Summary
- Strong colleague relationships are one of the 12 elements Gallup uses to measure engagement, and engaged teams are more productive and profitable than less engaged ones.
- Connection supports well-being. Employees with close friends at work report more happiness, and many who do not socialize at work say they have no one to talk to about their mental health.
- Hybrid and flexible work can build connection when people can still find each other and spend time together by choice.
- A mix of tools helps, from Slack and Microsoft Teams to video calls, booking tools and digital signage.
More than one in five employees worldwide, 22%, felt lonely a lot of the previous day, according to Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report.
Togetherness is not the same as connection. A calendar full of back-to-back video calls can leave people drained rather than close. A human-centric workplace gets the balance right: it makes room for friendship, flexibility and recognition, and uses technology to help people feel they belong.
The payoff goes both ways. Strong relationships make work better for people, and Gallup research links engaged teams to better business results. Here is what the research shows, what we heard from a leading law firm, and which technology helps.
Why do strong work relationships boost productivity?
Gallup measures employee engagement with 12 questions, and one asks whether people have a best friend at work. It sounds soft, but Gallup says it predicts performance. Friendship is one factor among 12, not the whole story.
The engagement results as a whole are hard to ignore. In Gallup’s 2024 meta-analysis of 183,806 business units across 347 organizations, teams in the top quartile for engagement had, compared with the bottom quartile:
- 18% higher sales productivity
- 14% higher productivity in production records and evaluations
- 23% higher profitability
- 78% lower absenteeism
The best friend question has its own numbers. Globally, only three in 10 employees strongly agree they have a best friend at work. Gallup estimates that moving that to six in 10 could bring 10% higher profit, 5% higher customer engagement scores and 28% fewer safety incidents.
Gallup’s advice is not to manufacture friendships. Instead, create situations where people can get to know each other, such as team events, sharing stories and time to socialize. I think of it this way: friendship plus togetherness builds collaboration, and collaboration drives innovation.
How do workplace relationships support employee mental health?
I have met some of my closest friends at work, so I know how much these relationships can add to a day. The research points the same way. In KPMG’s 2026 Friends at Work study of U.S. employees, 82% of those with close personal friends at work reported feeling happy at work, compared with 48% of employees who do not socialize at work. The gaps on support are just as clear:
- 78% of employees with close friends at work say their manager cares about them as a person, compared with 32% of those who do not socialize at work.
- 37% of employees who do not socialize at work say they have no one to talk to about their mental health.
The backdrop is demanding. Gallup’s 2026 report found that 40% of employees worldwide experienced stress a lot of the previous day. Relationships at work can help alleviate some of that stress.
What does a more human workplace look like?
I believe the strongest workplaces measure success by output, not presence, and make room for the things that keep people well.
Recognition is a big part of it. Gallup finds that employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they will leave within the next year. A sense that someone notices your work helps people feel they belong.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said it well: “Make space in your life for the things that matter.” Without that, he warned, burnout can arrive in mid-career. Managers play a real part in making that space possible.
How do hybrid teams stay connected?
We spoke with Rob Stephens, Global Facilities Director at international law firm BCLP, about the firm’s success with hybrid working. With offices and employees around the world, Rob believes success comes down to two factors: technology and flexibility.
Rob pointed out that trainees value working closely with more experienced colleagues, while established employees with family responsibilities may prefer to work remotely. Organizations need to offer different working patterns to suit individuals and local traditions, he believes, while keeping operations and services consistent.
Flexibility only builds connection if people can still find each other. When your team is in the office two or three days a week, nobody wants to discover that a key colleague is working from home or that no room is free for the conversation. Planning in-person time on purpose is what turns a hybrid schedule into togetherness.
Planning a team day? See how Korbyt Desk Booking helps colleagues find each other and sit together.
Which technology helps people feel they belong?
No single tool builds belonging. The best mix helps people chat informally, see each other, find each other and feel recognized. A few categories worth considering:
- Messaging tools. Slack, Microsoft Teams and similar platforms give distributed teams a place for casual conversation. Channels for hobbies, pets or good news recreate the small moments that used to happen by the coffee machine, and a quick shout-out costs nothing.
- Video calls, used with care. Platforms such as Zoom keep face-to-face contact going between office days. They work best for real conversation, like a team catch-up or a virtual coffee, rather than filling every hour with meetings.
- Booking tools that bring teams together. Korbyt Booking’s floor plan view and colleague search let employees see where coworkers are working and book desks nearby, and neighborhoods group teams together. Explore Desk Booking.
- Digital signage that celebrates people. Recognition, milestones and company news on shared screens and desktops mean everyone sees the same good news. See workplace signage.
When relationships get stronger, everyone wins. Employees feel supported and valued, and the business sees the gains Gallup describes, including lower turnover: top-quartile engaged teams had 51% lower turnover in low-turnover organizations and 21% lower turnover in high-turnover ones.
Connection also depends on communication people trust. Our survey with Reworked looks at why employees tune out and what keeps them tuned in.
The Bottom Line
People do their best work when they feel connected to the people around them. That does not mean forcing friendships or filling calendars with meetings. It means creating reasons and ways to spend time together, in the office or across time zones, and recognizing the people who make the work better. Technology can help, but connection is the goal. Build the conditions for it, and engagement and results are more likely to follow.
Ready to help your people connect? See how Korbyt brings hybrid teams, recognition and communication together in one platform. Request a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about human-centric workplaces, belonging, and employee connection.
A human-centric workplace designs for people’s needs, including connection, recognition and flexibility, alongside business results. It measures success by output rather than presence, and uses technology to help colleagues find each other, stay informed and feel part of the team.
Research points to a link. Gallup includes having a best friend at work among its 12 engagement elements, and teams in the top quartile for engagement had 18% higher sales productivity than teams in the bottom quartile. Friendship is one contributing factor among many.
Gallup advises against manufacturing friendships. Instead, create situations where people can get to know each other, such as team events, storytelling and time to socialize. Tools like colleague search in desk booking make it easy to plan in-person days with teammates.
In KPMG’s 2026 study, 82% to 83% of employees with close friends at work reported feeling happy at work, compared with 48% to 53% of those who do not socialize at work. Close connection also brings higher stress for some, and friendship does not replace professional mental health support.
Messaging tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams keep casual conversation going, and video calls maintain face-to-face contact between office days. Booking tools help colleagues sit near one another, and shared screens make recognition visible to everyone.
