Trust in the workplace

In our too often slightly sad (and too often terrible) world, a lot of people seem to make the mistake of conflating workmate (more formally and specifically, "work colleague") with "friend". 

They're not. 

It is essential for people in the workplace (and elsewhere, for that matter) to be respectful of each other - to allow others to bring their authentic selves to work (I'd qualify that with "provided that authentic self is inclusive", but people who think a non-inclusive version of themself is authentic are badly scarred, completely out of touch with themselves, and in desperate need of psychological healing), and be able to work with others harmoniously. 

Some of those badly scarred people I mentioned may make the mistake of thinking they can force the outcomes of friendship (willingly spending time with each other, doing extra things for each other) on work teams with the same result, but that is truly insane thinking (and one such person I knew back in the 80s I have no hesitation describing as a psychopath). Such enforcement is merely an act of abuse, likely to lead to increased turnover, reduced productivity, and - ultimately - court cases against the company concerned. (There are a lot of management practices like that in recent years - sometimes presented as if it is about safety, although it is not actually caring about workers' wellbeing: it is about minimising the risk of litigation from physical injury. As such, these measures are often psychologically intrusive, and thus inherently psychologically abusive - and therefore likely to lead to the same three undesirable outcomes. This distortion came about when those who are incompetent at being human [which is broader than "psychopath / sociopath"] started struggling with OHS laws that were gradually introduced from the late 1980s onwards. Fortunately, where I work two mangers - who are in the five I mention below, one is in the three - have introduced what football teams describe as a "no ****heads policy", and that is helping either remove or contain those inclined to abuse.) 

The company I work for has over four thousand employees - nearly two thousand here in Australia alone. 

Of those, I trust five - I enjoy the company of many others, I get along well enough with others to joke with them, but I am neutral on trust or slightly wary, and of all those, I count three of those five as friends. (And there are a few I've seriously considered legal action against - most retired or close to retiring now.)

Enjoy the company of the people you work with - be a decent human being yourself, but don't mistake that for friendship; be appropriately cautious about who you decide to trust, which is one the early steps towards friendship; and never think you can go down a psychological cargo-cult type of path and force an outcome (such as closeness and supportiveness) on people and have that lead to the cause (friendship).