Dive Brief:
- National Boss's Day is this coming Friday, and leaders might be happy to know that 74% of their employees consider their relationship with their boss to be "excellent or good," according to national staffing company Spherion's "WorkSphere" survey.
- However, for many employees, that relationship ideally takes nights, weekends and holidays off. For example, American workers who have a boss are split on whether they consider him or her a friend — 49% say yes, while 51% say no.
- And while 82% of employees report socializing with their boss during work hours or at work-related events, they are not best friends just yet. In fact, 46% never hang out with their boss outside of the office, and 41% consider their relationship exclusively professional.
Dive Insight:
Despite not desiring a closer friendship with their boss, employees do see possible upsides from maintaining a more personal relationship. Sixty percent believe to a "great or fair" amount that employees who are friends with their boss receive special treatment in the workplace. In particular, employees believe that bosses offer close colleagues a range of benefits, including more frequent personal interaction or attention (56%) and schedule flexibility (52%), among others, than they offer their coworkers.
"Top-down friendships really come down to balance," said Sandy Mazur, Spherion division president. "Given the focus on engagement and retention in the workplace, bosses should help establish a middle ground where employees feel they can approach them to discuss both personal and workplace matters, but where there also are clear boundaries so that time spent at work is devoted primarily to professional conversations and tasks."
