HR News

Mail System is Changing Forever. Not Just On Saturdays.

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:30:19 +0000

It’s time we wish the first generation of direct mail and e-mail a happy retirement to Del Boca Vista. I recall stories of when ol’ direct made the eyes of David Ogilvy twinkle with glee. Or when e-mail came on the scene, a hot, young upstart in the electronic world. But like all things, there’s [...]

Is Your Brand Positively Negative?

Maria Duron — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:30:18 +0000

If you’ve blogged or spent any time on Facebook, you’ve encountered people who will give a “positively negative” comment, comments that may to sound positive but end up sounding negative because of a word or phrase that they add in it. It affects those who post afterwards, like your comment or comment after a “positively [...]

Is an Office Romance Okay?

About.com Human Resources — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:00:18 +0000

Love is in the air at this time of year with Valentine's Day just around the corner and deadlines passing on custom gifts for that special person in your life. It's also the time of year when readers ask me about non-fraternization policies that forbid dating coworkers or bosses at work.

I'm a huge believer in prohibiting employees from dating their boss or any person who reports to them or who has any impact on their pay, performance rating, or promotions. In fact, if an employee has any impact on the working conditions or rewards of an employee, the two should not be dating. Period.

Love is in the air at work these days, though, as work expands to fill the majority of the hours in a day. Speaking realistically, where else do people meet others who share so many common characteristics? They have similar incomes, similar interests, and similar ages. They live within dating proximity and have their common interest in the company. Where else will any employee meet a person with whom love is more likely to bloom?

Consequently, I do support office romances between unmarried employees who are discreet. If the romance overflows into the office and causes tension, conflict, or impacts work in negative ways, then I have to intervene.

But, the dating couple needs to be aware of potential fallout in the future and factor the fallout into their dating decisions. When loves fades at work, the parties still need to be able to work together. And, the possibility always exists that one will report to the other or have to work closely together in the same department. As an employer, my advice to the person in this situation is, get over it. This potential existed when you dated, and it is not up to me to affect careers, responsibilities, and promotions because of your dating decisions.

What's Love Got to Do With an Office Romance?

Quite a lot, actually. To answer Tina Turner's proverbial question, I checked out current research on workplace romance. If the office romance is just about sex, if the romance is an extramarital affair, or if the relationship's goal is personal gain at work, coworkers and companies frown on love relationships in the office.

In our offices, we have experienced a number of serious love relationships. Several couples have married and those marriages have spawned additional relationships that have also ended up in marriage.

Several earlier marriages are working and couples have added children to our extended work family. In the research I highlight in a related article, Human Resources managers said that the most likely outcome of office romances that they have experienced is marriage.

So, if a couple is genuinely serious about dating and building a relationship, popular opinion is more favorable. And, these days, with the number of hours employees spend on work-related activities, they are likely to meet their friends and eventual spouses at work - even, if this can cause problems for employers.

If one employee is managing another employee and they are dating, one employee's job needs to change. What if performance problems arise later with one person in a married couple? I once worked with a client who opened a branch in another state and sent twenty married couples to staff the new location.

As you can imagine, when one partner was angry, two people were unhappy. The life and work balance was hurt also, because couples went to work together, worked together, went home from work together, and talked about work - together, all the time.

Learn more about dating, sex, and romance in the office. I've provided advice for both the dating couple and for HR staff and managers who are occasionally, and unfortunately, called upon to deal with problems that result from an office romance - gone good - or bad.

_{Image Copyright Susan Stewart}

More Related to Office Romance

Leading Views: Ideas are Immortal. Inspiration is Perishable.

Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:05:39 +0000

In ReWork—a go-to book for inspiration—authors Jason Fried and David Hansson explain why you need to get on with it. Just do it.

We all have ideas. Ideas are immortal. They last forever.

What doesn’t last forever is inspiration. Inspiration is like fresh fruit or milk: It has an expiration date.

If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it now. You can’t put it on the shelf and wait two months to get around to it. You can’t just say you’ll do it later. Later, you won’t be pumped up about it anymore.

If you’re inspired on a Friday, swear of the weekend and dive into the project. When you’re high on inspiration, you can get two weeks work done in twenty-four hours. Inspiration is a time machine in that way.

Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator. But it won’t wait for you. Inspiration is a now thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work.

Of Related Interest:
How to Decommoditize Your Leadership
Get to the Why by Starting at the Epicenter

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MN Headhunter: Minnesota Recruiter Jobs

Top Recruiting Blogs aggregator — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:02:55 +0000

The following new Minnesota Recruiter Jobs have been added to the Minnesota Recruiter Jobs page:

Minnesota Recruiter Jobs

MN Headhunter — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:02:55 +0000

The following new Minnesota Recruiter Jobs have been added to the Minnesota Recruiter Jobs page: Executive Recruiter - Full Time Job - William Richard Associates Senior Recruiter - Full Time Job - Target Technical Recruiter - Full Time Job -...

An Amazing Journey Of Self-Discovery

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:00:46 +0000

According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, the whole purpose of our lives was to – by the exercise of our senses – recover through learning the knowledge we once had before our birth. Paraphrasing St Ignatius of Loyola, the towering figure of XX century psychology Carl Gustav Jung updated Plato’s vision when he claimed [...]

Chad Ochocinco: Short-Term vs. Long-Term Brand Approach

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30:28 +0000

From a grading perspective, Chad Ochocinco gets an A for Brand Authenticity. He speaks his mind, shares his emotions, and tweets with abandonment. The man is a self-marketing machine. He has ridden bulls for charity, tried out for Sporting Kansas City of the MLS during the lock-out, danced with stars, and has his own iPhone [...]

Rocking, Rolling Ice Breaker Questions

About.com Human Resources — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:32 +0000

Need a quick, easy ice breaker that requires almost no preparation yet is versatile enough to use for just about any occasion? This ice breaker is a direct result of notes I received from two readers. They both wrote to tell me how well the ice breaker had worked in their meetings.

I was, of course, thrilled to get the feedback, but both writers really caught my funny bone. They had not used the one-word ice breaker that I had tested in the field for them. They both took part of the blog post I wrote to tell my readers about the ice breaker and used it as an ice breaker. I asked, in my blog post, "What's rocking your world this month?"

Turns out that it made a great ice breaker. How fun. Had to share that with you. So, I wrote another ice breaker, Rocking, Rolling Ice Breaker Questions, using many more examples of ice breaker questions that you can use in meetings.

I hope that you tuck these away because they sure come in handy when you lead a meeting. I hear regularly, too, from readers who use these ice breakers in civic groups, teen activities, church groups and more.

More Ice Breakers

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From Evil to Good, One Download at a Time

Steve — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:19:33 +0000

Remember just a couple of years ago when it was timely and hip to lament the loss of hundreds if not thousands of small, independent bookstores that were being crushed by the big box mega-purveyors like Barnes & Noble and Borders? Similar to the ir...