--- title: Do You Have a Best Friend at Work? Why That Question Deserves More Than a Side-Eye description: Gallup’s Q10 - “Do you have a best friend at work?” - often gets dismissed. But research shows workplace friendships are a powerful driver of engagement, wellbeing, and performance - for employees and leaders alike. image: https://sparkengagement.com/hubfs/Q10.png --- [Skip to content](https://sparkengagement.com/blog/do-you-have-a-best-friend-at-work-why-that-question-deserves-more-than-a-side-eye#main-content) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 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Why That Question Deserves More Than a Side-Eye ![Karin Martino](https://sparkengagement.com/hubfs/MakenaLeePhotography-5045-1.jpg) [Karin Martino August 11, 2025](https://sparkengagement.com/blog/author/karin-martino) - [Employee Engagement](https://sparkengagement.com/blog/tag/employee-engagement) - [Q12](https://sparkengagement.com/blog/tag/q12) - 4 mins **“Do you have a best friend at work?”** If you’ve ever taken Gallup’s Q12 employee engagement survey, you’ve probably paused at this question. It’s the one that makes people tilt their heads, laugh a little, or glance awkwardly across the breakroom. A *best friend*? At *work*? For some, the answer is a confident yes. For others, it feels too personal or even unprofessional. But Gallup keeps asking it for a reason: having strong relationships at work is one of the most powerful predictors of engagement, wellbeing, and performance. --- ### Why Q10 Matters More Than You Think According to Gallup, employees who strongly agree that they have a best friend at work are: - More engaged in their roles - More likely to produce higher-quality work - More likely to stay with their organization - Less likely to get injured on the job - More satisfied with their lives overall Gallup has found that employees without a best friend at work have only a **1 in 12 chance** of being engaged. That’s a sobering statistic, especially considering how tightly engagement is linked to productivity, profitability, customer satisfaction, and retention. --- ### What Does a “Best Friend at Work” Actually Look Like? Let’s clarify: Gallup isn’t suggesting everyone needs a work soulmate they hang out with on weekends. A best friend at work is someone who: - Celebrates your wins and supports you during hard days - Offers honest feedback because they want you to succeed - Helps you think through tough decisions - Shares the load when you’re overwhelmed - Encourages your growth and cheers you on It’s about **trust, loyalty, and support.** When people have that at work, they’re more likely to show up as their best selves - for their teammates, their customers, and the organization as a whole. --- ### Connection Isn’t Accidental - It’s Designed As a former manager, I remember introducing this concept to my team by showing them a range of social and team-based activities. I asked them to place a dot on the ones they felt comfortable doing with coworkers. The answers were all over the map. Some team members were up for a weekend camping trip or tubing down a river, while others preferred structured celebrations or team-based work projects. The activity revealed something important: **comfort levels vary, but the need for connection is universal.** Creating opportunities for people to get to know one another - within their comfort zones - is part of what it means to lead well. That might look like: - Collaborative projects with time for reflection and recognition - Celebrating milestones or birthdays - Organizing team challenges or shared learning experiences - Building in space for casual conversation before meetings - Encouraging peer coaching and support Friendships don’t have to be forced - but the space for them to grow should be *intentional*. --- ### This Isn’t Just for Staff - Leaders Need It Too Here’s something that doesn’t get talked about enough: **managers and leaders need strong relationships at work, too.** Gallup found that only **21% of managers** strongly agree they have a best friend at work - compared to 30% of other employees. That gap matters. Why? Because **managers are the linchpin of employee engagement**. When they feel isolated or disconnected, it doesn’t just impact their own wellbeing - it ripples across the teams they lead. Leaders who have trusted relationships at work are: - More resilient during stressful seasons - More likely to ask for help and give support - Better equipped to lead authentically and empathetically - Less likely to burn out or disengage And when managers model connection, they give everyone else permission to do the same. --- ### Don’t Leave It to Chance Strong workplace relationships aren’t a “nice to have” - they’re a strategic advantage. And in today’s world, where loneliness is rising and burnout is real, those connections are more important than ever. If you’re a manager, ask yourself: **How are you creating opportunities for colleagues to become best friends at work?** It might feel small - but it could be the most impactful thing you do. ![Karin Martino](https://sparkengagement.com/hubfs/MakenaLeePhotography-5045-1.jpg) ### Karin Martino Karin Martino is the founder of Spark Engagement and a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths coach trained in Gallup's Q12 Engagement framework. With a Master's in Educational Leadership and certifications in Daniel Goleman and Six Seconds EQ models and training in Dare to Lead, Karin develops emotionally intelligent and effective people leaders - combining the inner work of emotional intelligence with the practical people leadership skills that help leaders and their teams truly thrive. ![Spark Engagement logo](https://sparkengagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SPARK%20LOGO%20WHITE%20YELLOW%20NO%20BG-1.png?width=2000&height=1333&name=SPARK%20LOGO%20WHITE%20YELLOW%20NO%20BG-1.png "Spark Engagement logo") **Site Map**   - [Home](https://sparkengagement.com) - [Services](https://sparkengagement.com/services) - [Coaching](https://sparkengagement.com/coaching) - [Spark Source Blog](https://sparkengagement.com/blog) - [About Us](https://sparkengagement.com/about-us) - [Contact Us](https://sparkengagement.com/contact-us) - [Terms & Conditions](https://sparkengagement.com/service-agreement-and-terms-conditions) **Contact**   Spark Engagement, LLC   PO Box 1350 Grafton, WI 53024   (414) 66-SPARK   info@sparkengagement.com © 2026 Spark Engagement, LLC Follow Us [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/karin-martino) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Karin Martino", "url" : "https://sparkengagement.com/blog/author/karin-martino" }, "dateModified" : "2025-08-11T13:21:50.658Z", "datePublished" : "2025-08-11T13:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Do You Have a Best Friend at Work? 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