The office bff: the role of workplace friendship in motivating the millennials, gen-x-ers, and baby boomers of company x

Abstract

Friendship networks, just like organizations, are found everywhere. We can see them in a lot of institutions like churches, schools, communities, and even in the workplace. Employees spend much of their time at work. It is inevitable to form friendship in the workplace because humans are social beings. However, workplace friendship is more than just having fun. It is more than just spending time with each other talking about weekend plans and the latest game of your favorite basketball team. Workplace friendship can affect many organizational processes and outcomes—one of them is the motivation of employees. Motivating employees should be given enough attention because employees need a driving force to accomplish daily task. McClelland's Acquired Motivation Theory was used as the framework of this study together with the other related literatures and studies. This research focused on the role of workplace friendship in motivating employees of Company X. This study also considered factors such as opportunities for workplace friendship provided by the organization, generation of the employees (millennial, gen X, and baby boomer), and the types of workplace friendship (informational, collegial, special). With the data gathered from eight people belonging to different generations, it was found out that workplace friendship has important roles in motivating the employees of Company X. The study has identified that the Company X provides Workplace Friendship opportunities for the employees like team buildings, sports fest, and daily lunch breaks. It has also determined that there are two types of workplace friendship that exist commonly in the workplace-information and collegial. No special kind of friendship exists in the workplace. Lastly, workplace friendship has different roles in motivating employees. For the millennials, it is a source of their companionship, encouragement, and guidance. For the gen-X-ers, it can be a source of positive environment and a way to ease tension. The baby boomers, on the other hand, see it as a source of companionship, encouragement, and decision-making influence. Improvement of the existing strategies and addition of multiple strategies in motivating employees are recommended for Company X. Consideration of other factors such as gender and position is also suggested for future researchers. Moreover, a cross-generational approach can also be considered to properly design better strategies for motivation.