Informal Relationships in the Workplace: Associations with Job Satisfaction, Organisational Commitment and Turnover Intentions

Abstract

Informal relationships between people within organisations can potentially either hinder or facilitate organisational functioning. The presence of informal relationships at work and the degree of cohesiveness perceived by individuals was investigated in two studies. The association between relationship factors and organisational outcomes such as job satisfaction, turnover intentions and organisational commitment were assessed. Study 1: Employees of a large Auckland hospital (NZ) (n=124) were surveyed using a pen and paper questionnaire. Results were analysed using path analysis and indicated that cohesiveness and for friendships were related to increased job satisfaction; leading to increased organisational commitment and decreased turnover intentions. The actual prevalence of friendships was primarily related to decreased turnover intentions. Overall there was good support for the proposed model. Study 2: To address some of the limitations of Study 1 (primarily sample size and homogeneity) a second study was conducted using an Internet based questionnaire; accessed both from within NZ and worldwide. A diverse sample of employees responded (n=412). Structural equation modelling indicated further support for most aspects of the model, suggesting that the findings are generalisable and the model is robust. ********** Numerous close friendships evolve from existing formal relationships in work places, and for many people, these relationships are maintained within the organisational setting. Yet, despite the frequency of dual friendship/work relationships, we know very little about how they function and how the blurring of relational boundaries might affect organisational functioning, the enjoyment of work, and perhaps even performance. Authors investigating workplace relationships comment on the dearth of literature in this area; there is relatively little theoretical or empirical work that has attempted to examine the behavioural or attitudinal consequences of informal relationships within the work context (Fritz, 1997; Riordan & Griffeth, 1995; Winstead, Derlega, Montgomery, & Pilkington, 1995; Zorn, 1995). In the early nineteen-thirties, Elton Mayo (1933) brought the topic of workplace relationships to wide attention, when he wrote the first management book focusing on the social of employees. Mayo advocated the role of socio-emotional factors in determining employee behaviour, contending that the extent to which employees received social satisfaction in the workplace was the most powerful influence on productivity. Subsequently, Maslow's (1954) classic theory of human motivation was published, which first described the of needs contending that; as lower level (such as physiological and safety needs) are satisfied, higher level (such as social, esteem and self-actualisation needs) emerge as motivators. Needs have been shown to influence performance in certain jobs. For example, the to satisfy are still studied in organisational contexts, and are thought to be related to competence (Medcof & Hausdorf, 1995), organisational commitment (Steers, 1977; Steers & Braunstein, 1976), job satisfaction and tendency to leave (Zinovieva, ten Horn, & Roe, 1993). Thus, although the simple hierarchy that Maslow envisioned does not adequately reflect the complexity of human motivation, the philosophy still has use (Bedeian & Wren, 2001). Following this early attention to the topic however, the interest in workplace friendships waned. Although Hackman and colleagues developed the job characteristic termed friendship opportunities in the early seventies (Hackman & Lawler, 1971; Hackman & Oldham, 1975), it was not really until the last decade that scholars have focused on the impact of workplace friendships once again (e.g., Markiewicz, Devine, & Kausilas, 2000; Nielsen, Jex, & Adams, 2000; Riordan & Griffeth, 1995; Winstead et al. …