Enterprising Person – Lonely Learner? A Narrative Research on Workplace Loneliness in Learning Situations in Microenterprises

Loneneliness manifests as s broad societal challenge that undermines employees’ wellbeing at work, job performance, collaboration, and learning. Additianally, remote work has further transformed work practices and the quality of social interaction, thereby posing challenges for the development of a sense of relatedness and collective workplace learning. Despite the extensive negative consequences of work loneliness at both individual and organizational levels, understanding of work loneliness and how it develops in relation to workplace learning remains limited.

Work loneliness refers to an individual’s experience at work of not having interactions with other that are meaningful and satisfying. It concerns the quality rather than the quantity of social relationships. Although, work loneliness is a subjective experience, it is constructed through everyday interactions and practices between people at work.

The research project examines: 1) how work loneliness manifests in relation to workplace learning and what kinds of narratives about loneliness are constructed in employees’ speeches, and 2) which sociocultural practices frame work loneliness in learning situations and what consequences work loneliness produces for learning.

The aim of this research project is to increase the understanding of work loneliness as a socially and culturally constructed phenomenon in relation to workplace learning.

The study is conducted in Finnish micro enterprises whose employees perform knowledge-intensive work and use digital communication tools in their daily activities. The data consist of individual interviews with employees and supervisors. Methodologically, the study employed a qualitative narrative research strategy.

The study produce:

• enhanced understanding of the interrelations between work loneliness and workplace learning, as well as their associated consequences
• insights into the construction of work loneliness and the practices shaping it
• evidence-based practices for preventing work loneliness and for strengthening a sense of relatedness