Interoffice dating and romances can be a tricky issue for any Human resources department. This is because of the close nature of most businesses. People spend a large portion of their day and get to know each other. Co-workers will naturally create bonds with each other. So, it stands with reason that there will eventually be romantic feelings developed as well.
The trouble comes in when this type of relationships starts to deteriorate or is developed under an extra martial affair situation. If employees cannot focus on their job duties, it is the company that will feel the effects with poor productivity and/or costly mistakes.
Create an Office Dating Policy
When the HR manager creates an office dating policy, he or she should not outright ban these relationships, but policies to control any fallout. Also, it is important to limit this behavior as well as managers dating their underlings. This will remove any chances of Sexual Harassment charges.
When upper management enters into a relationship with someone in a lessor position than him or her, it can cause tensions with outer staff. This is due to favoritism and the appearance of it.
Furthermore, the HR department needs to include clearly stated consequences for things like affected productivity levels, public displays of affection on company time, and favoritism. One of the most important points to make in the policy must be that all relationships must be voluntary for each party involved.
Unfortunately, flat out banning interoffice dating usually never works in most companies. With close to fifty percent of dating couples reporting to have found their mate at work, interoffice relationships are just inevitable. The best course of action for the HR department is put policies in place to control and deal with any potential lash-back from the ending of such a romance.
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