This is the fourth and final part of Moneywise’s series on money and relationships. In part one, we explored our individual relationships with money. In part two, we discovered how our physiology reacts to the good and bad stressors of money decisions. And in part three, we discussed money and family relationships.

Whoever originally said, a few years ago, that the minute you get a job, you should start looking for the next one was prescient.

According to recent statistics (US based), the average time spent in a work position is about four years: longer for older individuals, while less than three years for workers aged 25 to 35.

Given that relationships, connections, and mentoring are still considered positive enhancements in a working life, the shorter time frame to develop these relationships can be a challenge.

Relationships in the workplace may resemble relationships with family and friends, but they are more complex than familial interactions, where generally trust, two-way communication, knowledge of the individuals, family structures and support is ordinarily present.

In companies, work relationships resemble a four-tier square of company, managers, peers, and customers all of which require attention from you: loyalty, trust, respect, competency, performance, and the ability to negotiate personally and successfully in a layered environment.

In a business

Company operations can be a complex, swirling whirlpool of changes, allegiances, business strategies, hierarchies, driving ambitions, competing “silos” and of course, profit-driven motives.

Generally, a business operational culture may be perceived in two broad categories:

A dysfunctional working environment tends to reflect inadequate communication, conflicts, cliques, and secret alliances, inconsistent, inadequate policy clarifications and directions, management isolation, teams intolerant and/or unable to work together, competing factions and fear of blame judgments, rising negativity, anxiety and sometimes, regrettably, as reported in the media, harassment and possible abusive behaviour.

A harmonious workplace, the obvious choice, is a reverse of the above where an effective organisation is built on a foundation of strong leadership, practical working procedures and sound policies. Everyone in the company is a valuable asset, working in a team structure where each individual’s contribution is respected, recognised and rewarded. Open communication of ideas and concerns is encouraged along with upward training mobility facilitating the company investment in the human capital of the combined expertise of staff and management.

Change is inevitable

While those harmonious statements are true for that moment in time, the business world can be a hard place, changing overnight on outside or inside pressures. You wake up one morning – the status quo has completely uprooted when, for instance, an organisation sees a drop in profits, adverse marketing efforts are unable to stimulate consumer interests, possible mergers are looming, no one’s job is secure, cutbacks, redundancies, and downsize reactions can possibly diminish those company plaudits.

Working relationships matter

So how do you prepare and anticipate how to wend your way through various workplace relationships?

Employed within a corporate business structure requires continual assessment of the big picture, evaluation of progress, listening and feeling positive and negative undercurrents, understanding that co-workers’ and bosses’ decisions can impact your personal work and financial security at any time.

This awareness means being practical, cynical, adapting to fluctuating environments and forward planning, ever vigilant for opportunities within or without an organisation, almost with the changing tides of commerce itself.

Interaction and collaboration with peers and managers will help develop a real intuitive sense of one’s place in the company hierarchy. Body language becomes an important indicator of management decisions as well as how you are perceived by your co-workers and managers.

There used to be an unwritten saying that one should never be friends with co-workers given that some will support you, others will challenge your very presence while shifting alliances, no matter the intent, can upend and reverse both situations.

I never believed this statement. You are what you make of your life and your career. Working relationships matter!

Building strong relationships, mentoring, connections, and respectful friendships are more important than ever in stimulating intellectual discovery, problem-solving, and successful innovation. They are vital to career future growth. We know unequivocally that relationships from working connections can be career-changing, supportive, maintained, revived, and collaboratively utilised throughout a working life and beyond.

Lifelong learning

You also have to be confident in your personal abilities and identity. You are a work-in-progress and no matter the obstacles, you must have the determination to succeed, with a vital part of your progress projecting future success.

There is a reason for that too. Keeping up with rapid changes in work categories is mandatory.

Commerce today moves at the speed of light, almost. The The job obsolescence picture is changing rapidly. What you planned to become, major, or specialise in for a future vocation may already be slated for oblivion.

Artificial intelligence, ChatPGPT, online digital technology, hyper intelligent robots/bots and sophisticated cybersecurity are among the developments that can replicate and replace human activity.

A big part of your current job now is to research current and future job categories. It’s all there on the internet to help you prepare to figure out where you will be in five, ten, 15 years and more.

Then, you need to embrace lifelong learning, including financial literacy – it is no longer an option, it is mandatory. Keep up or get left behind.

Work is our identity

We need to work because we earn to thrive, while we build relationships, two of the compelling reasons for our existence.

Work can define you, or, you can define what you want – from your job and your life.

Sources

8 Ways To Build Strong Relationships in the Workplace

Understanding workplace dynamics and their impact on your organisation

• Martha Harris Myron is a native Bermuda islander with US connections, author, YouTube creator: The Bermuda Island Financial Literacy Network Channel, Google News Contributor, and a retired qualified international financial planner. Contact: martha.myron@gmail.com