- Channel HP
- :
- Inside HP
- :
- Careers at HP
- :
- Friendships at work – the key to engagement?
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark as New
- Mark as Read
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Email to a Friend
- Printer Friendly Page
- Report Inappropriate Content
Friendships at work – the key to engagement?
Who would have thought Bear Grylls – the rugged individual star of “Man vs. Wild” – identifies friendship as one of the most important keys to life?
Recently I had the opportunity to hear Bear’s telling of his Everest summit and a bit about his experience with the show. He was a great, engaging speaker and has one of the best attitudes a person can have. His story of climbing Everest was fascinating, and he’s the kind of guy you could listen to for hours.
But the really surprising piece of his presentation came when we talked about success.
Here’s a guy who was the youngest at the time to summit Everest, he wrote a book about it, he was in the British Special Forces parachuting out of airplanes, and he is filmed solo in the wild overcoming unbelievable challenges. If anyone has a right to believe in himself over the team, it’s him.
Yet, without a hint of ego, he says success is all about having friendships.
I think he’s on to something. Think about the best teams you’ve been a part of.
HR professionals across corporations are looking for the keys to increasing employee engagement. When I used to do exit interviews, people continually said the one thing that made them reluctant to leave was the people they work with. Think about the allure of the dot coms in the late 1990’s, the Silicon Valley beer bashes, and the team outings.
It’s all about developing friendships and bonds at work.
When you think about the jobs you’ve liked the most, what impact did your coworkers have on your connection to that company? Can friendships be the key to engagement?
Follow me on Twitter @StephKinHR
