I’m a big fan of the cringe-inducing NBC comedy series “The Office.” The storyline that never fails to make me squirm in my easy chair is the running subplot in which Jim, a young paper salesman, carries on a messy intra-office romance with Pam, the wholesome, unavailable receptionist.
Perhaps you have a few Jims and Pams on your payroll. Do you encourage these romantic chess games, strictly forbid them or take the easy way out and pretend they don’t exist?
It seems human resources professionals are growing less worried about the negative effects of workplace romance. A Society for Human Resource Management/CareerJournal.com survey showed:
Fewer HR professionals think romance is not or should not be permitted in their organizations, dropping from 6 percent in 2001 to 4 percent in 2005.
- Fewer think couples may not work in the same department, dropping from 31 percent to 24 percent.
- Fewer think couples may not work on the same projects, dropping from 12 percent to 6 percent.
- Fewer think couples should not report to the same supervisor, dropping from 15 percent to 13.
- Fewer think liaisons between an employee and a customer should not be permitted, dropping from 18 percent to 13 percent.
- Fewer think romance should not take place between an employee and a vendor, dropping from 6 percent to 4 percent.
- Slightly more think there should not be romantic involvement among employees of significantly different rank, increasing from 12 percent to 16 percent.
- 4 percent still say there cannot be romance between an employee and a competitor’s employee.
The most notable attitude shift among HR professionals was a fading concern over potential sexual harassment allegations — that dropped from 95 percent to 77 percent — to a growing fear that office dating might bring about conflicts and retaliation among co-workers who lose that lovin’ feeling.
-- Kevin
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