Who said that pay is paramount at work? More than half of Canadians prefer friendships at work, according to a recent worldwide Workmonitor survey conducted by Randstad.
Making friends at work is important for Canadian workers interviewed for the Randstad Workmon
itor survey. This is very good once it is understood that office friendships contribute to employees’ happiness. From the data collected, 66% of Canadian employees say that they maintain close ties with their colleagues. 54% of them don’t hesitate to say that having agreeable colleagues is more important for them than good pay, while 53% say they spend time with their colleagues outside work.
Brazil and Hong-Kong more friendly
Results are slightly below those gathered globally. Among workers interviewed in 32 countries, 71% maintain close ties with their colleagues and 64% spend time with them outside the office. In some parts of the world, having friends among colleagues is part of normal life. In Brazil, 93% have friends at work, compared to 91% in Hong-Kong. On the other hand, in Luxembourg workers have fewer professional friends (20%).
As a general rule, workers interviewed relate a good atmosphere at work with the quality of relationships they have with their colleagues. In Canada, only 21% of employees think that friendships at work interfere with productivity, compared to 25% globally. The effect would rather be the opposite, according to the firm. Friendship at work contributes to better creativity, higher productivity, good morale and improved team cohesion. Promoting openness in this area would thus allow companies to improve competitiveness.
The advantage of networks
The entry of social networking in a professional context has also fostered the emergence of links between
colleagues. In Canada, 44% of respondents said that they have more contact with their colleagues outside work from social networking. Similarly, development of intranets and professional social networks has multiplied the possibilities of interaction and discussion.