Office Romance A Risky Business

Exchanging Valentines with a co-worker may be an innocent gesture, but office romances still fall in the category of risky behavior.

Nearly one-third of 1,100 administrative professionals surveyed by OfficeClick.com, an online service, said that office romances damage the participants’ careers. Forty-one percent said such liaisons result in one or both participants leaving the organization.

Here are some other findings:

* Forty-six percent of respondents said office romances are a distraction that impacts productivity.

* Fifty-two percent said workplace romance leads to favoritism, perceived or real.

* Just 29 percent of respondents said office romances are perfectly appropriate and fun.

* Two-thirds of respondents said they had noticed office romances within their organization during the past year.

* Respondents were nearly evenly divided on the issue of whether colleagues are more likely to bring their office romances “out of the closet.” Forty-seven percent said they were, while 53 percent answered no.

In a separate report, the Society for Human Resource Management said that only 72 percent of companies have written policies addressing workplace romance. Fourteen percent have an unwritten yet widely understood policy.

Of those companies with policies that govern the do’s and don’ts of dating in the workplace, 55 percent say the policy permits but discourages romance. Seven percent prohibit such relationships. The report is based on a poll of 617 human resource professionals.

Sign of the times

Ford Motor Co. and Delta Air Lines took the lead earlier this month in what may become a trend: Making computers and Internet access available to employees at a token price.

Experts see the deals as a win-win situation. While workers get computers and Net access at rock-bottom prices, their employers benefit, too.

Companies get easier communications with workers, as well as reduced paperwork and manpower for certain personnel matters that can be carried out via computer links. That’s in addition to any specific productivity gains through work done at home.

Emory University business Professor Benn Konsynski believes the trend is a boon to companies and their employees. But he said it’s up to employers to ensure that cheap computers and Internet hookups don’t become a burden rather than a perk.

Home sweet home

While the number of Americans who telecommute has shot up over the past decade, a survey by the American Management Association found that most companies provide little support for these employees.

Only 7 percent of telecommuters at U.S-based corporations have been formally trained to work outside their normal office environment, according to the survey. The study, which polled 1,265 executives of AMA member organizations, found half the workers were not even supplied with the necessary equipment to work from home.