Work as strictly business is an outdated idea: office friendships serve a growing number of functions in our lives, write Amy E. Colbert, Joyce E. Bono and Radostina (Ina) K. Purvanov

Bono, Joyce E.

Colbert, Amy e.

Purvanova, Radostina (Ina) K.

LSE Research Online

11/2/2016Flourishing at work is all about relationshipsblogs.lse.ac.uk /businessreview/2016/11/02/flourishing-at-work-is-all-about-relationships/StoryCorps 2009/2010, by Alejandro De La Cruz, under a CC-BY-NC-2.0 licencePressing deadlines, endless meetings, micro-managing bosses. . . workplace stressors often leave employeesfeeling mentally drained and physically exhausted. But can we go from languishing to flourishing at work? Ourrecently published paper says: Yes! The key is to form positive work relationships. Based on over 200 stories wecollected from employees in a wide range of industries—including education, government, retail, banking,information technology, health care, human services, and manufacturing—we learned that positive workrelationships can help employees flourish at work.To flourish means to experience a high sense of well-being and to thrive and grow. We do not often associate humanflourishing with work, but our research suggests that thinking of work as “strictly business” is outdated. Our work andpersonal lives are more intertwined than ever before, and the relationships we form with others at work serve anincreasing number of functions in our lives.Don’t get us wrong – positive work relationships continue to help employees in traditional, instrumental ways. In ourresearch, participants told many stories about how their work relationships provided them with task assistance,career advancement, and emotional support. Getting help with job tasks, receiving career advice, and havingsomeone extend a helping hand during stressful work episodes were the relationship functions most associated withhigher levels of job satisfaction. But surprisingly, employees also talked about developing deep friendships withothers at work, experiencing personal growth through their positive work relationships, and having the opportunity togive to others.Friendship was the relationship function participants discussed most often. They talked about feeling they couldshare anything with their friends and doing fun things together outside of work, such as going to the movies, playingBingo, and even visiting each other’s home towns. Our results showed that friendship was the relationship functionmost predictive of one indicator of flourishing: experiencing positive emotions at work. Put simply, when employeesdevelop friendships with others at work, they have more fun! Considering the wealth of research documenting the1/3value of positive emotions for motivation and productivity, can you imagine the benefits both employees andorganisations might reap if friendship at work became an even more widespread phenomenon?Another unexpected benefit of positive work relationships revealed in employees’ stories was personal growth. Weheard many stories about gaining valuable insights from others and then using those insights as vehicles forpersonal growth. Participants shared stories of how they had developed as a leader, learned how to problem-solvebetter, and felt challenged to think more deeply about a wide array of work-related, personal and even religiousissues because of relationships they formed at work. This was a powerful discovery as it demonstrated how thebenefits of workplace relationships can transcend traditional work-life boundaries.Having workplace relationships that support personal growth was the strongest predictor of another key indicator offlourishing: life satisfaction. Wouldn’t we all be better off if instead of being a source of work-life stress, ourworkplace relationships provided opportunities for learning, growth, and development that crossed the work-lifeboundary?The final relationship function our research uncovered — giving to others — was novel and intriguing because pastresearch has focused on what people get from positive relationships at work, not what they give. We often think ofmentors as the giving type, but fail to appreciate the many ways in which all employees give to each other. In theirstories, participants talked about the sense of fulfilment they experienced when they taught a colleague new workskills, helped a colleague see themselves in a more positive light, or created opportunities for a colleague. Theyalso talked about how proud they felt to be a part of a colleague’s success, as well as how honoured they were to beable to provide emotional support to a colleague at a time of personal need. If you are thinking that this all soundslike employees finding a sense of purpose and meaning through their positive work relationships, you’d be right! Wefound that giving to others  was the strongest predictor of a third key indicator of flourishing — meaningful work —bya factor of 3!These stories about friendship, personal growth,  and giving to others reminded us of a simple truth – we don’t stopbeing human at work. Employees bring their whole selves to the job, not just their work-related skills andcapabilities. Organisations that realise this are in the best position to help curb employee languishing and spuremployee flourishing. Not convinced? Take a look at the work practices of America’s Best Companies to Work For.Yes, they all provide amazing perks and benefits – free food, anyone? But beyond that, these successfulorganisations go out of their way to promote the development of positive relationships among their employees.Acuity lists “Have Fun!” as a core value, and reportedly throws the best company picnic of them all! The BostonConsulting Group wants to increase employees’ work meaningfulness through their new, custom-designedworkplace collaboration and teaming program. Deloitte, Novo Nordisk, NuStar Energy, and many others buildcommunity through encouraging employees to volunteer for a cause they care about, together. Lest you think thatonly organisations that employ professionals go to such lengths to promote positive work relationships, cashiers atWegman’s and warehouse runners at Zappos also have much to say about how their company has allowed them toflourish.We are encouraged to see that so many successful organisations are already doing what our research uncovers asa tool to promote employee flourishing – creating a generative culture where employees build positive workrelationships with each other. But, there are thousands of other firms that have not built an environment whereemployees can connect and flourish.  We hope that our research encourages more organisations to createconnected and generative work environments, in which employees get and give more through positive workplacerelationships.♣♣♣Notes:2/3This post is based on the authors’ paper Flourishing via Workplace Relationships: Moving BeyondInstrumental Support, in Academy of Management Journal, August 1, 2016 vol. 59 no. 4 1199-1223The post gives the views of the author, not the position of LSE Business Review or the London School ofEconomics.Before commenting, please read our Comment Policy.Amy E. Colbert (amy-colbert@uiowa.edu) is a Professor and Palmer Research Fellow at theTippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, where she earned her Ph.D. in organizationalbehavior and human resource management. Her research interests include leadership, motivation,and workplace relationships, with a focus on leveraging positive resources to help people flourishat work. Amy has published scholarly articles on these topics in a number of journals, including theAcademy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology , Personnel Psychology, andThe Leadership Quarterly.Joyce E. Bono is the Walter J. Matherly Professor of Management at the Warrington College ofBusiness, University of Florida, where she teaches organizational behavior in the professionalMBA and DBA programs.  Her primary research focus is on employees’ quality of work life,including the effects of leadership, workplace relationships, personality traits, and interventionsthat build positive resources.Radostina (Ina) K. Purvanova  (ina.purvanova@drake.edu ) is an associate professor ofmanagement and leadership in the College of Business and Public Administration at DrakeUniversity. She received her PhD in industrial and organizational psychology from the University ofMinnesota. Her research interests include virtual teams and virtual leadership, employeemotivation and well-being, and women’s career advancement and leadership development. Ina’sresearch on these topics has appeared in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal,Personnel Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, and the Journal of Vocational Behavior.Copyright © 2015 London School of Economics3/3

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