Instinctively you might feel being connected to others is a health benefit, after all, we generally regard loneliness as a negative state to be in. For most that probably extends to seeking camaraderie, being part of a team in, or outside, work. Research such as this meta-analysis in the journal ‘Personality and Social Psychology Review’ gives us some pretty convincing evidence that those instincts are right.

The analysis looked at 58 past studies using data from over 19,000 people in 15 countries. It concluded that if you feel closely connected to your colleagues at work, you’re likely to be physically and mentally healthier as a result. The more you connect with the group you’re part of, the better off you’ll be. And it’s not exclusively related to your sense of camaraderie with your colleagues either. A stronger sense of connection to your company was linked with better mental and physical health as well.

Why does all this matter?

Businesses need to sit up and take notice of this kind of research. Mental ill-health costs in the UK are estimated to total around £100 billion. Around 40% of all incapacity benefit at work relates to depression, anxiety and stress. This is something companies need to address not only because of their moral responsibility to look after their employees but because it makes business sense to do it.

Given the amount of time people spend in work, or spend thinking about being in work, it’s not surprising to see evidence supports the idea that relationships in the workplace are closely connected to health. But it has big implications for those businesses that are uncomfortable acting on instinct and gut feeling alone when it comes to people management. They need to see evidence before they’re ready to consider the lessons around social connectivity and turn it into part of their people strategy. That’s exactly what this kind of research provides.

Knowing that social relationships in the workplace have such a big impact on health, companies should be thinking about what they can do to help their employees feel a sense of connection. Businesses need to work out what they can do to increase an employee’s sense of belonging and purpose to boost their wellbeing, and reduce stress levels.

So what can your business do to bring its people together? How can you help them form social groups and foster a sense of team spirit? In case you need some inspiration about ways you can support teams, here are some of the leading social collaboration and motivation applications in the market:

1. Basecamp: Basecamp helps teams to work together in a structured and collaborative way by using a portal to act as the place where all activity associated with a specific project can happen.
2. I done this: A particularly good app if you’ve remote workers, I Done This provides a way for team members to stay up to date on what everyone else is doing via a daily digest.
3. Insightly: A collaboration tool that helps CRM teams streamline their communication and stay up to speed with one another’s activity.
4. Hotseat: An app that uses nudges, social accountability and gameplay to create easy, fun and collaborative office activity breaks.
5. Workstars: A social recognition tool that boosts employee engagement, encouraging values-based recognition and positive feedback between employees and teams.