Unleashing the Power of Connections: Exploring Workplace Friendships
Introduction
Have you ever been in a relationship?
When the word relationships is mentioned, imaginations run wild. It stirs a variety of emotions.
Depending on what you have experienced, the word could either bring sweet or bitter memories or even bittersweet.
This word could either be appetizing or nauseating to you. It’s called life.
Nevertheless, I am not referring to relationships between couples.
My focus is on workplace relationships.
In today’s fast-paced and competitive business world, workplace relationships have emerged as a winning formula in driving success.
This blog post will delve into the importance and benefits of fostering positive relationships with colleagues.
Table of Contents
1. What are Workplace Relationships?
3. Exploring the impact of Workplace Relationships
4. Benefits of Positive Workplace Relationships
5. What Organisations Should Do to Foster Positive Relationships at Workplace
7. Characteristics of Good Workplace Relationships
8. Too Much of Anything is Poisonous
9. Conclusion
1. What are Workplace Relationships?
You see when employees go to work, we sometimes forget that they are humans.
They move around with their human nature wherever they go.
It is not like they leave it at the door as they clock in and pick it up as they clock out after work.
Being social creatures, employees relate and connect at the workplace and form relationships.
These are the kinds of relationships that arise because of the workplace environment.
They are very important to the employees and even to the organization.
You see the workplace is not just an ice-cold place where employees check in and out and the only thing that happens between those times is carrying out tasks.
The workplace environment is like a social setting where relationships can either flourish or languish.
Something refreshing happens when employees have connections.
2. What the Numbers Say
According to Gallup employment engagement survey, only 30% of employees have a best friend at work.
Everyone loves to be appreciated and to have someone they can share both light and dark moments.
If globally only 30% of the employees agreed to having a best friend at work, is it a good thing or a bad thing?
Let’s see what the experts have to say.
Experts think that workplace friendships is a good thing.
According to Gallup, doubling this percentage to 60% could have a positive impact on organizations. It could lead to:
ü 28% reduction of safety incidents;
ü 5% increase in customer engagement scores and
ü 10% higher profit.
Safety incidents, customer engagement, and profit are critical factors in an organization.
Anything that could sharply improve these factors, will position the organization to a higher rank.
3. Exploring the impact of Workplace Relationships
When employees relate closely, there is a way it warms them up. It generates positive energy in them.
They are likely to engage in positive actions that would benefit the organization; something that they would not typically consider doing.
Research by Dir. K. Majini Jes Bella on Exploring the Impact of Workplace Relationships and Employee Job Satisfaction, in 2023, concluded that there is a relationship between workplace relationships and job satisfaction.
Several other studies on similar subject have also concurred with this conclusion.
Going to work is like having a marketing experience. People go to work mainly to earn a living and build a career.
This of course does not take place in a vacuum!
The workplace is a whole social ecosystem where the work environment creates a web of relationships (both formal and informal).
The workplace is characterized by a web of relationships.
There are various dimensions of relationships in the workplace.
Such include co-worker relationships; supervisor-subordinate relationships and; worker-non-work relationships.
Furthermore, there are other social dynamics within the workplace environment.
Here we will discuss the co-worker relationship and the supervisor-subordinate relationship in general as workplace relationships.
4. Benefits of Positive Workplace Relationships
When employees connect with one another, there are various benefits that accrue. These include the following:
· Improve employee’s performance
· Increase job satisfaction
· Greater goal attainment
· Increase commitment to work
· Reduce employee turnover
· Positive attitude towards work
· Increase motivation, confidence, and morale
· Greater employee happiness
5. What Organisations Should Do to Foster Positive Relationships at Workplace
As positive workplace relationships have many benefits, organizations should promote them.
These are some of the things they can do to foster them:
· Promote teamwork and bonding activities
· Create a supportive work environment to promote job satisfaction and the general well-being of the employees
· Develop and implement strategies that promote a culture of trust, open communication, collaboration, and training on interpersonal skills.
· Put in place conflict resolution mechanisms. Unresolved conflicts can lead to low morale and low productivity. In extreme cases, it can lead to employees leaving the organization.
· Promote gratitude and appreciation
· Encourage individuals to share their ideas
· Assign targets to each team
6. What Smart Managers Do
Smart Managers appreciate the value of friendships in the workplace.
At the same time, they understand that the friendships must be meaningful and beneficial to the organization.
Therefore, they create opportunities for team members to come together for events.
They encourage sharing of personal information (create a safe space for members to share personal stories to encourage socializing).
Smart managers do not fake friendships or cook them.
They simply create a conducive atmosphere whey they sprinkle seeds of friendships to germinate, grow, and blossom.
They facilitate interactions and socializing. At the same time, they are aware that conflicts are inevitable.
Due to differences in work ethics and personalities, employees are likely to disagree.
This is quite normal.
However, a Smart Manager quickly identifies conflicts and resolves them. Smart Managers also do not bury their heads in the sand and pretend that there will be no difficult employees.
The kind of employees whose main preoccupation is to cause trouble and stir conflicts with colleagues.
Smart managers use their expertise in conflict resolution to deal with such or else seek support from the Human Resources function.
7. Characteristics of Good Workplace Relationships
In assessing the quality of relationships at your workplace, look out for these telltale signs:
· Trust
· Respect
· Social support among colleagues (Leads to emotional and social attachment to the organization)
· Cooperation
· Communication
· Mutual reliance
On the Flipside, these are the signs of Negative Workplace Relationships:
· Conflicts
· Lack of collaboration
· Lack of supportive interactions
· Hostility
· Lack of cooperation
· Distrust
8. Too Much of Anything is Poisonous
No matter how good something is, it cannot lack some demerits.
The positive relations at the workplace have many benefits.
However, they can become too knit together and go beyond the ordinary co-worker relationship. As a result, they will lead to:
· Unhealthy competition;
· Envy;
· Gossip;
· Distraction from work-related activities.
9. Conclusion
The workplace breeds relationships.
Smart managers should always ensure that they create a palatable environment that is juicy for healthy relationships.
When employees are happy at work they will put in more and perform better.
Workplace relationships have an influence on employee engagement, performance, job satisfaction, and this in turn positively impacts the organization.
The organizational structure prescribes formal interactions and connections through the chain of command.
Other relationships connections, and interactions (social networks) outside the chain of command are mainly informal.
They have no structure.
Consequently, organizations must put in a deliberate effort to facilitate and guide them accordingly.
