Gotta Have Friends

I just finished an interesting book called Vital Friends by Tom Rath. Rath was associated with the Gallup organization, as well as other major research firms and specializes in studying the impact of friendship on peoples’ lives. While the book discusses many types of friendships, it focuses a great deal on the workplace, and how having a best friend at work can make a huge difference in an employee’s productivity, engagement, and job satisfaction. This got my attention.

One of the things I missed most when I retired was the daily interaction with my co-workers, even though I didn’t actually have one “best friend” and the work environment was becoming far less conducive to employee socializing. Looking back, I’ve always had a best friend or a few very close friends almost everywhere I worked, and when I didn’t, my stay was short. Rath validates what I’ve always felt: it’s the people you work with who make the job bearable – or unbearable.

Filling that friendship void when you don’t have co-workers anymore takes effort. I meet with my former co-workers for lunch periodically. It’s always great to see them, but it’s just not the same as working with them every day. There is something about sharing the same goals, problems, and daily frustrations that makes co-workers close. I’ve met new people through my volunteer work, but don’t see them often enough for that “co-worker bond” to form quite as easily. In time, though, I think it will happen.

More on this subject in a future post. . . .

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