Employees who feel love perform better

‘Love” is a not word you often hear uttered in office hallways or conference rooms. And yet it has a strong influence on workplace outcomes. The more love co-workers feel at work, the more engaged they are. (Note: Here we’re talking about “companionate love,” which is far less intense than romantic love. Companionate love is based on warmth, affection and connection rather than passion).

It may not be surprising that those who perceive greater affection and caring from their colleagues perform better, but few managers focus on building an emotional culture. That’s a mistake.

In our longitudinal study, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?: The Influence of a Culture of Companionate Love in the Long-term Care Setting,” we surveyed 185 employees, 108 patients and 42 patient family members at two points in time, 16 months apart, at a large nonprofit long-term health-care facility and hospital in the northeastern United States.

What we learned demonstrates how important emotional culture is when it comes to employee and client well-being and performance. Employees who felt they worked in a loving, caring culture reported higher levels of satisfaction and teamwork.

While this study took place in a long-term care setting—which many people might consider biased toward the “emotional”—these findings hold true across industries. We conducted a follow-up study, surveying 3,201 employees in seven different industries, from financial services to real estate, and the results were the same. People who worked in a culture where they felt free to express affection, tenderness, caring and compassion for one another were more satisfied with their jobs, committed to the organization and accountable for their performance.

So how can managers build a culture of companionate love? We suggest leaders do at least three things:

Broaden your definition of culture. Instead of focusing on “cognitive culture”—values such as teamwork, results-orientation or innovation—you might think about how you can cultivate and enrich emotional culture, as well. Pay attention to the emotions you’re expressing to employees every day. Your mood creates a cultural blueprint for the group.

Consider how your company policies and practices can foster greater affection, caring, compassion and tenderness among workers.

Most important, though, are the small moments between co-workers—a warm smile, a kind note, a sympathetic ear—day after day, month after month, that help create and maintain a strong culture of companionate love and the employee satisfaction, productivity and client satisfaction that comes with it. –Sigal Barsade & Olivia (Mandy) O’neill