''Employees who socialise at work enjoy their jobs more''

A new survey by Randstad has shown that employees who socialise with their colleagues at work believe that having friends at work makes their job more fun and those relationships make their jobs more worthwhile and satisfying.

According to the Work Watch survey, having a social network of friends at work does not necessarily mean they are chums outside of work though.

Some 38 per cent said they have colleagues they consider personal friends with whom they link up with in and out of work, 32 per cent described workplace socialising as solely office-based and 17 per cent said it was more a matter of necessity than anything meaningful.

Eileen Habelow, senior vice president of organizational development for Randstad, said: "There is no denying that workplace friendships can contribute to a positive workplace culture, including increased productivity and creativity, heightened morale, enhanced personal performance and stronger team cohesiveness."

Yet employees also see risks in these relationships, with many treading carefully because they believe they feed gossip and creative favouritism. Back