The Office Romance

Depending on which survey you read, up to 50% of employees have dated a co-worker. While this may seem exciting to the employees and provide plenty of gossip for the grapevine, it can also create a management and HR headache.

The concern about office romance comes from several perspectives. One obvious concern is sexual harassment. If advances are spurned, or if the relationship turns sour, it can lead to a larger problem for the company than just hurt feelings. Another perspective is concern about favoritism if the romance blossoms. Other co-workers may feel slighted by the lack of attention and focus paid to them, or suspect favoritism, especially if the romance involves someone in a supervisory position. There is also the impact to the cohesion of the team. A blossoming romance may make some team members uncomfortable, and a broken one may cause friction.

Only 13% of companies have a formal policy regarding dating in the workplace, according to a recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The other 87% have no formal or written policies. While true love can't necessarily be controlled, companies may still want to consider developing a written policy simply from a legal perspective to protect against the possibility of "love gone bad."

In recent years, many companies have relaxed their policies about inter-office dating. A SHRM study indicated that while 77% of companies were still concerned about sexual harassment issues arising from office romances, this was down from 95% in previous years. This shift is a reflection of changing employee attitudes regarding an office romance. According to a Careerbuilder.com™ study, only one-third of employees are concerned about keeping an office romance a secret, down from almost 50% a couple of years earlier.

With love in the air, what's a manager to do? First, make sure that all employees are aware of any formal policies in place. Second, urge any potential lovebirds to maintain a professional demeanor at work, and save the sweet talk and hand-holding for after business hours. Third, if you hear any juicy tidbits at the water cooler, tell the office gossips it's best not to spread rumors. After that, just manage things as you always have, and hope that the happy couple continues to act and perform like the mature professionals that you initially hired.