Women place extra value on friends at work

A woman's workplace friendships can influence whether she stays with a company or leaves, new research shows.

Massey University graduate Rachel Morrison found that women value workplace friendships far higher than men, who see having good friends as a bonus.

For women it comes closer to being a must, and can influence whether they stay with a company. Those with no friends at work are more prepared to leave their jobs than men are.

While women may value their workplace friendships highly, the friendships don't necessarily make them happier to be at work, said Dr Morrison, who now teaches organisational behaviour at the Auckland University of Technology business school.

"I found that there was almost no relation between having friends at work and job satisfaction for women, but there was for men. That kind of finding means there is obviously something going on.

"There are a couple of possible reasons, and I think the most likely one is that women, more than men, will make very close friendships when they are unhappy at work."

Dr Morrison's study, published in the New Zealand Journal of Psychology, looked at workplace friendships at a large Auckland hospital and also surveyed opinion over the internet.

It might be a mercenary thing for companies to do, but encouraging workplace friendships could make economic sense, Dr Morrison said.

"Turnover is obviously hugely expensive for an organisation, especially when you've got people who are quite high up or quite skilled."

Paul McDonald, from Victoria University's management school, said workplaces were increasingly focusing on a team, rather than an individual, approach to management. That had made workplace friendships more commonplace and more important.

"Relationships are very important for any employee at the workplace," Dr McDonald said.

"It may be that males have a slightly different connotation of the relationship."

However, people being friendly with their workmates did not make increased productivity a given, Dr McDonald said.

"There's an old saying in organisational behaviour that the happy cow does not necessarily give the most milk."