Workplace friendships should be encouraged not policed

Catching up with colleagues can come as a relief after festive holidays with relatives. But it is in the interests of employers for staff to be friends year-round.

Friendships improve workplace communication, productivity and staff retention, research suggests. Staff stuck on a problem, for example, are more willing to ask an amiable colleague how to solve it. In a similar vein, Microsoft found that offering new employees a “buddy” who was available to answer simple questions helped new starters to become more productive in a shorter amount of time.

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The importance of friendship bonds between colleagues has increased since the rise in hybrid working. Although only one in five US employees feel they have a “best friend” at work, workplace satisfaction among those who did increased during the pandemic, polling from Gallup showed.

Not all workplace friendships are equal. British broadcaster ITV now asks staff to be more explicit about personal relationships that extend beyond the workplace in the wake of a scandal involving broadcaster Phillip Schofield. Taking holidays together, for example.

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Very close workplace friendships require effort to maintain, according to Prof Stephen Friedman of Canada’s Schulich School of Business. Last year he defined four types of office friendships. Looser work buddies, with whom you go to lunch but swap less personal information, are most likely to provide the productivity and well-being benefits without the downside of possible conflict.

There can be a thin line between workplace friendships and cronyism, academics at the London School of Economics warn. Employees who are friends may be more willing to share projects, for example. That can entrench class or gender divides. Employers may want to monitor who gains access to clients or work if patterns start to emerge, says Jasmine Virhia at LSE’s The Inclusion Initiative. 

Few companies are likely to follow ITV into demanding more strict disclosures. In the UK, corporate policies on relationships with colleagues remain relatively rare, says Jon Fisher, partner at law firm Pinsent Masons. They are more common in the US. Organisations do, however, tend to require more stringent disclosures around relationships with suppliers, Fisher says.

Efforts to stamp out unfair favouritism are commendable. But workplaces benefit from positive interactions between staff. Employers should let the new year catch-ups thrive.