Is it in personal/professional/organisational interest for an employee to have a friend at the workplace?

Long-term relationships are often formed at work. The evolution of quality relationships is very normal and an important part of a healthy workplace. In the best workplaces, employers recognize that people want to forge quality relationships with their coworkers, and that company allegiance can be built from such relationships. The development of trusting relationships is a significant emotional compensation for employees in today's marketplace.

Thus, it is easy to understand why it is such a key trait of retention. The power of this is used in identifying talented work groups -- that the strongest agreement occurred in the most productive work groups. While companies often pay significant attention to loyalty toward the organization, the best employers recognize that loyalty also exists among employees toward one another. All employees have "leaving moments" when they examine whether to leave or stay at an organization.

The best managers in the world observe that the quality and depth of employees' relationships is a critical component of employee loyalty. This also points to the issue of trust between coworkers. When strong engagement is felt in a work group, employees believe that their coworkers will help them during times of stress and challenge. In this day of rapid-fire change, reorganization, mergers, and acquisitions, having best friends at work may be the true key to effective change integration and adaptation. When compared to those who don't, employees who have best friends at work identify significantly higher levels of healthy stress management, even though they experience the same levels of stress.