Workplace friends may spell difference in good, bad jobs

By Amy Joyce
Washington Post

Whether or not my editor agrees, the Gallup Organization says that just the fact that I have a workplace friend to bounce an idea off means my company is better off than places where employees don't have someone like that.

The Gallup Organization has for years studied how employee attitudes relate to workplace performance.

One of its recent measures is called the Q12, a list of 12 pertinent statements that employees rate from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." The higher the employee's rating on a question, the more engaged in work the employee is, goes the thinking.

Employees who are fully engaged say they strongly agree with these statements:

• I know what is expected of me at work.
• I have materials and equipment I need.
• I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
• I have received recognition for doing good work in the last seven days.
• My supervisor cares about me as a person.
• There is someone at work who encourages my development.
• My opinions seem to count.
• The mission of my company makes me feel my job is important.
• My associates are committed to doing quality work.
• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
• During the last year, I had opportunities to learn and grow.
• I have a best friend at work.

A best friend at work? What is this? High school?

Work is a place where people "have a concentrated, invested percentage of time together," said Curt Coffman, a global practice leader with Gallup. And having a good friend at work is "positive in terms of multiplying one's productivity."

Having a work friend also lowers turnover and creates a safer environment, he said.

While visiting a manufacturing plant in Texarkana, Texas, Coffman asked a group of men on the shop floor: "Did you guys know that having a best friend at work significantly correlates to safety incidents?"

He got a sort of "no, duh" response.

"Son, if the guy that goes walking across the floor not wearing safety goggles is a best buddy of mine, I say, 'Get your damn goggles on,' " one of the men said to him. "If I don't know him, I won't say it."

There are three kinds of people we encounter at work, Coffman said. The first is the engaged employee who feels he or she is in the right job, is managed well and is productive. The second type is the employee who is not engaged. That individual is just holding on and doing the minimum amount of work necessary. Finally, there is the actively disengaged employee who is not only unhappy but acting out that unhappiness.

What Gallup found was that only 8 percent of those without a good work pal are engaged in their jobs; 63 percent of them are not engaged, and 29 percent are actively disengaged.

People who have a best friend at work don't experience less stress, but they have a way to move through that stress in a much healthier and more productive manner, Coffman said. It's not just about whine sessions. It's about talking through a problem with someone you trust.

"When you ask employees whether or not they have a best friend, you're asking them in part to what extent do they trust their co-workers," said Nancy Hammond, the global process leader for employee engagement at Owens Corning.

The company has conducted the Q12 survey for three years running. If you trust a co-worker, that means you are more likely to be open about your objectives, she said. You will be willing to take more risks and share information, which leads to better ideas and better results, Hammond said.

"Employees also feel more free to speak up without fear of looking incompetent in the eyes of a leader or co-workers," she said.

And, yes, Hammond has a best friend— in fact several — at work.

She leans on her friends to "calibrate my thinking," she said. She shares her ideas to measure whether her friends think those ideas will fly. "We help make each other better in our performance at work," she said.