When I started at my current job, I was hired into a brand new unit. There were only three of us, and we each operated mostly in our own silo. There was no hostility or toxicity, but there wasn’t much connection, either. We had all lived in the area for a while and already had our own friends, families, hobbies, and routines outside of work. None of us really prioritized building relationships within the unit.

That changed when we hired a new colleague from out of state, whom I'll call Stacey.

I had served on her hiring committee, which made me her unofficial go-to person for workplace questions. At the time, onboarding was fairly bare-bones, and there was no formal peer-mentorship in place. Stacey began reaching out to ask if I wanted to meet for coffee or lunch. Eventually, I invited others from the unit to join us. Before long, casual coffee breaks became a semi-regular thing.

Stacey later told me those get-togethers mattered more than I had realized. She didn’t know many people in the area, and work had become her main source of social connection. Those informal moments helped her feel like she belonged.

Unfortunately, Stacey didn’t stay for long. Within a few months of joining the unit, she received an offer back in her home state and no one tried very hard to convince her to stay.

She left, but her impact didn’t.

Nearly 10 years later, our unit still gathers regularly. Sometimes it’s organized lunches, sometimes it’s end-of-semester happy hour, we even had Zoom coffee hours during Covid. The format has changed across time, but the habit stuck. One small suggestion reshaped the culture in lasting ways.

The experience taught me something important: a sense of........

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