At some level, most of us have participated in an Employee Opinion Survey. A typical question might read something along the lines of this: “Check yes or no - At work, I have someone I consider a friend.”  Anyway, most people check yes and move on to the next question without really thinking about what was asked. 

According to Gallup research, people who have a best buddy at work are seven times more likely to be engaged in their job (eager to come to work and bring with them their hearts, minds, creativity and passion) than those worker bees without that special friend.  Those without a BFF have a one in three chance of being actively disengaged. Those "disengaged" folks may become argumentative, sabotage or otherwise become a serious downer to the success of an organization.

This whole friend thing was brought to my attention while on a recent family camping trip. While sitting around the campfire, we were sharing random stories. Apparently, I kept referring to several different people as “so and so, one of my friends at work, blah, blah, blah….”. One of the fellow campers happened to recognize that I refer to people I work with as friends and not co-workers, employees, applicants that I’ve hired, or subordinates.  I guess I didn’t realize that my reference to co-workers as friends to be odd.  

When I returned to work the next week, I started to pay more attention to this friend thing.  Here's what I see....co-workers willingly planning their free time outside of work together.  I'm recognizing much more than simple commonalities and companionships.  We've got pretty much all the sports covered with co-workers from various departments playing softball, soccer, tennis, bowling, golfing, working out, biking together in their free time.  We've graduated from complaining about the Tigers while grabbing a cup of coffee to planning a road trip to Detroit to see it happen in person.  We have Guitar Hero and Mario Kart tournaments happening on the weekends.  Employees are scheduling playdates amongst their kids.  We have employees that have filled their wedding party and guest lists with their Rapidparts friends.  We have employees lending helping hands to their co-worker friends during times of need.  Employees are planning vacations together.  

I'm confident that when Rapidparts employees check that "yes = friend @ work" box on the survey, they truly mean it.  Next time I get caught referring to a co-worker as a friend, I'm excited to know that I'm contributing to the overall success of our company!