At a time when cohesion is becoming a performance and prevention issue, how can HR measure, nurture and repair human bonds within organizations? Discover the key figures, the weak signals to recognize and the HR action plan to implement.
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Read on for advice from Jérôme Crest, CEO of Holivia, and Samy Diaba, Head of Customer Growth & Retention at Zest.
On the agenda for this webinar:
What the data say about the fragility of social ties ;
A mental health perspective to decipher the deeper issues at stake: psychological safety and the psychodynamics of silence, collective consequences ;
Proposing actionable solutions.
Why talk about relational urgency now?
The figures speak for themselves: only 37% of employees say they are happy to go to work, and 28% say they are demotivated (BaromEx Zest 2024). One employee in four is considering leaving his or her company within the year.
Behind these indicators often lies a silent breakdown in social ties: isolation, latent tensions, loss of meaning, relationship fatigue.
Our conviction is simple: cohesion is not a "nice to have", it's a performance and prevention issue.
What we call "the social link
Social cohesion rests on three pillars:
Confidence: being able to say things without fear (psychological safety, right to try things out).
Belonging: feeling part of a meaningful collective.
Mutual support: knowing that someone is there when things get tough.
Without social ties, there's no commitment. Social ties are the (invisible) fuel of commitment.
Weak signals: when the link cracks
Reduced participation in surveys, meetings and workshops.
Hybrid meetings where distant participants are "offside".
Language changes in feedback (from we to they).
Repeated lateness, disinvestment in group projects.
Cameras off, meetings silent, managers absorbed in KPIs.
Disappearance of shared moments, increasing relationship fatigue.
Taken in isolation, these signals may seem insignificant; taken together, they indicate a break in the bond.
Teleworking: guilty or telling?
Telecommuting is not the enemy of the social bond: it simply reveals the strength (or fragility) of that bond. The real question is not "How many days in remote?" but "What do you need to want to come back?" Often, the answer can be summed up in three words: recognition, trust, bonding moments.
Three concrete levers for action to discover
Ritualizing relationship micro-moments
Team stand-up 15 min / week: a success, a blockage, a need.
Regular one-to-ones (every 1-2 weeks) focused on experiences (not just operational issues).
Start meetings with a round of thanks.
Training managers: from controllers to guardians of the link
Spot weak signals (cameras off, power down, language).
Always come full circle: "Here's what you said → here's what we did".
The trap of "social silence
Sometimes, the absence of noise is not a sign of serenity, but an impediment to speaking out: fear of consequences, a culture of masking, an injunction to be positive, fatalism, a lack of space for authentic speech.
The key? Psychological safety(Amy Edmondson): being able to express yourself without fear of judgment or sanction, the right to try things out, constructive feedback. Research shows that this is the best predictor of team performance.
How do you breathe it in?
Exemplarity on the part of top management (talk about mental health as you would talk about physical safety; dare to be vulnerable).
