Best Office Buddies: The Importance of Forging Workplace Friendships

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, “a crucial period for spotlighting mental health issues and combating associated stigmas.”

Mental health issues in the workplace have come to the fore since the 2020 arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, a period that saw many employees struggle with feelings of anxiety and isolation that negatively affected their work performance, personal lives and overall mental health.

Throughout these past four years, Gallup has studied the role of workplace friendships in helping employees maintain their mental well-being, and has determined that, while forming these on-the-job bonds is crucial, many workers don’t have a “best work friend” to help pull them through the tough times.

In June 2022, for example, Gallup found that just 21% of employed American adults said they “definitely” have someone they consider their best friend on the job. That number represented a 6% drop from 2022. Close to half of workers who said they did not have a best friend at work also indicated they were looking for a new job, compared to 37% of those who said they did have a best work friend.

Two years later, having a best work buddy is more beneficial than ever, according to Gallup.

Earlier this year, Gallup stressed the importance of forging friendships in the workplace, even as more organizations embrace remote and hybrid work models.

“For many employees, the pandemic caused traumatic experiences and other profound difficulties, particularly for healthcare and other frontline workers and educators,” Gallup’s Alok Patel and Stephanie Plowman wrote in January 2024.

“These employees found the social and emotional support from their best friends at work to be more critical than ever to get them through these challenging times,” they continued.

“Other employees who were thrown into the world of remote or hybrid work found that their best friend at work helped keep them informed, accountable and connected to their team. For instance, an employee can ask their best friend at work ‘dumb’ questions about changes to how things get done, without fear of embarrassment.

Conversely, employees without at least one colleague with whom they feel close became more isolated working from home in the COVID era, Gallup noted.

“And, because they lack collaboration and a sense of responsibility to a best friend at work, their performance may have dipped too,” Patel and Plowman wrote.

“Whether in the office or the virtual world, a best friend at work is a necessary source of connection and support.”