Recently in an article published in La Vanguardia analyzed howfriendship relationships within the work environment are declining. The article indicates that, in a context where employment loses vital protagonism, teleworking is normalized and interactions are mediatized by technology, bonds between colleagues are weakened, and friends are no longer made.
This phenomenon is more serious than it seems: it is not just nostalgia for coffee in the office, but a symptom that has real consequences for companies:
- Lower retention: without strong ties to peers and company culture, employees have fewer emotional reasons to stay.
- Less innovation: creativity tends to flourish in informal spaces of exchange, where people share ideas beyond their formal role.
- Relational attrition: when interactions are reduced to metrics, objectives and screens, empathy, spontaneity and genuine human exchange are lost.
If “friends at work” are in recession, companies must react: stimulating human connections is an essential part of a sustainable talent strategy.
The importance of bonding: tangible benefits
- Loyalty and sense of belonging
When teams not only work together, but also get to know each other, share moments and build trust, employees feel they belong. That belonging is an emotional anchor that reduces turnover.
- Innovation and cross-collaboration
Powerful ideas emerge when someone from marketing chats with someone from operations out of pure interest, not out of obligation. Informal spaces (buffets, coffees, micro-moments) are fertilizers of creativity.
- Smoother communication
Tacit knowledge – that which is “known in the organization but not in the manuals” – is best transmitted in informal relationships. This relational fluidity helps to break down silos and react with agility to change.
- Humanization of the company
We are not roles, we are people. Fostering human relationships – beyond roles – helps reduce organizational alienation, improve emotional well-being and create a more authentic company culture.
How to enhance employee cohesion
Offering employees the possibility of being part of an international community within the company is one of the most effective ways of:
– Breaking down barriers
– Fostering cohesion
– Promoting pride in belonging to the company
Much more than a social benefit, dothegap employees reinforces employer branding, attracts and retains talent, boosts team spirit, strengthens corporate culture, improves personal and family well-being and aligns with your ESG/CSR strategy, positioning the company as innovative, human and connected.
The platform is designed so that each employee can register and connect privately and autonomously, without the company having to manage or intervene in the process.
If “friends at work” are in recession, the best response is not to resign, but to act. Building strong relationships is the way to improve retention, innovation and organizational culture.
At dothegap it is clear to us: humanizing the company is the way for people and businesses to prosper.
👉 Want to discover how dothegap employees can transform your organization? Contact us and we will show it to you.
