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New research has found that employees developing close bonds with their colleagues is beneficial not only to themselves but also to their company.
Workplace consulting and global research organisation Gallup has revealed that workplace best friends are critical to individual and collective professional success, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data from the group indicated how increasing remote and hybrid working arrangements, born to combat rising rates of COVID-19 infections, in addition to the traumatic experiences and other profound difficulties the pandemic created around the world, have extrapolated the need for workplace best friends.
This is due to the fact such relationships foster judgement-free encouragement and support during problematic periods, while other employees thrust into hybrid or virtual working arrangements reported close work friends assisted in keeping them informed, accountable, and connected during an alien time.
For example, employees are able to pose “dumb” questions to their “best friend” about changes to business operations without fear of embarrassment, thus highlighting the simple yet effective nature of such relationships.
Gallup’s data revealed that employees who have a workplace best friend are significantly more likely to:
- Engage customers and internal partners
- Get more done in less time
- Support a safe workplace with fewer accidents and reliability concerns
- Innovate and share ideas
- Have fun while at work
Companies with higher employee engagement reported a 10 per cent increase in customer loyalty/engagement, a 23 per cent jump in profitability, and an 18 per cent rise in productivity (sales) while also recounting an 81 per cent drop in absenteeism and a 41 per cent decrease in quality (defects) amongst others.
Additionally, since the advent of the pandemic “there has been an even stronger relationship between having a best friend at work and important outcomes such as employees’ likelihood to recommend their workplace, their intent to leave, and their overall satisfaction with their workplace”.
Employees with a workplace best friend are twice as likely to recommend their company as a great place to work and report satisfaction at work, while also being less likely to actively seek alternative employment opportunities.
Gallup explained that “best friends at work drive outcomes because they’re more than a social connection or good relationship. A best friend at work is someone you can rely on through thick and thin.”
“These authentic friendships deepen employees’ sense of ownership for their work and enable employees to be more effective and sustainable, regardless of where or when they work,” it said.
They’ve also “played a crucial role as workplace navigate changes, uncertainty, and new ways of working”.
However, despite the undeniable evidence that supports tight workplace friendships, just 20 per cent of employees in the United States believe they have a workplace best friend.
According to Gallup, there are three clear and effective strategies that can be utilised to promote workplace best friends, whether in-person, remote, or hybrid working arrangements are in effect.
Leaderships acting with intentionality — that is, being deliberate and purposeful — in celebrating and championing best friends at work trickles down to the rest of the employee base who learn “behavioural norms and cues from their managers and leaders and they need the ‘OK’ from leaders to develop friendships on the job”.
Key to forming these relationships is making time for colleague connections. Gallup implores employers not to “wait for others to come knocking; look for ways to partner with and support them”.
Another strategy employers can deploy is to ask the question: “Do employees have time, opportunities, and permission to form spontaneous connections?”
“Team structures, workflows, and other systems and practices can make or break employees’ ability to develop real friendships at work,” Gallup explained. “Leaders should assess how factors like performance expectations and time requirement support (or impede) having best friends at work.
“Just as important, managers are responsible for promoting a local team atmosphere that encourages trust and collaboration. Wherever possible, managers should remove constraints to socialisation and create an atmosphere where employees feel free and encouraged to connect and show support.”
Continually, through engaging in conversations with employees, managers and leaders can lay the foundation that workplace connections are encouraged and supported, which ties into the final strategy outlined by Gallup — communicating often and “creating a culture where friendly dialogue is the norm”.
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