There’s no denying the power of social connections when it comes to improving our health. Ever wonder why it’s so powerful in the workplace? Because social reinforcement within your organization is targeted, contextual, flexible, and natural.
Targeted – As workplace peers, we know something about our colleagues—their interests, their past struggles, their tendencies. In a social context we can encourage and support one another based on this specific understanding of our friends. We understand something about their internal point of view and how they are best motivated.
Contextual - Since we work in the same environment, we understand the external influences on our motivation and ability to act or adopt new behaviors. When health-related events are scheduled automatically from the top down, they may inadvertently coincide with a big project, a vacation or when we are focused on another goal. But within our social group, our peers understand this context and have ongoing, real-time feedback about when we are most open to a new event, a fun competition, or a new behavior.
Flexible – As peers we can be very adaptable to internal and external factors and fluidly adjust our support in the moment.
Natural – As human begins, we are social animals. We respond to social norms and social feedback, and we work to find our place in the social structure by changing our behaviors or approaches to other people. And this desire to fit in can increase the impact of other motivational levers you may use, like incentives or competitions to promote healthy behaviors and healthy cultures.
We’re seeing the evidence of these powerful social elements within our HealthMiles program’s new social community, Connections. Learn all about Connections, and how you can leverage social influences to improve employee health.
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