wacky wednesday - is small talk a big thing?

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article (A Victory for Office Small Talkers, October 27, 1014) describing a research effort studying chit-chat and employee retention. The article caught my eye because I have long believed that men and women talk about different things with their co-workers while they are at work.

When I ask my sweet husband how so-and-so's vacation was, he'll say something like he didn't ask and they didn't volunteer; they talked about work. Thinking this was something unusual about my husband, I asked other male friends if they engage in small talk with co-workers during breaks and they all said the same thing - "Work is for work." However, female friends who work outside their home often volunteer social information they learned from a female co-worker - things like a restaurant they went to or a movie they saw. Clearly women talk about things other than work.

This made me wonder if employers prefer "chit-chatting" employees or "strictly down to business" ones.

The article mentioned a study conducted by an assistant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where she analyzed two years worth of electronic communications (emails, texts, calendar scheduling, etc.) from a little over 8,000 employees at a global information technology consulting firm. She organized communications into categories including a social one indicated by words about meals, sports, etc. Her research showed that employees who used words like "lunch," "coffee," "baseball" and "dinner," for example, were more likely to keep their jobs during company layoffs. In fact, this "small talk" was a better indicator of job retention than how much money an employee brought in to the company.

The researcher suggested that "chit-chatting" employees have value that isn't well measured yet. They could be "influencers" - employees who are well-connected and relate on a more personal level with their colleagues. Or maybe they are more fun to be around and therefore, more valued by co-workers. Or they might boost morale in the workplace increasing overall productivity.

Whatever the reason, while work performance is important, social communication can give a little extra boost. It's time to bring the art of conversation back!