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Can Colleagues Be Friends

Can Colleagues Be Friends

Second home is that place where we spend our maximum time other than home. During our childhood days, school was considered to be our second home, thereafter it was college, and, once we began working, the workplace assumes the place of our second home. Work environment is one among the major factors that helps an employee to perform his best. It is often said that if you enjoy what you do, it is going to yield you the best results.

 

The two things, i.e. leaving for home from office and leaving for office from home are quite interlinked. We always long for a good and healthy relationship with our parents, in-laws, husband and siblings. And, the reason behind this is that we want a peaceful and stress-free life, and, after a long day at work, we have a soothing environment full of love and energy when we reach home. Similarly, we would always want to leave home and go to office with a cheerful face. This is only possible if you enjoy your work and you are actually waiting for the next day to go to office. It is not only your job description or profile that helps you to enjoy your work. There are several factors that add to your enjoyment. Other than your work profile, the other important factors are your immediate boss, the office infrastructure, the facilities offered to you, and most importantly, your colleagues, i.e. the people whom you are working with.

 

1. Colleagues can definitely become good friends since more the time you spend in an organisation, more you get to know each other - your strengths, weaknesses, your personal life, likes, dislikes, temperament, and many other related things.

 

2. Colleagues are the only set of people who clearly understand your workplace frustrations and can easily relate to what you are actually going through when your boss fires you.

 

3.Colleagues are the only set of people who come to your help by taking over your work so that you can leave early from the office if you need to rush for your personal commitments/exigencies.

 

4. Colleagues are the only set of people with whom you can disagree on certain aspects and yet come to a common agreement.

 

5.Colleagues are the only set of people with whom you can have a heated argument and then share lunch together.

 

6.Colleagues are the only set of people with whom you can crack jokes on office policies, but stand together for the company during its tough times.

 

7.Colleagues are the only set of people who can understand very well and relate your work pressure and things about your job which your family or an outsider may not understand.

 

Thus, a definite answer is that colleagues can become very good friends as a healthy and friendly relationship with them help us love going to office, focus on our work, enjoy our work, increase productivity, and thereby, adding to our personal and professional growth.

 

A very clear signal here is that employees who are considered to be the assets of the organisation have to be constantly taken care of in various aspects so that they stay with the organisation for a long time, thus adding to the overall efficiency of the organisation. This refers to efforts on high retention and reducing attrition. Promoting a healthy relationship among employees and helping colleagues to become friends can be considered as one among the most useful retention strategies by organisations.

Dr. Himani Sheth is Assistant Professor at L J Institute of Management Studies, Ahmedabad. She comes with a corporate experience of 5 years and academic experience of 8 years. Dr. Himani has an MBA in Human Resources from Gujarat University and a PhD in Human Resources focusing on workforce diversity and its impact on employee performance.

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