The dos and don'ts of work friendships
Employees with work friends are twice as likely to feel passionate about their roles. These individuals also tend to interact with clients, deliver high-quality work, and express greater degrees of well-being than those without work friends.News Arena Network - New Delhi - UPDATED: May 23, 2024, 12:29 PM - 2 min read
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Having meaningful connections in the workplace is essential for personal and organisational success. Most of us form these bonds naturally, as we spend a significant amount of our lifetimes at work.
After leaving college, many people in their 20s move to new cities for career opportunities, where they face the task of creating a brand new social circle from scratch. The workplace becomes an ideal place for people to connect.
Activities like grabbing drinks after work, playing team sports or just sharing meals are opportunities to form co-worker connections. These interactions not only help combat feelings of isolation but also add a sense of camaraderie and support to the daily work routine.
However, as individuals reach milestones like getting married or starting a family, their priorities in life naturally shift. The enjoyed after-work hangouts and casual meetups start taking a backseat to family commitments and home responsibilities.
Consequently, you might find that keeping up with work friendships becomes more challenging over time. Balancing professional growth and personal life often decreases the frequency and depth of these relationships while preserving any already-established connections.
Making friends at work
There is a difference between typical co-worker relationships and true friendships. Generally speaking, people we work with are not necessarily friends. In our personal lives, it often takes years of building trust to bring someone into our circle of friends.
Yet many of us develop friendships with colleagues we have worked with — often for years. For instance, I’ve made friends at work whom I respect and trust immensely — one of my best friends is someone I met on the job. Our friendship continued to thrive long after I left that workplace.
Do I share my deepest, darkest secrets with work friends? Nope. So then, is a work friend worth it? In short, yes — even relationships with weaker ties can be beneficial. But it depends on the depth and nature of the relationship.
The benefits of friendships at work Friendships can result in substantial benefits. A 2021 survey on workplace friendships and happiness found that 57 per cent of workers said having a friend at work significantly boosted job satisfaction.
Additionally, 22 per cent of survey participants believed friendships in the workplace enhanced their efficiency, and another 21 per cent thought these connections stimulated innovation.
When employees are happy, engaged, and productive and the organisation meets their individual needs, they are more likely to achieve their full potential.
Connection and community are essential to the workplace. They help us create a sense of belonging, strengthen our psychological contracts with our employers, and motivate us to be efficient. Strong relationships can facilitate communication and advice-sharing among co-workers.
However, it’s important to note that workplace friendships can have downsides. Friendships at work can be problematic due to rumours of relationships, nepotism and favouritism, to name a few. “work” and “play” can often conflict when career goals intersect or worse when conflict occurs. Many of these issues can be mitigated with clear boundaries and communication.
Preventing burnout
Employees are not the only ones who benefit from workplace friends — there are also significant benefits for employers. Promoting employee engagement through a respectful and inclusive work culture, for example, decreases employee turnover rates.
Employees with work friends are twice as likely to feel passionate about their roles. These individuals also tend to interact with clients, deliver high-quality work, and express greater degrees of well-being than those without work friends.
Apart from creating a supportive atmosphere, workplace friendships can also reduce people's tendency to look for other job opportunities.
This element of workplace culture has become increasingly important as companies deal with the aftermath of the Great Resignation, where 4.3 million Americans left their jobs in August 2021 alone.
Inter-generational friendships
Cultivating intergenerational friendships at work is important. You should consider expanding your networks to get the most out of these meaningful relationships.
However, forming friendships with supervisors can be challenging. Such relationships carry the risk of cronyism and nepotism and can undermine the integrity and effectiveness of a workplace.
A study in the healthcare sector found that healthcare professionals who felt unfairly treated were more likely to feel unmotivated, which impacted work performance.
This illustrates the struggle for organisations to combat perceptions of nepotism while fostering trust and camaraderie among employees. Friendships with a superior can work against personal relationships and the organisation as a whole.
Instead, organisations should prioritise mentorship programmes. Pairing younger employees with seasoned employees provides guidance, feedback and support, bridging the gap between individuals and the organisation. Mentoring is also a great way to bridge any generational gaps.
Whether a traditional peer-on-peer programme or someone taking you under their wing, the rewards are significant. About 70 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have some mentorship program, which speaks to its value.
Dos and don'ts
To ensure that workplace friendships are positive and don’t result in consequences, there are some essential guidelines and boundaries employees should consider following.
-Go out of your way to greet your co-workers, celebrate their accomplishments and invite them to lunch or happy hour after work.
-Maintain your professionalism at work, even when spending time with friends. Remember that your supervisor could be watching.
-Be kind to those around you: Avoid behaviours that may exclude others and avoid gossip. While not everyone may naturally form friendships, maintaining a respectful attitude is key.
-Handle conflict maturely: If you and your work friend encounter difficulty in your relationship, don’t place all the blame on them or ghost them. Address issues maturely and work together to resolve them.
-Balance socialising with working: If your friendship takes up too much of your time or impacts productivity, adjust how you interact at work.
-Don’t engage in favouritism: Ensure your friendship doesn’t lead to cronyism or nepotism, which can harm team dynamics and trust.
-Respect privacy: Don’t share personal information about your work friends with other colleagues without their permission.
-Communicate and stick to boundaries with your work friends.
Having friends at work can be beneficial—it improves mental and physical health, prevents loneliness, and helps organisations perform better. But, like in all relationships, it’s important always to remember and respect boundaries.
This article first appeared in The Conversation