It is not uncommon for employees who work closely together for long periods to become friendlier outside the workplace. After all, many people have met their spouses through work. Bonds are formed between people who find out that they share interests and similar lifestyles through conversation. Because of this, romantic relationships can develop.
However, certain romantic relationships between employees can be disastrous, especially if the relationship is between two employees who are not on the same level. For instance, a relationship could develop between a manager and a subordinate. Many issues arise that could affect the business and even the rest of the staff. Although employees who get along are great for the company's morale, don't you think there must be boundaries and limits to maintain order and a balanced overall "good vibe" culture?
This article will help you understand why you need fraternization policies to improve the company's culture. Creating a fraternization policy is more complicated than simply saying, "no dating in the workplace."
Having a friendlier culture is essential, but when the relationship between two employees grows personal, it could disturb the workforce and decrease productivity. Nevertheless, if the relationship between a manager and a subordinate continues to grow, you could expect a delay in tasks and an unbalanced workload within the team.
Also, if the relationship falls apart, it can affect company culture, and the concerned employees' behavior can stress other co-workers, especially when the couple starts fighting in the workplace. These employees can go ahead and file a lawsuit or sexual harassment case in some cases.
This can jeopardize your entire business, and other employees might feel uncomfortable and lose job satisfaction. To act in the company's best interests, we think every organization should have a fraternization policy to set truthful expectations.
A fraternization policy creates a limitation between co-workers' professional and personal life. The policy sets boundaries within the workplace and allows employees to conduct themselves to respect peers. To create a better workplace, management should have good policies.
Standard acceptable and unacceptable behavior between employees:
Acceptable behavior:
Appreciating peers and following up on their work, and creating a stress-free environment
Creating a social bonding at the workplace like having lunch together or sharing common transportation
Connecting with peers to share project details
Maintaining consent of the relationship.
Unacceptable behavior:
No physical contact that feels inappropriate
Avoiding other staff
Diverting tasks to other subordinates
Avoiding personal communication that can disturb other employees
Spreading rumours and gossiping about personal relationships.
To address these issues and prevent unnecessary actions, we help our clients revise their employee handbook and add a proper fraternization policy. This helps protect employee rights while allowing your business to retain good employees and maintain productivity.
You can expect employees to follow acceptable workplace behavior with a fraternization policy. This applies to all levels of employees, from CEOs to janitors.
Inclusion in the policy
Start with what is a fraternization policy
Importance of the policy
What management expects from employees
Explain boundaries and lay out the consequences
Set rules and regulations for personal bonding
Explain the risk of an unprofessional work relationship
Define acceptable relationships and behaviors
State the process of reporting and appropriate actions
Describe the consequences of manager and subordinate dating
The points mentioned above can help you create a better policy and provide proper training to your employees. Our expertise helps our clients to build better relationships and a better workplace.
PS. At Vieras, we provide human resource services that include on-boarding, off-boarding, employee handbooks, payroll management and performance management. We have designed our services to help your business grow faster in the competitive market.