| > Does providing job security at the expense of pay increase or decrease loneliness? Hmm. I am thinking kind of orthogonal (independent) of it mostly. On one hand with high turnover, you might lose connections quicker so it's harder. On the other, the person in question might be the one moving on to a better company and thus be less lonely as a result. > Will it make it worse by highlighting things, or will it encourage everyone to eat in the [company provided] dining area, sparking new relationships? If both, what's the distribution? Could make it worse, definitely. I like think of it as a necessary thing -- if the person is the only one eating at their desk then they are probably missing out on important gossip. And gossip can be important - what's coming up next in projects, who is leaving. Some stuff is boring, some stupid but some important. Unfortunately it's probably better to think of it as part of the job duty but it's also kind of a forced socialization and it might help with loneliness. > If measures to reduce loneliness results in the formation of cliques, is that a positive outcome if those left out feel alienated? The article touches on that. It's the part about some managers just organizing Christmas parties for example, it provides for a chance for interaction but doesn't increase necessarily the chance of forming relationships. I'd say a better way to form relationships is to get people to work together on ... actual work stuff. Problems they can think through, solve and ship together as a team. |