Posted on 04/12/2024 6:51:00 PM PDT by DoodleBob
According to a Gallup poll, just two in 10 people have a best friend at work. The group that has seen the greatest decline is younger workers: For those age 35 and under, the two-in-10 figure is down from 25 percent in 2019. All of this has gotten some attention since the US Surgeon General’s declaration last year that loneliness can have serious health consequences. “Employees are isolated and lonely,” says Julianne Holt-Lundstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, who posits that the rate of surviving a job for people who are socially connected is 50 percent higher than for those who aren’t.
What’s missing in particular today, experts say, are “best friends at work,” as opposed to “work best friends.” The former, unlike the latter, go out to dinner or to sporting events on a weekend. Interestingly, experts say younger people are especially hungry for these connections, since they tend to be more open about themselves. “Younger people are much more their whole selves at work,” says Hannah Lomax, a senior workplace consultant at Gallup.
But any corporate leader will tell you that fostering friendships at work ranks among their toughest challenges.
…
In studies, Dunbar has showed that most people have an average of about five loved ones, 15 good friends, and 50 loose friends. Given that most careerists spend the majority of their waking hours in the office, ideally many of those 15 good friends are at work. But what leaders tend to forget is that it takes time to build friendships—around 40 to 60 hours to form a casual friendship, according to a 2019 study out of the University of Kansas, and over 200 hours to form a deeper, more meaningful one.
(Excerpt) Read more at kornferry.com ...
I would never hang with colleagues after work. That’s a recipe for disaster - what happens when there is a falling out?
My only friends at work are fellow Conservatives. I ignore the leftists.
People toiled for survival when it was necessary.
Take an honest guess what percentage of jobs in corporate America are actually necessary.
There’s no wrong answer. I’m just wondering what people think.
And, as technology improves, is a 40+ hour work week necessary?
In most cases, having associates at work is wise, not friends.
MeToo eliminated 50% of the workforce as potential friends. Best strategy now is do your job, keep your mouth shut, get your paycheck, and go home.
Nowadays an employee has to be careful “being their whole selves at work’. Some coworker may be looking for reasons they should get a promotion instead of you. Why make it so easy to dig for dirt and find something questionable about a remark you made today or posted 10 years ago.
Not everyone you meet at work will have your best interests at heart. Some folks need to be “snakebitten” once or twice before they learn that lesson.
That’s all I’ve ever had. I’m friendly with many, I consider a couple to be friends, I’m good friends with one. none are best friends.
I think in my entire career I’ve maybe gone out with co-workers two or three times.
I work pretty solo now, but when I worked in the office for most of my career, I went to work, did my job and went home.
My job is as a product trainer so I’ll go somewhere and meet up with sales people, do my training and leave.
It’s a balancing act.
My experience at every job I’ve had, is there’s no such thing as a best friend at work. Eventually the one you thought was your friend will stab you in the back. They’ll lie, cheat and steal to get a leg up on you.
Smart men got the message loud and clear from the "Pound-Me-Too" (#metoo) and the "Didn't Earn It" (DEI) anti-white racism that they're best move is to minimize any and all interactions with coworkers.
All the korporate officers and women whining about men withdrawing from anything not specifically work related can go thank Christine Blasey Ford and her globalist handlers. That woman lied decades after her hoax and had ZERO consequences.
The strip is funny but I have a feeling that lots of supervisors schedule meetings in order to have people around them.
My workplace is very meeting centric. There are sprint meetings, tagups and pretty much anytime someone needs to get face time with someone they put something on Teams or Outlook. But most everyone is married with families so their social life is pre-arranged.
Just happened to me last year. Quit that place 2 months ago.
Very wise.
Colleague =/= friend
Work life must be kept separate from the personal.
Of course the situation drives the narrative but in many office environments getting too close to male co-workers is usually not a good idea. Project assignments, promotions, etc all could be derogatory to work relationships.
Then there is the issue of female co-workers. They have the human resources department on speed-dial. Should you be so foolish as to compliment a female co-worker and she is not receptive to the compliment - Hello HR, I’d like to report an unsolicited advance. OTOH if you notice that a female co-worker is wearing something that enhances her appearance and you DON’T compliment her - Hello HR ...
In many places any interaction with female co-workers could be your ticket to the unemployment line. While a company may have realized that inter-office friendships can improve productivity, for the typical male employee there really is no upside for getting overly friendly with your co-workers.
So guys, be conservatively sociable and watch your mouth at work. Then after work go meet your friends at the bowling alley or the shooting range.
I was more interested in what the hell a Korn Ferry was....
I could never involve any conmpany with that name.
Bmk. Gaslightets
📌
I would counter that if you're not having fun in your work, then you chose the wrong career.
I work in a very male dominated industry. Our national sales team only has two women, both are highly competent at their jobs and also know that if they want to succeed, the best way is to be one of the guys. Believe it or not, one is in her late 20’s. I’m one of the older guys. She and I have actually talked about that and how we’re all glad we don’t have to walk on eggshells around her. The other is closer to my age and it’s the same thing.
The office and marketing staff is completely different. It’s all PC and mostly leftist women. I found out the hard way that opinions are not allowed. A few years ago, one of them asked my opinion about Covid. When I gave her a one sentence answer, she turned me in to HR like a good little Nazi. I made it a point to not speak to her anymore.
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