I’ve been thinking a lot about loneliness…

It started during mental health week. It was the topic of focus. And I was busy researching and writing about how the Glengarry Glenross-type sales process can exacerbate social anxiety.

And then last week I had a thought-provoking discussion with Rani Gill, who had also been pondering the subject.

Then this morning as I looked through previous research we had done on the subject in the context of sales, I came across a post that never made it in its entirety to LinkedIn. We just did a short version of it.

Now as I look through it, I can’t help but wonder…have we all forgotten what it was like before the pandemic?

Wellbeing programmes are good but are they sustainable? Shouldn’t we be thinking about prevention instead? And doing it through systemic change?

What do you think?

Lost Article on Loneliness in Sales (October 2018)

You know something’s been acknowledged as a ‘big deal’ when the government suddenly creates a post to try to solve it— introducing Tracey Crouch: Minister for Loneliness. (Note: this is now Baroness Barran.)

Tracey will be working to solve the plight of loneliness reported to be facing up to 9 million British people: young, old, and both in and out of work. This blog, however, will focus on an interesting, and relatively new phenomenon: workplace loneliness, and more specifically – loneliness within sales.

Loneliness at work is growing, and it’s easy to see why. We are so used to using technology to communicate, share ideas, broadcast personal and work successes or search for knowledge, that human interaction is seen as a time-consuming inconvenience. Interaction is limited to succinct, efficient sentences or worse still, a few emojis.

For those of us who work in an office, we are so busy trying to succeed in a ‘do-more-for-less’ culture that we no longer have time to chat at the coffee machine or go for drinks after work. Lunch is a solitary sandwich at our desk. If we hot desk, the person who sits next to us changes daily. We may smile and exchange pleasantries but are they really a friend? 42% of people were already saying they didn’t have a single, solitary friend at work in 2014, so as things are, we think not.

Managers who keep their staff guessing about job security develop highly competitive, but flawed, cultures. It’s almost impossible to make a true friend at work as most colleagues feel like competitors – all trying to shine brighter and get that promotion quicker.

This is probably never truer than in a high-pressure sales environment, where members of the team often feel they are only ever as good as their last month and are constantly competing against colleagues to make sure they have the biggest pipeline and demonstrate the largest ROI.

In these stressful environments, collaboration is viewed suspiciously – will confiding in a colleague and asking for help mean them taking credit for closing the sale or even worse wanting a percentage of the commission?  What’s really behind their offer of support? Most of us don’t know, because no effort has been made to form any bonds. We don’t know their goals, drivers, or aspirations. If we did, maybe we would trust them, collaboration would feel better and we could join forces to push that deal down the sales funnel.

The problem of loneliness will no doubt get worse, given that more and more people now work flexibly from home.

The ‘flexible working’ dream we were sold was more sleep, more time for hobbies, better food, and a view of our garden over the screen of our laptop, but maybe the reality is a mild form of loneliness that a quick conference call cannot negate.

Many sales people now work remotely. This means that when a potential client metaphorically slams the door in their face, there is no one to motivate them to keep going. Maybe even worse still, there is no one about to high five when that deal does land either.

So, what can businesses do to combat loneliness; something is now believed can cause more health problems than obesity, regular smoking, and diabetes? It doesn’t just make your workers less productive, creative, and more stressed.  It makes them ill.

Many salespeople now work remotely. This means that when a potential client metaphorically slams the door in their face, there is no one to motivate them to keep going. Maybe even worse still, there is no one about to high five when that deal does land either.

So, what can businesses do to combat loneliness; something is now believed can cause more health problems than obesity, regular smoking, and diabetes? It doesn’t just make your workers less productive, creative, and more stressed.  It makes them ill.

group of people sat together

Developing a structured model of partnerships and mentors, running right through the business, would mean that salespeople would know instinctively who to turn to for help when they felt isolated but still feel that their deal was ringfenced and their reputation secure.

Establish if your employees feel lonely or they feel marginalised. There’s a difference. Do they feel lonely or invisible? Each requires a different solution and throws up different challenges regarding their wellbeing and performance.

Encourage co-opetition. If everyone feels like they are competing against each other for their jobs they won’t make friends, they won’t collaborate, and, ultimately, as well as feeling miserable they won’t excel.

Get the right technology. If that’s the only way to keep people from feeling isolated, it needs to work well and there needs to be a variety of options to suit the individual and how they like to communicate.

Keep in touch with your team. Yes, they want flexibility and autonomy, but they also need support and validation for their efforts. They want someone to discuss their achievements and challenges with. What you think is a chilled-out managerial style, could be perceived as a lack of engagement. Sometimes, they need a slap on the back or a help up depending on how their day has gone.

Battling loneliness is not a short play, but these are ways in which employees can feel more connected. They might be working alone but you can make sure that they feel part of a bigger team with a shared purpose.

This post first appeared on the Fusebox Blog at https://www.thefusebox.com/thinking-doing/