What Makes a Great Place to Work Connection!

What Makes a Great Place to Work Connection! What Makes a Great Place to Work? Connection! Image Source: iStockFor top and mid-level managers, Edward M Hallowell has the most concise and coherent arguments for answering  the question of what makes a great place to work. Hallowell’s book,  Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People, explains that it’s the connections between people that enhance the wellbeing of the employees and their organisations.Image Source: Amazon“You do not have to be a superstar to have this power. All you need to do is connect.”Connection is the bond that an individual feels with another person, group, task, idea, mission, piece of art, pet or anything that stirs feelings of attachment, loyalty, excitement, inspiration, comfort or willingness. If you are interested in the nuances of what makes a great place to work, you don’t have to probe much further beyond this basic definition to see the power of connection among the factors that add up to a great workplace for you and  your employeesThere’s a direct and positive rel ationship between the intensity of the connection and the effectiveness of the employee. Intense connections are equal to positive energy, and the more positive energy that employees have, the better the work they will do. So ‘connection’ is the short answer to the question of what makes a great place to work.You can see this even if you look at a definition of dis-connection. Disconnection is disengagement and distance from a person, group, task, idea, or mission. And as we all should know, this is one of the chief causes of substandard work. However, it is also one of the most easily corrected factors.Therefore, now that we have made this link between ‘connection and what makes a great place to work, we should see appreciate why  promotion of positive connections within the workplace should be a top priority. Managers should be vigilant and sharp-eyed about identifying disconnection, and move swiftly to create connection and improve productivity in areas where disconnection is found.As it is a feeling of connection that stabilises, energises and propels an employee, then it is connection that has to drive the process when helping an employee achieve top performance.According to recent studies, employees who feel disconnected from management, or who believe they lack the ability to do the job well, are more likely to get sick, miss work and have a higher chance of suffering a heart attack than those who feel connected.These findings were based on data from some twenty thousand employees in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Poland and Italy who worked in a wide range of jobs.Nicholas Christakis and James Fowlers, in  Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, show how social networks can bring out far more than each individual in a group possesses.Image Source: Amazon“Each of us has a much greater impact on others than we can see.”As they point out, social networks can work for good and ill. From spreading happiness to spreading obesity, such networks work wonders, some desirable, some not. As Christakis and Fowlers explain; the surprising power of social networks is not just the effect others have on us; it is also the effect we have on others.You do not have to be a superstar to have this power. All you need to do is connect. The ubiquity of human connection means that each of us has a much greater  impact on others than we can see.This is good news for managers, further clarifying understanding of what makes a great place to work, and it’s important for managers to use it to their advantage. Social networks can become one of a manager’s most powerful tools, if they’re properly understood. You might think that it is not possible for happiness to spread among second and third parties, but you would be wrong.Believe it or not, if a friend of a friend of yours becomes happier, this can directly impact on you in a positive way. Mathematical analyses of social networks  have found that  a pe rson is 15 percent more likely to be happy if a person to whom they are directly connected is happy.If you are managing others, they will perform better if you are happy and show your joy. They will also perform better if you help them to connect with others. Connection, both to a person and to an endeavour is crucial because when a person connects with another person or task, his mind changes for the better.But be careful. While you may well be serious about applying these principles of what makes a great place to work, you must be genuine in your efforts to connect. Otherwise, you run the risk of roaming into  Dilbert  territory. A manager who reads these words and says:  â€œI get it, I should wear a smiley button at work”, will get the opposite result of what they  hope for.Fake smiles and forced connections backfire. But if you try to put your most positive self forward, if you promote others before you promote yourself you will go a long way toward solving the question of wha t makes a great place to workâ€"creating that  all-important positive  atmosphere in your workplace.