The bottom-line benefits of work best friends

People are the heart of business. Deals are closed by trust — by earnest connection between two. Employees do well when their managers passionately support them. Teams come out bettered by setbacks when they feel loyalty to their peers, emotionally committed to the big picture. All in all, whether an organization sails smoothly or goes under depends largely on these relationships

– says Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

The bottom-line benefits of work best friend – key takeaways

• Work friendships can boost employee satisfaction by 50% and reduce turnover. Partly because people who have a best friend at work are 7 times more likely to be fully engaged.

• Employees who enjoy frequent socialization at their jobs report more positive feelings ending each day. But, naturally, many employees feel valuable workplace relationships have been negatively impacted by remote work.

• How to put relationships first moving forward? Design for them. Think multi-use office partitions for laid-back team spaces. Social hubs for ad-hoc discussion. Private, acoustic pods for rowdy collaboration.

Just one work friendship can double an employee’s satisfaction.

That’s right. Work friendships can boost employee satisfaction by 50%. Just sink your teeth into that — 50%. It’s tremendous. Satisfied employees stick around longer. They add compounded value through the years. They cheerlead others on. Hence strong work friendships can reduce turnover, too.

Work relationships and engagement go hand in hand.

Employees who have quality bonds at work are often more attached to their organization. It follows that people who have a best friend at work are 7 times more likely to be fully engaged. 7 times!

The link is pertinent considering the cost of disengagement.

America’s disengaged workforce reportedly costs companies $450 billion to $550 billion annually. Engaged employees are simply more productive. They ultimately save their employer money.

Relationships make us happier as well.

Employees who enjoy frequent socialization at their jobs report more positive feelings ending each day. Intuitively, this makes sense. Science also explains it. In response to social contact, the brain releases oxytocin — one of the feel-good hormones strongly associated with trust and empathy.

Authentic bonds in the workplace can make employees more selfless, too — more willing to go the extra mile for fellow teammates. How? By way of good old-fashioned trust

– says Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

Relationships also make us physically healthier.

Dozens of studies have shown that people with emotional support from their social circle are actually healthier and live longer. In fact, isolation is considered a sure predictor of poor health. Mental Health Foundation’s work in their Relationships in the 21st century highlights this well,

A review of 148 studies concluded that ‘the influence of social relationships on the risk of death are comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality such as smoking and alcohol consumption and exceed the influence of other risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity.

Naturally, WFH weakened our work relationships.

It comes as no surprise that many employees feel valuable workplace relationships have been negatively impacted by remote work. Relationships need nourishment to grow. I.e., frequent socialization — that thing we went without during the pandemic.

How to put relationships first moving forward? Design for them.

They can’t be forced. They’re a product of regular interaction. Of how often employees cowork in the office together. The way to put them first is to make the office a super desirable social coworking hub, above all else — a place where people want to be, where relationships organically bud.

The way to give work relationships a boost is to retrofit the office for socialization, ensuring it bolsters all the ‘people’ functions of work it’s responsible for in a hybrid world. By making the office socially vibrant, you make it the craved counterpart to working from home, as human connection is obviously scarce on the home front

– lends Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

Setting #1: a versatile office partition for laid-back team training — hushWall

This social coworking zone is powered by hushWall — a multifunction, fuss-free partition. Whiteboard on one side. TV on the other. Portable for quick setup, markers at the ready. Visual distractions are reduced. Your team is zeroed in. It’s a mini oasis of calm.

What is it like to use the hushWall office partition? 3 common cases…

Setting #2: a social nook to spitball ideas — hushMeet.open

Meet hushMeet.open. A semi-enclosed booth with cozy upholstered furniture and a convenient meeting table. Partially dampens noise made within. Partially shields you from floor commotion. Still feels connected to the office’s energy. Slide in and let the creative juices flow.

Setting #3: a private, acoustic pod for rowdy collaboration — hushMeet.L

HushMeet.L is like a portable, acoustically perfect collaboration room. Spacious. Arrives empty, furnishable to fit your needs. Quick assembly. Adjustable lights and fan speed. Modular – seat between 6-8, no wasted space. Step inside and get wonderfully lost in thought.

But wait… aren’t pods all about isolation? Au contraire. Check it out: How “isolation” pods make the office more social, not less.

The bottom-line benefits of work best friend – summary

• Work friendships can boost employee satisfaction by 50% and reduce turnover. Partly because people who have a best friend at work are 7 times more likely to be fully engaged.

• Employees who enjoy frequent socialization at their jobs report more positive feelings ending each day. But, naturally, many employees feel valuable workplace relationships have been negatively impacted by remote work.

• How to put relationships first moving forward? Design for them. Think multi-use office partitions for laid-back team spaces. Social hubs for ad-hoc discussion. Private, acoustic pods for rowdy collaboration.

Reinforcing relations with workplace design – frequently asked questions about office pods

What is an office booth?

Office booths are prefabricated work and meeting pods for open-plan layouts. They’re acoustic, giving the pod user a quiet environment conducive to focus while also trapping sound made within, limiting office noise at large. They’re mobile as well, making the layout more flexible. Check out the Hushoffice collection for inspiration.

How do I add or remove modules to the hushMeet.L modular booth?

To expand it or scale it back, you can add to or remove modules from hushMeet.L. This allows you to accommodate changing employee needs and spatial parameters in time. A Hushoffice crew of technicians will assist in the process of disassembly/reassembly. Once broken down, individual modules can be easily relocated by pallet jack, so the booth is movable around the office floor or to a new building.

What is a meeting booth?

A meeting booth for the office is a private, contained pod for team discussion. They can be fully enclosed, like hushMeet (for 4), for ultimate privacy. Or just partially enclosed, like hushMeet.open (for 4) or hushMeet.open.S (for 2). Booths like hushMeet.open and hushMeet.open.S give employees pleasant seclusion from the floor without totally disconnecting them from its energy.