Barclays to ask staff - 'Do you have any friends?'

Everyone has a work best friend, but it’s rare for your employer to ask you to identify them…

The Sunday Times reports that Barclays is preparing to lead its upcoming staff survey with the question ‘Do you have any friends?’

The staff survey is expected to be distributed in a couple of weeks, and management anticipate an improvement in company culture as a result of employees naming their closest colleagues in the survey.

They also hope that workers who have formed bonds with other members of staff will stay loyal to the bank. The idea is Jes Staley’s. The Barclays CEO wants to make banking a “respected profession” again, having recently criticised the attitudes that have developed in the sector over the past decades.