Generally speaking, companies are naturally made up of individuals because they are viewed as a social system. Thus, organizations produce a network comprising various social relationships. Because of several factors such as similarities in culture and lifestyle and individual interests, friendships in the workplace go beyond the social network seen in the formal structures of a corporation. Therefore, friendships and social relationships in the workplace is indeed a natural occurrence . For this reason , analyzing the manifestation of friendship at work has become a vital issue for various organizations. Researchers are attempting to find out the organizational and personal impacts of workplace friendship both in negative and positive aspects. In this regard, I recently interviewed three employees who work full-time. One works in the accounting department in an insurance company, the second person works in the IT department in the banking industry, and the third person is in the marketing department.
Generally, my interviewees asserted that relationships are bound to form when you work near others in an organization. Simply put, the development of friendships is unavoidable in the workplace. They claimed that they are motivated to make friends primarily because of the rewards they provide, be they functional or more tangible and social. Thus, they mostly make friends to enhance their working conditions. Also, they make friends in the workplace to assist in satisfying their need to belong.
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From the interviews, I gathered that there are many benefits associated with making friendships with superiors, co-workers, as well as subordinates. Firstly, the interviewees claimed that making friends in the workplace usually minimize their levels of stress especially when they form quality relationships. When individuals feel that they have adequate social support, they are less likely to be stressed whenever they come across stressful challenges at work. For example, for those who were friends with their supervisors, they perceived them as being good listeners. As a result, the employees developed feelings of inclusion, belonging, togetherness, as well as social significance thus, reducing their stress levels.
Secondly, the employees noted that having a relationship with their supervisors or bosses often resulted in enhanced work-related outcomes, such as promotions, career mobility, increased salary, rewards, and recognition. In other words, social relationships in the workplace have helped in establishing a community of belonging thus they always feel good about going to work every day. M ost of the time, they usually look forward to going to work because of the positive work environment that has been brought about by positive work relationships.
Third, the interviewees asserted that relationships with co-workers and subordinates also leads to positive personal and work-related outcomes. For instance, attraction among co-workers and subordinates improves communication, teamwork, as well as cooperation. Having close social relationships in which individuals trust and care for each other empowers them to work better and possess that sense of being a team, which results in getting tasks accomplished more productively . Also, work friendships increase job involvement, job satisfaction, as well as organizational commitment.
Despite the benefits, there are also challenges to workplace relationships. Firstly, the interviewees claimed that most of the time, the only similar characteristic of workplace relationships is the profession itself. Temperament, background culture, as well as other vital shared characteristics found in most family and personal relations, may be completely absent. Therefore, conflicts can easily arise due to differences in culture, beliefs, and temperament. Secondly, relationships between individuals with different positions and ranks can, at times, create an imbalance that can make relationships challenging.
To sum up, social relationships in an organization are vital as they have numerous benefits for employees and the organization as a whole. The interviewees highlighted several benefits of workplace friendships as seen above. In spite of the benefits, there are also challenges of making friends at work.
