How should organizations manage workplace romance?

Dec. 19, 2012 - PRLog -- United Kingdom, December 2012 – ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and with possible workplace romances blossoming under the mistletoe at the office Christmas party, a new study published in the latest issue of the Journal of Management Development offers advice to HR managers on how to deal with this least known, and most “taboo” of organizational phenomenon.  

With our modern, corporate-driven society, many see the office as the new singles bar.  But workplace romance remains one of the most unmentionable of topics within organizations – and as a result, the least researched.  In “Managing workplace romance”, authors Jana Kolesnikova and Farhad Analoui, of the University of Bradford, examine the issues that workplace romances create –  for the organization, the couple and their colleagues – and provide HR managers with a framework that suggests a flexible and considerate approach can work to the benefit of all.

Examining various cases from global organizations, including Southwest Airlines and Ben & Jerry’s, who positively encourage romance at work, to KPMG, who forbid it, the authors consider various managerial approaches to managing the office romance.  Professor Analoui explains, “Given the high and increasing likelihood of workplace romance happening in any organization and its mixed effect on organizational well-being, it is not clear why the vast majority of leaders choose to ignore this phenomenon.  The adoption of a “considered” approach may help HR practitioners to develop a strategy for managing workplace romance that is the most suitable for their organizations”.

Free access details are available by contacting Kim Eggleton, Publisher: keggleton@emeraldinsight.com

The article is published in the Journal of Management Development, Volume 31, Issue 1. Published by Emerald Group Publishing, the journal provides an international communication medium for all those working in the management development field, whether from industry, consulting or academic institutions.  For further information, visit http://www.emeraldinsight.com/jmd.htm


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