Over the summer, my friend and I both got jobs at a sports bar. Since she was a hostess and I was a waitress, we were able to work as a team together. At first when we both applied for the job I was unsure of how good of an idea it was. We are best friends and I could just imagine us goofing off and getting in trouble all the time. However, it was the complete opposite. Even though we goofed off sometimes, we were extremely productive together. We knew each other so well that I could tell when she needed me for a big party of twenty just by looking at her. We were also more willing to help out each other. If I dropped a plate of food, I knew she would rush by my side to help me clean up, while other waitresses had to clean up their own messes. Unfortunately, she quit at the end of the summer and working without her just wasn’t the same.
Many may argue that friendship in the work place is unnecessary with the old saying, “we’re here to work not make friends”. However, these people have it all wrong. Although work is still about professionalism, research finds that it is actually better to have a few friends around the office. Donald Clifton, an educational psychologist who founded Gallup, decided to measure the correlation between productivity and relationships with colleagues. Gallup found that “close work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50% and people with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to engage fully in their work.” No wonder my friend and I worked so well together!
Unfortunately, this is not something all companies have realized yet. According to Harvard Business Review, “surveys after surveys are showing that employee engagement at work is at an all time low”. If this is true, this is definitely something that more corporations should be focusing on! In fact, certain companies like Google and Dropbox are big supporters of workplace friendships and have focused on making the workplace environment friendly and positive.
Although I completely believe friendship does increase productivity in the workplace, I do have some concerns about the research. Reverse causation could easily come into play, as people who are more productive and involved in their work develop friendships with their co-workers. Think about it: people who are valuable around the office are probably aware of their surroundings and know their co-workers pretty well. Despite my suspicions within the study, I had never gave much thought to friendships within the workplace and I am grateful I know this now, especially as a young college student.
References:
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/11/you-need-a-work-best-friend.html
https://hbr.org/2013/07/we-all-need-friends-at-work/
http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Articles/Documents/SHRM-Employee-Job-Satisfaction-Engagement-Executive-Summary.pdf
I found this blog post so interesting! I work at an orchard during the summer and became really close with two other girls that work there. However, both of them only worked Saturdays as opposed to me because I worked Saturday and Sunday. It was much more obvious that on Saturdays I was more productive because I had a more positive outlook upon being at work with people whose company I enjoyed. But in regards to actually working, we were just as productive. When the line would start getting too long I could count on them to have everything prepped by the time the customer reached the register without saying a word. On Sundays that was not the case. I definitely agree with the research that having a friend in the workplace is productive but as you pointed out reverse causation could be an issue or even a confounding variable. However, overall very well done!