Workplace
Mixing business and pleasure
Employees who socialize together also tend to work better together, said Kristina Shevory in The New York Times. A recent study by Towers Perrin suggests that companies’ operating margins went up as much as 4 percent over three years when company employees felt supported and involved. That’s why some corporations underwrite employee social clubs. “Google, for example, backs everything from jugglers to Ultimate Frisbee to gay employee clubs.” Boeing supports more than 100 social clubs, for avocations from rubber-stamp collecting to winemaking. “Workplace specialists say clubs are a way to build camaraderie and help people get to know fellow employees away from work.” For the company, that translates to lower turnover and higher productivity.
Not all employees feel like being quite so friendly, of course, said Lily Garcia in The Washington Post. “I know the dread of having to mingle at social gatherings and the awkwardness of making small talk with a virtual stranger.” Don’t try to fake your way through conversations just to be social. If the company softball league or square dancing club doesn’t interest you, come up with social events that are more your style.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Doing the hustle: Are side gigs a sign of impending recession?
In the Spotlight More workers are 'padding their finances while they can'
-
The ambiguous legal state of ectopic pregnancy care
The Explainer Rep. Kat Cammack's accusations of 'fearmongering' are the latest example of how mixed messages are complicating the debate around abortion
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes