How Office Friendships Benefit Your Work

Your relationships at work influence your productivity

Do you have a best pal at work? Chances are, if you do, you're a better, more productive worker than the office loner or grouch. That's according to the Gallup Organization, which conducts an annual poll on how employee attitudes relate to workplace performance.

Gallup's poll finds that employees who strongly agree with statements such as "My supervisor cares about me as a person," and, "I have a best friend at work" are more fully engaged in their jobs, meaning they feel more content and are more productive than those who are less engaged. These are type 1 workers, says Curt Coffman of Gallup. Type 2 are disengaged employees, those who do just enough to get by; and type 3 are actively disengaged, both unhappy and unproductive. According to Gallup, 63 percent of employees without a good office pal are disengaged, and 29 percent are actively disengaged. Only 8 percent of those without a good work friend are content and productive at work.

While folks who have a best friend at work don't necessarily experience less stress, says Coffman, it appears they have a better way of coping with that stress in a healthy, productive manner.