I asked a group that I was training this week about who they spend the most time with. After some reflection, nearly all of them said they probably spend most of their waking hours with their colleagues at work.
This is true for most of us working adults. And if this is the case, isn't it important for you to build quality relationships with your co-workers?
If you work with colleagues you like and connect with, you're more likely to be happier. And happier people simply produce better results.
I have realised throughout my work-life that literally everything I have ever achieved has been significantly impacted by the relationships I've forged with others. We all need the goodwill of others to progress in our careers. But you can only expect that if you actively choose to cultivate good relationships.
Most people underestimate the value of good relationships.
Some years ago, a couple of researchers from the University of Sydney, with backing from the Business Council of Australia, undertook a study to examine some of the top-performing workplaces in that country, and analyse the reasons for their success.
Their research offers insights into what these workplaces had adopted as their best practices.
The study identified 15 major factors that separated excellent workplaces from the generally good ones. These factors, or "drivers", were present to varying degrees in all the outstanding workplaces they surveyed.
The results show that organisations can create excellent workplaces, and the characteristics that support an exceptional workplace are discernable, measurable and manageable. There is really no magic in this process.
The first of the 15 drivers identified was "the quality of working relationships".
This simply means that people relating to each other as friends, colleagues and co-workers, played a major role in making an excellent workplace. Organisations that have people supporting and helping each other to get the job done were the most successful ones.
So, in simple terms, you will be happy to wake up and go to work with a spring in your step, when you like the people you work with. Conversely, if you end up working in an organisation with colleagues who are insufferable nitwits who don't support and help you, it really disheartens you.
When you have good quality workplace relationships, it improves the team dynamics.
If you get on well with your colleagues, you tend to perform much better. Your energy levels are higher; you mitigate some of the risks associated with decision-making because you know you have colleagues to back you up; and generally, you become less risk-averse.
I have noticed in teams where there is a new appointee, naturally, that person remains rather isolated and in general treads cautiously, until everyone else gets to know them.
If you take a disparate group of employees who barely know each other, and throw them into a special project team, they will take time to gel, connect and understand each other. But if a company selects people who already know, like and respect each other, they'd be collaborating better and much faster on any project.
Through my work, I realise that results are always better when people already have good working relationships.
In my leadership coaching sessions, I observe that when leaders successfully provide the setting for the development of good relationships, their employees feel better, which, as a result, makes them more productive.
So, when you have excellent relationships at work, morale is pointedly higher.
Another thing I've worked out while coaching senior executives is that even at that level, the colleagues one works with weigh heavily on people making decisions about their career growth.
Once, I had a senior manager from a multinational company who spoke with me about the approach she'd had with another company with a good pay rise.
I suggested that she give the offer the due thought it deserved and perhaps discuss it with her partner before making a final decision. But she told me that she wanted my opinion more about actually turning the job down.
It turned out that she felt connected with her present company. Over the years of her working there, she valued the working relationships with her colleagues, and even thought of many of them as her close friends.
While progress in her career was important to her, the relationships she had forged were equally significant.
Quality workplace relationships make people feel like they are part of something, and reduce the likelihood of them searching elsewhere for employment.
This is the best-case scenario for employees and employers.
When you work in an atmosphere where the relationships you have with others are founded on mutual respect, understanding, and trust; you will thrive. If you are an employer, you will successfully retain employees with experience to help your company's growth.
So, are you working on ensuring you have good and solid workplace relationships?
Shankar R. Santhiram is managing consultant and executive leadership coach at EQTD Consulting. He is also the author of the national bestseller "So, You Want To Get Promoted?
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
