THE HEDGEHOG’S DILEMMA IN ORGANIZATIONS: THE PROS AND CONS OF WORKPLACE FRIENDSHIP

Abstract

There are numerous studies about the benefits of workplace friendship in organizations. Therefore, it may be assumed that well-established friendships in organizations promote effective information sharing, communication skills, increase teamwork and workplace morale among employees at work. Additionally, workplace friendships have positive effects for the organizations such as lower turnover rates, employee burnout and lower levels of intention to leave. On the other hand, just like experiencing the hedgehog’s dilemma, higher levels of workplace friendship or intimacy among group of individuals in organizations may lead to negative consequences such as the supervisor/subordinate friendship may raise the anger or feelings of unfair treatment by other individuals or may lead to untrue performance assessments. Besides, workplace friendships may cause failures to report misfits and counterproductive work behaviors accurately in the organizations. So, workflow might deteriorate and it may lead to conflicts in teamwork in organizations. In sum, in this conceptual paper, workplace friendship will be focused on and the advantages and the disadvantages of it will be outlined. Then, in the conclusion section, the recommendations will be made about how to reduce the negative effects of workplace friendships in organizations.

Keywords

• The Hedgehog’s Dilemma
• Friendship
• Workplace Friendship

Örgütlerde Kirpi İkilemi: İşyeri Arkadaşlıklarının Olumlu ve Olumsuz Yönleri

Öz

Örgütlerdeki işyeri arkadaşlıklarının faydalarıyla ilgili çok fazla çalışma bulunmaktadır. Bu yüzden, işyerinde iyi temeller üzerine kurulmuş olan işyeri arkadaşlıklarının etkin bilgi paylaşımını ve iletişim becerilerinin desteklediğini, ekip çalışmasını ve çalışanların moralini artırdığı düşünülebilir. Buna ek olarak, işyeri arkadaşlıklarının düşük iş gücü devir oranları, daha düşük seviyelerde çalışan tükenmişliği ve işten ayrılma niyeti gibi olumlu örgütsel etkilere sahiptir. Öte yandan, tıpkı kirpi ikilemindeki gibi yüksek düzeylerdeki arkadaşlıklar ve grup içi yakınlıklar, örgütlerde olumsuz sonuçlara neden olabilir ve ast/üst düzeyindeki arkadaşlıklar diğer bireylerin öfke duymalarına veya adil olmayan muameleye tabi tutulduklarını ve gerçeği yansıtmayan performans değerlemelerinin olduğunu düşünmelerine yol açabilir. Bununla birlikte işyeri arkadaşlıkları örgütlerde ters giden bir şeylerin ve amaca yönelik olmayan çalışma davranışlarını düzgün bir şekilde bildirilmesinde zafiyete neden olabilir. Bu nedenle, iş akışı bozulabilir ve örgütlerdeki takım çalışmalarında çatışmalara neden olabilir. Özetle bu çalışmada işyeri arkadaşları ele alınacak ve olumlu ve olumsuz yönleri irdelenecektir. Daha sonra, sonuç bölümünde, örgütlerde işyeri arkadaşlıklarının olumsuz yönlerinin azaltılmasına yönelik önerilerde bulunulacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• The Hedgehog’s Dilemma
• Friendship
• Workplace Friendship

Kaynakça

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