HR and Cupid's arrow

February 8 2002 - It appears that most HR professionals and corporate executives say that personally they would avoid workplace romance - but few organizations have a policy on the issue. These are findings from a topical survey of workplace romance jointly produced by the SHRM and CareerJournal.com - The Wall Street Journal's career site.

The SHRM surveyed 558 HR professionals for the study and 663 corporate executives were surveyed by CareerJournal.com. 81% of the HR professionals and 76% of the equally disapproving executives said that workplace romances were dangerous because they could lead to conflict in the organization. 76% of the HR people and 71% of the execs said they would personally avoid romantic relationships at work. Well, that's what they said...

The words 'get real' come to mind. After all, people management is about dealing with people - not business robots. So maybe we should all take this inevitable aspect of human behavior on board and think about how we deal with it. SHRM President and CEO, Helen Drinan, SPHR is realistic enough to say that: "It's natural that when people work together closely romantic feelings sometimes emerge." And continued: "That is why organizations need a workplace romance policy to help set guidelines for what is appropriate, and to prepare the organization for challenges that may arise." Presumably this is code for messy endings, broken marriages, loss of interest in the job, jealousy and a number of other problematic consequences from so many workplace romances that do not have a happy ending.

But the survey found that 75% of HR professionals and 59% of executives said their organizations did not have a policy on workplace romance.

"Colleagues who are dating should find out what the company policies are on workplace romance so they can avoid potential negative consequences," said Tony Lee, editor in chief and general manager of CareerJournal.com. "Although they may not lose their jobs, employees involved in office romances could be viewed as unprofessional, especially if they are public in their displays of affection."

On the positive side, two thirds of HR professionals (66%) and most corporate executives (57%) did say that, over the past five years, employees who had been involved in a workplace romance got married.

Meanwhile, a software business claims that online Valentine's Day shopping at work could cost corporate America $38 Million this month. This is a great time for all those online florists and jewelers but what about the lost productivity from smitten employees doing their online shopping during office hours?

"Online Casanovas can cost employers millions of dollars a year," said David A. Fertell, CEO of Pearl Software. "We estimate that online shopping for Valentine's Day, along with a jump in lonely hearts looking for relationships in cyberspace, account for millions of dollars in lost productivity costs during the month of February."

The online dating site Match.Com found that 33% of their 2.5 million members were visiting the site during the workday, with visits peaking around Valentine's Day. And, last year, Jupiter Media Metrix reported that nearly 6 million people tapped into the Internet to find someone special. "If only half of these 6 million people are online, spending only one hour this month looking for a valentine during work hours, that represents almost $38 million lost in productivity costs in February alone," noted Fertell.

"Long work days often mean missed social opportunities for many professional singles," said Trish McDermott, Vice President of Romance at Match.Com. "Since Match.Com's members tend to be college educated professionals, it isn't surprising that some of them first find us during a break while they are in the workplace, where they are likely to turn to the Internet to get things done in their personal lives."

Cyber dating at lunch time can be a welcome break for hardworking employees but this can use up valuable network bandwidth and some workers will visit dating web sites outside the lunch hour. Fertell says that this can result in lost productivity. "With businesses fighting their way through this flat economy, the issue of employee productivity has taken on more urgency," he noted.

And here comes the sell. Many businesses are using software tools to encourage proper use of the Internet during work hours. "Most of our clients don't mind if employees send personal email while at work - and probably wouldn't object to online dating or shopping - as long as it happens during authorized times when the network is slow," said Fertell. "With our Pearl Echo(TM) Internet management tool, companies can set up access to dating or shopping sites during lunchtime or after work."

But Pearl Software strongly urges organizations to have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) so that employees know which non-work- related Internet activities are allowable during work hours. "Just as a company adopts a policy on dress code and behavior, companies need guidelines for acceptable Internet use," said Fertell.

See also: Your office or mine? Love in the workplace on HRM Guide Canada