Social Connection Benchmark 2026: How Employees Rate Social Connection at Work

Social Connection scores 8.36 out of 10 in CultureMonkey's 2026 benchmark, 3rd of 22 engagement drivers, with a 0.44 correlation to eNPS (8th strongest of 22).

Based on ~624,000 survey answers.Q3 2026 dataLast updated: October 2026

Industries, regions and company sizes appear here only when they have at least 3 companies for Social Connection, so this page can list fewer than the parent's segment tables. Industry rankings cover the 14 industries with a full driver breakdown.

SNAPSHOT

Social Connection benchmark for 2026 at a glance

Score
8.36 / 10
Link to eNPS (r)
0.44
8th strongest of 22
Top quartile starts at
8.85

What a company has to score on Social Connection to reach the top quartile

All companies today8.36
Top quartile starts at8.85
6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00
All-company scoreTop-quartile threshold
Two bars on one scale: where all companies sit today, and where the top quartile begins. The difference in bar length is what a company has to close to get there.
HIGHEST

Industries where employees rate Social Connection highest

  • Hospitality employees rate Social Connection highest, at 8.58 out of 10. That puts it 0.22 above the all-company Social Connection score of 8.36.
  • Retail employees rate Social Connection second highest, at 8.47 out of 10. That puts it 0.11 above the all-company Social Connection score of 8.36.

Industries that rate Social Connection highest

8.588.47
HospitalityRetail
6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00
This segmentAll companies 8.36
Each column is one segment's score. The dashed line is the all-company score for this driver, so a column above the line scores higher than the benchmark and one below it scores lower. Only industries with enough answers to report are shown.

See employee engagement scores for every industry.

LOWEST

Industries where employees rate Social Connection lowest

  • Telecommunications employees rate Social Connection lowest, at 7.50 out of 10. That puts it 0.86 below the all-company Social Connection score of 8.36.
  • Construction and Heavy Industry employees rate Social Connection second lowest, at 7.74. That puts it 0.62 below the all-company Social Connection score of 8.36.
  • Professional Services employees rate Social Connection third lowest, at 8.09 out of 10. That puts it 0.27 below the all-company Social Connection score of 8.36.

Industries that rate Social Connection lowest

Telecommunications−0.867.50
Construction and Heavy Industry−0.627.74
Professional Services−0.278.09
−0.86Difference from the all-company score of 8.36+0.86
Scores higherScores lowerAll companies
Each bar starts at the center line, which is the all-company score. A bar to the right means the segment scores higher and a bar to the left means it scores lower, and the figure on the end of each bar is that difference. Only industries with enough answers to report are shown.

The spread of Social Connection across industries

7.50 Telecommunications8.58 Hospitality
6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00
Reported rangeAll companies 8.36
Of the industries with enough answers to report, Social Connection ranges from 7.50 in Telecommunications to 8.58 in Hospitality, around an all-company score of 8.36.

See how all 22 drivers rank on score and on their link to eNPS.

BREAKDOWN

Social Connection scores by region and company size

How Social Connection varies by region

8.488.338.268.238.18
APACLatin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaNorth AmericaEurope
6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00
This segmentAll companies 8.36
All 5 regions, highest first. The line joins the segments in order, so its slope shows how quickly the score changes from one to the next. The dashed line is the all-company score for this driver. Regions are ordered highest to lowest.

How Social Connection changes as companies get bigger

Micro (under 100)8.05
SMB (100 to 499)8.31
Mid-Market (500 to 1,999)8.50
Enterprise (2,000+)8.42
6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00
This segmentAll companies 8.36
All 4 company sizes, smallest first. Each dot marks one segment's score on a shared scale. The upright line is the all-company score for this driver, so the further a dot sits from it, the further that segment is from the benchmark. Company sizes run from the smallest headcount band to the largest.

See employee engagement by region and by company size.

Next in the ranking: Purpose Alignment ranks just above Social Connection, and Manager Support just below.

QUESTIONS

Common questions about the Social Connection benchmark

What is a good social connection score?

A Social Connection score of 8.85 or higher puts a company in the top quartile of CultureMonkey's 2026 benchmark. The all-company Social Connection score is 8.36 out of 10, 3rd of 22 drivers.

Which industries score highest and lowest on social connection?

Of the industries with enough answers to report, Hospitality (8.58) and Retail (8.47) score highest on Social Connection, and Telecommunications scores lowest at 7.50.

How strongly does social connection affect eNPS?

Social Connection has a 0.44 correlation with eNPS, 8th strongest of the 22 drivers and a moderate link on CultureMonkey's scale (0.35 or more is moderate). It measures how closely the two move together across benchmark segments and does not prove that one causes the other.

What does the social connection driver measure in an employee engagement survey?

The quality of relationships and camaraderie at work. That is how CultureMonkey defines Social Connection, one of 22 engagement drivers scored from 0 to 10.

How does the social connection score differ between regions?

Across all 5 regions, APAC scores highest on Social Connection at 8.48 and Europe lowest at 8.18.

How does the social connection score differ by company size?

Mid-market companies (500 to 1,999 employees) score highest on Social Connection at 8.50, and micro companies (under 100 employees) lowest at 8.05.

How does the social connection score compare with other engagement drivers?

Social Connection ranks 3rd of 22 engagement drivers on score at 8.36, below Purpose Alignment (8.43) and above Manager Support (8.32). On its link to eNPS it ranks 8th of 22.

What is the average social connection score?

Across CultureMonkey's 2026 benchmark, the average Social Connection score is 8.36 out of 10, based on ~624,000 survey answers. It is the mean of company-level Social Connection scores.

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Know how connected your teams really feel

Social Connection scores 8.36 out of 10 across all companies, 3rd of 22 on score. Compare your own Social Connection score against the CultureMonkey Employee Engagement Benchmarks, built on Q3 2026 data, then turn the gaps into an action plan your managers can run.

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