Our Research

Constance (Connie) Noonan Hadley, PhD, Institute for Life at Work and Boston University Questrom School of Business; Sarah Wright, PhD, University of Canterbury

We have studied work relationships for more than twenty years. Never have they been more important to the health of our economy – and to the health of our society. Unfortunately, work loneliness is a common occurrence in organizations. In 2024, Gallup found that 1 in 5 (20%) employees worldwide were lonely.

Lonely workers are likely to suffer major adverse health effects as well as experience lower job satisfaction, engagement, and productivity. Employers are estimated to lose billions of dollars a year as a result of workforce loneliness.

Despite pandemic-spurred attention to these issues, there is still more to learn about work loneliness. We designed our research study to answer these important questions:

• What makes someone lonely while working? Who is more likely to become lonely? Why?
• What can we do about it? How can organizations help?

Our main findings and recommendations are published in Harvard Business Review (HBR) in the article “We’re Still Lonely at Work: It’s Time for Organizations to Take a New Approach.”

This report provides additional statistics, quotes, and details that support and expand beyond the HBR article. We believe this information will be especially useful for journalists, advocacy groups, and other researchers who want more information about our study and findings. By publishing this data in an open-access format, we are also hoping to expand its reach and impact globally.

Marilyn Zakhour, CEO and Founder of Cosmic Centaurs; Constance (Connie) Noonan Hadley, PhD, Institute for Life at Work and Boston University Questrom School of Business; Maya Mahfouz, PhD

For the past two years, we have explored how team rituals impact employee well-being and team success. Our research surveyed 929 global office workers across 60 countries and included interviews with 68 leaders and 86 individual contributors and a field experiment with an advertising agency in the Middle East. Additionally, we drew on extensive experience helping teams and organizations implement rituals.

Our research shows that the more rituals a team engages in regularly, the higher their members’ engagement metrics. Our survey found those working on teams with high levels of rituals felt 23% more committed to their team’s purpose, experienced a 20% boost to their levels of psychological safety, achieved 28% greater interpersonal knowledge, and reported 22% higher job satisfaction, compared to those with low levels of rituals.

However, many teams struggle to develop and maintain effective rituals. Drawing on our data and real-world experience, we offer practical guidance for team leaders to create rituals that are meaningful, adaptable, and sustainable.

This report complements our Harvard Business Review article and provides additional insights, data, and examples. It is designed to support journalists reporting on workplace dynamics, as well as researchers and organizational leaders seeking to foster purpose and satisfaction in their teams through the power of rituals.