Loneliness in the workplace

Working long hours, often from home, can make it harder to build relationships and connections. LawCare looks at the causes of loneliness, what employers can do and where to get help

Humans need other humans and a feeling of belonging and connection drives our happiness. True connection exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued. Without it, we can start to feel lonely. Whilst everyone sometimes feels lonely, long-term loneliness is associated with an increased risk of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and stress.

Most of us spend more time working than doing anything else, particularly in the legal profession, where long hours are common and there is often little time to pursue social connections. Loneliness arises from either a lack of relationships or a lack of close emotional bonds with those we have relationships with, including those we work with.

It can occur because we work from home and don’t interact with colleagues often. We might live alone and rarely see others or just not have quality connections in our everyday lives. Sometimes we don’t have people we feel close to or share values with. You can be surrounded by others and still feel lonely.

Feeling isolated

Many legal professionals and support staff contact LawCare feeling isolated – they feel they can’t really be themselves at work and that their workplace doesn’t value them. They may think they can’t reach out to their colleagues or be honest with their manager about how they are feeling. Although increased use of technology has brought people virtually closer, it has reduced the opportunities for face-to-face communication and instilled a sense of psychological loneliness. Screen interactions can’t replace the feeling we get from making a connection in real life.

“For a variety of reasons, some of us just don’t have people we can turn to in difficult times” 

If you are lonely at work and feel isolated from others, either physically or emotionally, it can adversely affect job performance, job satisfaction, creativity and work engagement. You are more likely to be off work regularly or leave for another job, and it can also lead to problems at home. If someone is lonely at work, it can also negatively affect their colleagues and the organisation as a whole.

Many people don’t feel they can talk to anyone about this, either in work or outside. For a variety of reasons, some of us just don’t have people we can turn to in difficult times. Even if we do have close relationships, it may not be easy to talk to a friend or family member. Perhaps we don’t want to worry them or think they have their own problems going on. We might not have spoken to them in a while because we’ve been so busy at work or we worry they won’t understand. We might feel afraid to unburden ourselves or let go in front of them.

What employers can do to combat loneliness

• Check in regularly: Managers should check in regularly. Little and often works best, and informal chats are as important as work conversations. Ask how people are and how they are managing their workload. Make sure employees are looking after themselves. Ask them about their lives outside of work. In our Life in the Law research into legal workplace wellbeing, we discovered that, of a wide range of workplace measures available, from private health insurance to mental health training, regular catch-ups or appraisals were reported to be the most helpful.
• Pay attention to vulnerable groups: Trainees and juniors will often need more support.
• Build a culture of connection and community: Look for meaningful ways to increase connection and interaction at work and meet employees’ psychological need for social exchange. Brainstorms, informal tea-breaks, weekly catch-ups, team days, peer support and mentoring programmes can all be useful here.
• Encourage people back to the workplace: Incentivise and encourage people to spend at least some time in the workplace interacting with others, even if the majority of their work is carried out at home.
• Ensure a work/life balance is possible: Encourage everyone to work sensible hours – staff will take cues from how leaders behave. Take full lunch breaks, rest and recuperate after busy periods, avoid working at weekends, and take annual leave entitlement. Make sure teams are well resourced in order to make this happen.

What to do if you’re feeling lonely

If you are feeling lonely, LawCare can help. We’ve been providing emotional support to legal professionals, support staff and concerned family members for 25 years.

You can call our confidential helpline on 0800 279 6888, email us at support@lawcare.org.uk or access online chat and other resources at www.lawcare.org.uk. We offer free peer support to those working in the law via our network of around 90 peer supporters, all of whom work in or have worked in the law. Our peer supporters can offer one-to-one support, friendship and mentoring over two to three telephone calls to those who need it.

They understand life in the law and all its challenges - this is what makes our support service unique and our supporters well placed to help other legal professionals. Our peer supporters reflect the diversity of the legal profession and are drawn from all branches and career stages. They are from different age groups, genders and ethnic groups.