Are Work Friends the Answer to Improving Employee Engagement?
New Enboarder research suggests the friends we make at work don’t just make the job more enjoyable – they can be a game-changer for employee satisfaction.
If you’ve got a friend to chat with at the coffee machine and exchange funny memes with at work, chances are you’re happier and more productive. It might seem counterintuitive to someone with a more traditional view of work, who might argue, “I’m not here to make small talk, I’m here to get a job done.” And yet, humans are social beings. We seek belonging and connection in all areas of our lives – including work. 💟
You may also be familiar with Gallup research that has repeatedly shown the connection between friendship and employee engagement and job success.
According to Gallup, employees with a best friend at work are more likely to:
- Engage customers and internal partners
- Get more done in less time
- Support a safe workplace with fewer accidents and reliability concerns
- Innovate and share ideas
- Have fun while at work
Let’s dive deeper into why companies should encourage friendship and some onboarding examples to help employees foster friendships at work.
The Impact of Work Friendships on Onboarding
Remember those first day of school jitters you had as a kid, and how grateful you were when someone offered to sit next to you at lunch? It’s a similar feeling for our new hires. In those first few days and weeks in their new role, they’re building those relationships with their colleagues that will help them ramp up in their role and understand how the business works. That’s why friendship can be a powerful employee engagement metric.
In Enboarder’s new onboarding survey report, we found 73% of employees made at least one work friend during onboarding. But for remote workers and workers out in the field, making friends in those first weeks is a lot harder. Only 67% of remote new hires and 53% of workers in the field say they made a friend during onboarding vs. 75% of on-site workers.
But when new hires are able to connect quickly and make friends, their perception of their onboarding experience drastically improves.
The chart above shows new hires who made friends were 4x more likely to say they had an “over the moon” experience and almost 2x as likely to say they had a positive experience.
But they don’t just feel better about the new job, they achieve more during their onboarding.
- 82% who made friends said onboarding did a good job of ensuring all compliance paperwork was properly completed vs. only 60% who did not make friends.
- Friendships double the likelihood of employees feeling well-informed about their roles and the clarity of their job expectations.
- Culture integration is also significantly higher among employees who make friends, with 37% feeling fully integrated vs. just 16% of those without friendships.
- 36% who made friends said they felt supported by and connected to colleagues as humans vs. only 12% who did not make friends.
Strategies to Foster Work Friendships During Onboarding
As part of our recent survey, we asked new hires which onboarding activities were most helpful in building meaningful connections, and here’s what we found.
Not surprisingly, team lunches and outings and buddies top the list. But third most important are “profiles or bios to help me get to know the team.” This is where Enboarder’s Connection Cards come in handy to help employees connect on a human level through shared interests and traits.
Learn more about Enboarder’s employee relationship management software here. 🤗
Here are some more tips to consider:
Start With Preboarding
Technically, you don’t have to wait until they show up on day one to kick-start relationships. Preboarding – the time from when they sign their offer until they walk into the office – is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on all those feelings of goodwill you built during the interview process. Encourage teammates to connect with your new hire on LinkedIn or send them an email welcoming them to the team. These gestures don’t take much time at all, but they have a massive impact. When we asked new hires which activities helped them make friends, 84% said early emails and messages were beneficial.
Create a Buddy System for New Hires
Having a buddy system at work puts connection at the center of onboarding (in fact, 86% of new hires we surveyed said mentoring or buddy systems helped them make friends). Socialize the program across your organization and select people who embody your culture and your values to participate. But don’t leave interactions between buddies to chance. Create guidelines, including how often they should meet and what topics to discuss. Landor & Fitch, for example, uses Enboarder to nudge hiring managers to assign their new starter a buddy and those buddies are automatically sent notifications that walk them through what their role entails and sample discussion topics.
Encourage Team-Building Activities
Think ice breaker games like two truths and a lie or Enboarder’s Networking Game. Definitely schedule a team lunch for your new hire’s first day/week on the job. During preboarding you could ask them about their favorite food and then take them out to a restaurant with options you know they will love. Here are 25 creative onboarding ideas if you’re looking for more inspiration.
The Long-Term Impact of Workplace Friendships
Making friends during onboarding doesn’t just help new hires ramp up more quickly and have a more positive experience. When you invest early in connection and relationships, that pays dividends in terms of employee retention. Gallup finds employees with a best friend at work are much less likely to be looking for a new job and much more likely to recommend their organization as a great place to work.
Want to see how connected your onboarding program is? Take this 2-minute assessment!
