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Bread, Bangles, and Belonging

The past couple of years now has dramatically changed life as we know it due to the global pandemic and all the consequences of having to slow down or stop our daily lives in some cases and now people are looking at work differently. The live to work mentality is dead and now people work to live. For many folks, the priority has shifted to self, health, and family. People have chosen to find jobs fitting their desired lifestyles.  No longer are people willing to sacrifice the non-work values to make a living. This is evident with the change in attitude about what jobs people are willing to take and for what wages. With the cost of living on the rise, an abundance of available opportunities, and more people feeling entrepreneurial, people are looking at their current work situation to determine their satisfaction level.

People are all levels are seeking a sense of satisfaction from work. How to people become satisfied with their work environment? Is it just wages and benefits or is it more? With many employers transitioning to hybrid models or totally working from home, the idea of the work family has been flushed down the toilet. The feeling of belonging is missing.

In the ghosts of workplaces past I remember colleagues used to bond and form relationships through different activities. One of those activities was eating together in the lunchroom or going out to lunch with someone. The opportunity to go to lunch with someone from another department may not exist.  At another workplace, I can remember there was a vendor selling costume jewelry in the lobby of the building. On the day of the sale, people came out of their offices and stopped by to see the offerings throughout the day. As silly as this sounds, I remember bumping into people in elevators I only saw on the day the vendor was in town. I can remember this was way to develop a rapport and camaraderie with those I did not do day to day business with.  Once Covid-19 happened and everyone went remote, or became socially distant when they were together, sharing meals went away and most shopping was totally online.  No longer did people break bread or buy bangles together.

As silly as both of those analogies seem, they are tiny examples of how people come together. These little events helped develop a culture of how people learn to belong at work. Relationships are formed and people learn about each other preferences and how people find their way. Without these relationships, people may feel disconnected and out of touch. Without those little unofficial teambuilding experiences, there can be a huge team disconnect.  Many companies will try to force teambuilding upon the workers with activities and experiences. Unfortunately, forced teambuilding does not have the same success as the natural efforts of individuals and coworkers. Before you can build team, you need to develop rapport. Whether it is the daily bread or bangles, both make you smile at the person across the room.

  ~Karen Cirincione

Email: kcirincione@gmail.com        

Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione

Twitter: @kcirincione 

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