Dating in the workplace ethics
06-Oct-2019 15:47
If it's just about sex -- a dalliance, an extramarital affair or a relationship entered into with the intention of moving up the career ladder -- coworkers and companies tend to frown on love relationships in the workplace. I checked out current research on workplace romance to answer Tina Turner's proverbial question. announced that it had forced the resignation of its president and chief executive, Harry Stoneciper, because of a "personal relationship" with a female Boeing executive that was "inconsistent" with the company's code of conduct. Ken Siegel, psychologist, author and president of the Impact Group Inc., a psychologists' group which consults with business management, was online Tuesday, March 8, at 11 a.m.
Or do you feel that the inter-office aspect itself is significant enough to warrant his release? Ken Siegel: The issue here involves mixing sex and power and that is an incendiary combination. He was brought in specifically to clean up Boeing after a series of scandals. Number two, I'm not defending sexual behavior at work as being appropriate or inappropriate but I am suggesting that the mix of sex and power organizationally should be met with sever consequences. : An earlier chatter said his biggest problem was that he dated a subordinate -- I would think that being married would also weigh in pretty heavily. I'm curious, would he have been fired if he were single? Ken Siegel: Probably not and perhaps he should have been severely chastised, publicly acknowledged the relationship, have on of the two of them voluntarily leave and issue a public apology indicating he made an amorous unwise choice but it was still his choice.If there are not policies, should there be set guidelines?These are still questions that many companies are trying to answer.So when Lewis Platt says "it's not the fact that he had an affair" but rather that he exercised poor judgment and what Platt is clearly acknowledging is that that's is exactly the reason he was forced to resign. That was basically the symptom and the cause was poor judgment. This was a sophisticated, competent CEO brought in on a ticket of reclaiming Boeing's credibility, engaging in scandalous behavior himself because of the issues of power.
What's so striking is that they use the code of conduct that he (Stonecipher) so vigorously promoted internally as the reason for his dismissal. As a complimentary observation, absolutely, and it could be made to a male as well. His affair: I think people are missing the point that Stonecipher is married.
If you think a collegial relationship you have might be morphing into a more amorous one, consider the ethical implications of letting this happen.