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To mark International Friendship Day we looked into what makes the workforce happy? Friendship ranked highly, with 46% in a recent 'relationship at work' study by LinkedIn stating that relationships and friendships at work hugely impacted on overall happiness.
No matter where you work it’s important to feel comfortable and secure in your job. As a HR leader have you considered what your workforce value? Is it a friendly working environment where they feel like they have purpose, or it is simply financial reward and recognition that makes them tick?
Workplace rewards can differ greatly, however the results appear unanimous…
Happiness over money
A recent Wildgoose ‘friends in the workplace survey’ was conducted which involved 120 companies and interestingly 61% who were asked chose happiness over salary, which goes to show that perhaps money can’t buy happiness after all. Of this 61% a huge 81% of this feedback was from women, which brings up an interesting talking point – consider your workplace, does this stat parallel to where you work?
“46% of worldwide professionals believed that having friends at work really impacted their overall happiness.”
The survey also explored just how important it is to have a best friend, or close confidant in the workplace. The findings were that 57% claimed that having a close friend made work much more enjoyable for them – making them more productive and just generally happier to be there, and therefore much more likely to be productive and engaged.
To strengthen this claim further, a Linkedin ‘Relationships @ Work’ study revealed that 46% of worldwide professionals believed that having friends at work really impacted their overall happiness.
Motivating different demographics
It’s also been noted that friendships can cause detractions and stress. Some feel they have an obligation to ‘keep up’ to be able to build deeper relationships.
The Wildgoose findings also discovered that 82% of the over 45 age group chose being happier at work over having a larger salary, therefore at the appropriate time should social activities and other perks be considered over financial reward?
“57% claimed that having a close friend made work much more enjoyable.”
This is a very important point for HR professional to consider as happiness throughout the workforce could be a simple change in the overall workplace culture and may not always revolve around money. It might be worth starting these conversations and understanding just want your workforce want from their day to day working lives.
To read the full Wildgoose survey, click here.