Adults spend more than 60% of their waking lives working, which is a staggering number when you think about all of the other diversions that there are in life. Many people think that spending the majority of your waking life working for someone else is unfortunate, and if you are working in a job that you truly dislike, or for a company that doesn’t care about your individual happiness, then yes, it can be quite a horrible fate. Luckily, in many of today’s most exciting and dynamic industries, talented and intelligent people are given the opportunity to choose where they want those talents to be directed. The most valuable assets on the market will base their choice for future place of employment on a number of factors. One of those very important aspects, considering they might spend more than half of their waking hours at work, is the social dynamic of the company itself.
The fact of the matter is that we are social creatures, and we bond with those around us who face similar challenges and understand the intricacies of our lives, because they share those same complexities. Our friends often include the people we work with, and we build social networks based on the people we have the most contact with. If you could work with friends as often as you see them out in public, the daily commute might not be so bad. Our generation of social networking platforms and interconnectedness make it easier to stay connected outside of work, but working at a place like Facebook means you are not only working for the largest social network in the world, but you are also living in a professional environment where friendships, social connections, and constant collaboration is encouraged.
Your company can increase its overall happiness by urging workers to bond and share ideas, go out for coffee, meet socially and professionally outside the walls of the office, and create an ongoing atmosphere of progress and creativity, no matter where they are. Some might argue that the workplace is for work, and personal life is for yourself, and while that remains true, the lines are increasingly blurred as we begin to use personal applications and platforms both for business and pleasure. If you can shape your company culture to integrate social networking and boost interconnectivity and trust between workers, you might see a major increase in productivity, innovation, and progress.
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