Workplace Romance

 

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Views on Workplace Romance

Workplace romance refers to the welcoming of sexual interest by two people who belong to a particular organization (Parks, 2006). These relationships have become common in the current times due to the significant changes that have occurred in the workplace. Some of these changes include the larger number of women in the workplace and the long working hours by the employees, causing them to spend more time with each other than with their families.

Romance in the workplace should not be entertained due to the negative impact it has on the individuals involved and their families. An example is a hierarchical romance where exploitation can occur as the person in the lower level uses the sexual reliance of the one in the higher level to get favorable working conditions. On the other hand, the person in the higher level can use the reliance of the one in the lower level to gain an increase in the work performed forcefully.

Furthermore, when a romantic relationship comes to an end, becoming coworkers can prove to be difficult. Also, in the case one of the individuals involved, has the desire to continue with the relationship this can result in sexual harassment. Romance in the workplace, especially in the early stages, can reduce the productivity of the people involved. Additionally, this kind of relationship can result in these individuals divorcing the partners they have currently. Thus romance in the workplace should be discouraged (Pierce, 1998).

 Organizational Policies on Workplace Romance

There are differing views on whether romance in the workplace should be forbidden or not; some of the sexual harassment scholars argue that the harassment can disguise itself as romance (Pierce & Aguinis, 1997). Thus, there is a need for organizations to establish policies regarding some aspects of the romantic relationship at work. An example of a policy which an organization can develop is one which forbids romantic relationships between subordinates and their supervisors. Another policy would be in restricting the display of affection publicly between coworkers who are in a romantic relationship. In cases where the employees violate these policies, the management can transfer them to a different department or even terminate them from employment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Parks, M. (2006). Workplace Romance: Poll Findings: Society for Human Resource Management. Wall Street Journal.

Pierce, C. A. (1998). Factors associated with participating in a romantic relationship in a work environment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(18), 1712-1730.

Pierce, C. A., & Aguinis, H. (1997). Bridging the gap between romantic relationships and sexual harassment in organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 197-200.

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