“You’ve got a friend in me” … at work? Many professionals warn against the idea of having friends at work, assuming that mixing friendships and business is a recipe for disaster.

However, studies find that this is not always the case! Knowing that you have camaraderie at the office can act as a key ingredient to workplace satisfaction. Just as these adorable tortoises demonstrate, a little helping-hand to a fellow friend (aka. coworker) might yield positive results for you, your coworker and the entire organization!

Friendships not only keep your employees satisfied in engaged, they also lift moral and foster a relaxed and happy work environment, allowing everyone to think and act more productively.

According to Christine M. Riordan, provost and professor of management at the University of Kentucky, camaraderie is a key ingredient to happiness at work for male and female employees. A study led by Riordan, published in the Journal of Business Psychology in the ’90s, found that the mere opportunity for friendship increases employee job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.

In a recent Harvard Business Review blog “We All Need Friends At Work,” Riordan pointed towards the multitude of evidence suggesting that office friendships can act as an antidote to dissatisfaction and disengagement at work. The type of relationships that go beyond casual Gchat buddies — what she calls calls “the good old-fashioned friendships created when we chit-chat, hang out, joke, and have fun with co-workers” — can have deep and far-ranging benefits in the workplace.

– Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/work-relationships_n_3561568.html

If you’re looking for a friend, AND an Insurance Problem Solver to handle the business insurance needs at your workplace, give us a call at 888.869.6509! Whether it’s commercial auto insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, professional liability, business property, etc., we make it our mission to “NOT Just Sell Policies. We Deliver Solutions!”