Amitabh Sharma, Features Coordinator

The new millennium has changed the way we work, the office environment is changing and the hierarchy is going 'flat'. Gone are the days when the boss's cabin used to be a sanctum accessible to a privileged few.

As the office environment goes from formal to informal, often the question crops up, can boss and subordinates be friends?

There is a general consensus that this scenario rarely works. Most human resource (HR) professionals and managers believe that the pitfalls far outweigh the benefits.

HR experts say that there are those few people who can separate personal from pro-fessional enough that they can balance work and friendship. They believe that it is easy when the employee is performing well and is aligned with the manager's vision. But what happens when the employee's performance drops? Or when the manager makes a decision the employee disagrees with?

There is a very thin line between business and friendship; experts feel that one must keep business and personal lives separate. There cannot be any overlap as it involves dissemination of information, and one can't cross this line specifically in areas such as confidential information, or 'gossip' even when one wants and needs to vent about a fellow co-worker or an impending problem. There are always the times where such 'friendship' is really put to the test.

Some managers say that there are always employees that one likes more than others. They contend that it is natural to build friendships with the folks at work since one spends more time at office than at home.

Recalling a similar situation a senior manager says that she was in a similar situation but it was not easy. Even though the subordinates always claim that they would never take advantage of the situation, there is still the tendency to do just that.

Phenomenon

Her subordinate/friend felt comfortable taking one and a half hours for lunch instead of just an hour, recalls the manager. This was not an everyday phenomenon, but as the boss, the manager was not informed of the extended lunch hours.

That was one side of the coin, recalls the manager, the other side was that this particular person has a very outgoing personality and could get caught up easily in long conversations that would keep her away from her desk.

The boss's contention was as long as the subordinate got her job done, there wasn't a problem, but this did not go well with the other employees.

Such a friendship is seen as favouritism and unfair advantage by the other employees. It's virtually impossible to hide a friendship from the rest of the staff so there is a ripple effect among the outsiders.

Others argue that a boss is someone who sets rules and regulations. When the element of friendship gets involved the gains are restricted to their personal growth than giving any benefits to the company.

On the other side, experts ask, what happens when a boss subverts his new 'friend' to 'friendly' tasks? "Would you mind baby-sitting this weekend?"

It can lead to all sorts of animosity argue HR managers. There will be problems in the office with other co-workers and morally, it is not seen as a smart move.

Close friends

Managers also say that a boss and subordinate should not be close friends because the line between friendly behaviour (phrases, gestures, jokes, ...) and the circumstances that could lead to destroy the work environment is very subtle.

Most managers agree that as a department head one should not be seen as a one-way authoritative dictator, but rather a democratic manager. This, in their opinion, should be done keeping an eye on a balance where good positive environment stands together with a fast pace towards results.

When the subordinates are productive and happy, the managers say, they are friends anyway.

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com