The Surprising Factor in Team Happiness

Have you ever considered that fostering friendships within your team could significantly boost their productivity and loyalty? I’m Dan Crompton, and in this post, we’ll delve into a surprising finding from Gallop’s extensive research on employee engagement.

They discovered that having a best friend at work is a crucial factor in team happiness and productivity. Let’s explore how we can cultivate these meaningful relationships.

Transcription:

Here is the really surprising factor in whether or not you have a happy team. Research agency Gallop analysed one million employees over 25 years and they found 12 factors that indicate you have an engaged and happy team, a team that that they described as being loyal and productive.

And some of those 12 factors, you may have heard about them. They’re called the Q12 assessments, and some of those 12 factors are to be expected.

Things like I’ve got the right tools to do my to do my job. I have the opportunity to do my best work. My manager checks in with me regularly. So, people can answer those questions positively they’re much more likely to be productive and loyal to your team.

But there’s one surprising factor in those 12 questions and that’s can your team members agree with the phrase I have a best friend at work and that one might feel a little bit unusual.

Is that in your remit do you think as a manager to foster social relationships and to foster that people actually have meaningful, genuine relationships with the people that they’re working with? Is that something you think you can control as a manager?

Regardless of whether you think you can or not, the data shows that there is a high correlation between people having a best friend at work and feeling loyal and productive.

It isn’t just about having fun and loving it. It’s about actually being productive at work and having a far greater likelihood of staying in a role than people who say that they do not have a best friend at work.

So, while you can’t necessarily control who likes who, there are definitely things as a manager that you can be doing, possibly should be doing foster those kinds of social relationships, those meaningful relationships, things like having regular social outings, not always just forced fun, sometimes it’s just got to be a bit more free and easy.

Also creating opportunities for shared experiences, whether that’s working together on a project, being in the trenches together, or even having shared experiences as a team that are kind of outside of the day job. So, what do you think about that?

Is that within your remit as a manager to help foster those relationships or not? Love to hear what you think.

Key Takeaways:

• Encourage genuine social relationships: Understand that fostering friendships at work is linked to higher productivity and loyalty.
• Facilitate regular social outings: Organise events that allow team members to bond outside of the usual work environment.
• Create opportunities for shared experiences: Promote collaborative projects and activities that build camaraderie.
• Balance structured and unstructured social time: While planned events are important, also allow for spontaneous interactions.
• Recognise the impact of friendships on retention: Acknowledge that employees with best friends at work are more likely to stay in their roles longer.

By embracing these strategies, we can enhance team cohesion and create a more engaged, loyal, and productive workforce. What are your thoughts on this approach? Do you believe it’s within our remit as managers to foster such relationships?