Workplace Friendships Good For Morale, Bad For Everything Else

Asterios Kokkinos — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:00:52 +0000

Are you one of those bosses who wants your co-workers to all like each other and get along? Turns out, you may be hurting the company’s bottom line. File this one under, “mean but true,” as it turns out that workplace friendships lower overall productivity within the company.

Here’s some of the numbers: only 45% of Americans are satisfied in their jobs. That’s bad. A way to drive job satisfaction up is to make friends in the workplace, but – surprise, surprise – only a third of workers surveyed said that those friendships increased productivity and performance.

The study, which was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, also found that more women than men were into the idea of office friendships, and saw such friendships as something that could extend outside the workplace. Managers were split on the idea of workplace friendships, with 49% of them saying that they encouraged such behavior.

So the next time your annoying cubicle buddy tries to show you the latest dancing hamster video, tell him, “Begone, bane of productivity!”

Source & Photo Source: FastCompany

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Workplace Friendships Good For Morale, Bad For Everything Else