Making Friends At Work: Why Are Good Interpersonal Relationships in Your Job Important?

The pandemic has affected the world in terms of physical health and many ways. Work friendships have substantially changed over the past two years as many reports having deteriorated relationships with their friends at work. The talent revolution caused some friends to leave the organization to switch into positions that made it harder to stay connected.

As a result, there is an urge to rebuild these friendships, whether virtual or face-to-face. Indeed, having friends at work gives employees a sense of belongingness, a fundamental need, and satisfaction at work. Previous studies showed that having friends at work is one of the main reasons they stay at their current job.

(Photo: Unsplash/Brooke Cagle)
Making Friends At Work: Why Are Good Interpersonal Relationships in Your Job Important?

Why Is It Important to Build an Interpersonal Relationship at Work?

Humans are naturally social beings, which means they need each other to live healthy lives. According to Gettysburg College, a human adult spends an average of 90,000 hours or one-third of their lives at work over a lifetime, so having friends and good relationships at work will make jobs more enjoyable.

Good relationships will colleagues foster confidence in voicing opinions, brainstorming, and going along with novel ideas from other people. This is essential to embrace change and promote creativity and innovation. Group morale and productivity soar when employees see the successes of working together.

It gives each employee freedom because its focus is on opportunities instead of spending time and energy dealing with bad work relationships. As Mind Tools reported, having a good work relationship is built on trust, respect, inclusion, open communication, and self-awareness.

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How to Build Good Relationships?

According to a study from Purdue University, good work relationships with friendship as its core tend to be more satisfying and long-lasting. These interpersonal relationships are made up of emotional support, trust and security, care for others, and spending time together.

But how can people create meaningful and great relationships at work? Forbes has listed six ways that matter most when making friends in the workplace:

Bring Your Best Self at Work- Studies have shown that people value reliable warm, kind, trustworthy, intelligent, fair, agreeable, and conscientious people. When other people start counting on you because you care, demonstrate competence, and be your best to come through for them.
More Acceptance, Less Judgment- Since no one is perfect, accepting others is a great quality for building strong relationships. Forgiving coworkers for little mistakes ad being tolerant to eccentric teammates leads to more satisfying relationships.
Being Trusting and Trustworthy- Trust is an important element of any relationship. Studies showed that being trusting and trustworthy promotes healthy relationships.
Emphasize Common Goals- "Birds of a feather, flock together." Friends with similar traits, values, and goals tend to report satisfied relationships.
Support Each Other for Growth and Development- Best relationships foster growth and development for the betterment of each individual.
Share Power at Work- Sharing decision-making and influence contributes to stronger, satisfactory relationships. Ask for their input and give them a voice to say their ideas.