| Friendship is an essential component of social relations within an organization. While there are some organizations that are conducive to workplace friendship, other organizations resist the notion of workplace friendships fearing friendships will lead to dilemmas in the work environment. This study investigated and presented the findings of 20 working professionals to determine how workplace friendships influence career advancement and job satisfaction. A questionnaire consisting of 22 questions was disseminated to 50 working professionals to investigate how workplace friendships may influence job satisfaction and career advancement. The questionnaire was grouped into four categories: (a) demographics, (b) friendship with eleven sub themes, (c) job satisfaction with three sub themes, and (d) career ambition with two subthemes. The seven themes were identified when comparing the responses in this research: (a) vital friends exist in the workplace, (b) friendship matters in the workplace, (c) vital friends create problems in the workplace and there are negative aspects associated with having vital friends at work, (d) there are positive aspects associated with having vital friends at work, (e) vital friends in the workplace gives job satisfaction, (f) vital friends have a positive influence on perception of job satisfaction, and (g) vital friends influence career advancement. The data suggested that vital friendship is important, friendship matters in the workplace, and vital friends influence job satisfaction and career advancement. |
