zone, challenging each other, and collaborating to solve non-work-related tasks can be very beneficial to the interpersonal dynamics of the team - helping them get closer to each other and become more confidential.
Ask yourself: Do we need to work with trust in general in the team?
In order for the employees to build deeper social relationships and have meaningful conversations, psychological safety is a prerequisite. As it can be a somewhat big area to both understand and manage, you can find our chapter on Psychological Safety in our Leadership Playbook with more information on the subject and inspiration on how to work with this.
If lacking sense of togetherness is the root cause
Ask yourself: Is there a need for more (cross-)collaboration?
Some employees may be missing more collaboration with others. Be curious - together with them - how that could look like. This may be the case, if you see lower levels of Support.
Ask yourself: Are we good enough at asking each other for help?
It could be that some employees feel alone in their tasks and that they’re solely responsible for succeeding, which may be stressful for them. They may not be good at asking for help, or they don’t feel like they can do so. This may be the case, if you see lower levels of Mindful or Support. Make sure to communicate that it is important to ask for help - and even better, do it yourself.
Ask yourself: Do the employees feel like we are on an exciting journey together?
If you have good, well-defined role descriptions and individual goals, the unintentional consequence could be that employees miss the feeling of working towards the same mission. This may be the case, if you see lower levels of Optimism or Contribution. We recommend you connect their results and successes to the overall team goals as well as the company journey, so they feel like they are contributing to something bigger.