Interpersonal relationships

The work scenario takes up about one third of the working day. If we take into account the hours we stay awake, work represents a significant percentage of our working day. As a result, we often spend more time with coworkers than with most of our family members, and it is not surprising that great friendships arise within the company. The role that interpersonal relationships play in the development of our business is more significant than we usually think, which is why this is one of those aspects that you must take care of to maintain a productive and enthusiastic workforce.

In this guide we will be addressing some basic concepts that revolve around interpersonal relationships and their impact within the company.

What are interpersonal relationships?

Interpersonal relationships, or relationships between people, are those in which at least two subjects are involved. They are carried out spontaneously and are part of our characteristics as social beings. The human being is communicative by nature, has always developed as a group and requires interpersonal exchange for personal and spiritual development.

The interpersonal relationships that develop in the workplace are one of the phenomena most studied by large companies in the world, this is because there is a concern to create healthy environments so that they can develop spontaneously without affecting the execution of the work.

Benefits of interpersonal relationships

The benefits of interpersonal relationships have been addressed by several internal studies carried out by some first level companies. A certain proportional relationship has been appreciated between the work environment and productivity, where a more sociable environment that allows the worker to socialize in an adequate way increases his commitment and productivity in his work.

Interpersonal relationships in the company manage to create affective and emotional ties between the worker and the company, which is why many employees turn down offers of higher salaries to stay in jobs where they feel satisfied with their co-workers.

That said, generating a work environment where workers can express themselves socially and create emotional ties with their co-workers is a good strategy to promote productivity and loyalty to the company. The biggest challenge for company managers, when faced with the creation of this scenario, is to balance the time for their workers to interact without abandoning their work.

Challenges in terms of interpersonal relationships

As mentioned above, there are significant challenges in developing an environment conducive to exchange and socialization among workers. The first challenge begins with ensuring that workers can relate to each other without affecting the work. This is a point where it is difficult to make a general recommendation, as the relationships that may arise in a business such as a bar or a restaurant are not the same as those that may develop in a cab agency where workers are cab drivers and drive long hours of the day in the company of random customers, having very little time for exchange with the rest of the company's staff.

Depending on the type of company you want to set up, you will have to manage strategies that can be adjusted to the type of employment and the time available.

Holding company dinners, activities and festivities can be useful resources for any business, but once again, this is a task that requires the creativity of managers to get their workers to interact with each other.