WITH VALENTINE’S DAY AROUND THE CORNER, LOVE IS IN THE AIR AND PROBABLY IN YOUR WORKPLACE!

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Love is in the air, and Cupid’s arrows are all around. After all, romance can be found anywhere — in the park, on a walk, and, yes, in the office. It makes perfect sense that co-workers would fall for one another, as Art Markman, professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas at Austin, tells the Harvard Business Review. “You spend a tremendous amount of time at work and, if you put people in close proximity, working together, having open, vulnerable conversations, there’s a good chance there are going to be romantic relationships,” he said. Yet for employers, that creates challenges implementing guidelines, and navigating laws around workplace harassment.

Forbes reports that 41% of employees are not aware of company policies on workplace romance, and CNBC reports that just 16% of romantically involved coworkers told others about their relationship. To make matters more complicated, a hybrid of remote and in-person work prompted by Covid-19 has altered the ways and settings coworkers may interact.

From a management perspective, coworker relationships are not without their risks. When relationships falter, they can lead to hurt feelings and may greatly affect team productivity if not handled properly. Worse yet, they can manifest in behaviors that might constitute sexual harassment or unwanted attention, potentially leading to serious legal issues for the company.

As published in HR.com Personal Excellence, read the full article here.