Connection is what makes us human
What impact does connection have at work?
Our data will be shared in Spring 2026
The Human Connection Study was a two-phase research initiative examining how connection is experienced at work—and what it produces. It combines qualitative insight from hundreds of individuals with large-scale quantitative analysis conducted in partnership with Energage, spanning more than 286,000 employees across 1,692 organizations.
Connection
What is the Human Connection Study?
We’re not just feeling disconnected—we’re living in a connection crisis. And it’s taking a toll on our health, our workplaces, our communities, and our sense of purpose.
But disconnection isn’t destiny.
We can change this.
The Human Connection Study is a bold effort to uncover what’s really happening and more importantly, what we can do about it. Through stories, data, and lived experience, we’re identifying the habits, environments, and relationships that help people feel truly connected.
The survey is now closed and findings will be shared the spring of 2026.
Who is behind this study?
The Human Connection Study is a collaboration between Ingenuity Design, an employee experience agency passionate about workplace culture, Jason Lauritsen, an author and leadership expert who's been studying the intersection of relationship and work experience for two decades, as well as Energage, an HR technology company that helps organizations measure, shape, and showcase cultures where people and performance thrive. Its insights are grounded in more than 20 years of workplace culture research, drawn from tens of millions of employee surveys across over 80,000 organizations nationwide.
We believe that we are facing a crisis of disconnection in the world today. One reason for this is that human connection itself is not well understood. Through this study, we intend to bring greater clarity to how we experience connection today and what helps us feel more connected.
Our promise is to put these insights in the hands of as many leaders as possible to accelerate the work to heal our disconnection and build healthier workplaces and communities.
The Connection research was conducted in partnership with Energage, which provided anonymized, non-attributed employee survey data to support the quantitative analysis. Energage powers the Top Workplaces employer recognition program, which identifies and celebrates organizations across the United States building strong workplace cultures based on employee feedback.
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