Inc. Magazine
According to KPMG’s Sandy Torchia, building friendships at work is crucial for reducing burnout and boosting mental health. Workplace friendships enhance engagement, job satisfaction, and company connection. Despite challenges posed by digital communication, fostering these relationships through flexibility, AI tools, and manager involvement can lead to a more productive, happier workforce.
Why This KPMG Exec Says Making Friends at Work Could Reduce Burnout
Author: Kit Eaton
Sure, you may briefly chat to Steve from accounts about the weather when you both pass by the water cooler, but would you say Steve’s really a “friend”? Perhaps not, given recent data from job search and workplace review site Glassdoor, which shows employees just aren’t making friends the way they once did. Gen Z, too, is fierce about separating their work lives and their “real” lives, so the workplace bestie or “spouse” phenomenon may be truly fading away.
But according to Sandy Torchia, vice chair of talent and culture at KPMG U.S., this is a terrible development. Torchia, in a recent opinion piece on a human resources industry news site, argued strongly for workers forging office friendships. Work pals are a “potentially undervalued tool for combating many of the issues that have emerged in our post-COVID era of work,” including burnout. Torchia admitted that there are “seemingly less opportunities for the spontaneous and informal interactions that often led to authentic connection,” in our digital-centric workplaces, but there are still ways to make it work.
In a blog on industry news site HRDive, Torchia noted that “‘Meeting fatigue’ has become a regular part of our lexicon, and professionals are reporting increased feelings of burnout, loneliness and isolation.” And who could disagree with that position? Remember how many times you’ve thought, “that meeting could’ve been an email” recently?
She quoted data from KPMG’s own survey, which showed that 78 percent of professionals feel workplace friendships help boost mental health. Over more strongly, 83 percent of respondents said they felt this type of relationship helps them feel more engaged at work, while 81 percent said they boosted job satisfaction and 80 percent said it strengthened feelings of connection to their workplace — all qualities that, if you look at the big picture, may boost a company’s profitability.
Tochia’s advice on how to foster workplace friendships, in the face of difficulties imposed by current trends includes some ideas that may challenge some leaders’ established ways of thinking about managing staff — particularly those whose urge to micromanage workers informed decisions to pressure them to “return to the office.” Torchia says that one popular trick for managers is to allow “flexibility around where and when people work,” and create blank calendar times when no meetings can be scheduled.
The issue is that the modern workplace isn’t the organic, flowing place it once was where workplace friends happened naturally. The sense of workplace “community” is going, and KPMG’s data show an “overreliance on digital channels” is one big barrier. This makes sense: it’s really hard to get to know someone on a personal level over Slack or Teams.
Instead it may take special effort on behalf of leadership to help foster workplace relationships, including creating time for it like “ideating together over lunch, celebrating the end of a big project or client win” or a holiday season meetup. Managers themselves can take an active part too, Torchia says, since in the 21st century a managerial role isn’t just “simply overseeing projects.” KPMG’s data, Torchia argues, suggest that in hybrid work environments, managers can be “especially impactful” because they can forge strong relationships with their “counselees.”
One trick may even be to use some of the technology that other commenters think is helping to drive the end of workplace relationships. Clever use of AI, Torchia argues, can speed up employee workflows because generative AI tools can take over some of the humdrum office tasks — freeing up employees’ time. This regained time could be used to build relationships, in situations like mentoring, coaching or simple chatting with colleagues.
Torchia quotes data showing 45 percent of professionals say scheduling time to connect with team members on both work-related and unrelated topics helps grow work friendships.
But this might be where, for a certain class of manager, Torchia’s words may go unheeded. Traditionalists, with one eye on the bottom line, may argue that if AI tools can free up employee time, then the most immediate financial benefit is to fit in more profitable work in the time an employee is actually working. It’s also hard to see company leaders of firms enforcing strict RTO rules, or moving to cull any “woke”-sounding, DEI-adjacent policies, embracing the idea of building in work hours for staff to make friends.
Nevertheless, it might be worth reflecting on Torchia’s advice and how it may impact your company because study after study has shown that happiness can boost employees’ productivity — by as much as 10 percent, according to one investigation.
Credits: TCA, LLC.