Get best of the week

Love or dismissal



Today is Valentine's Day, and even Friday. I hope this post does not cause an acute allergic reaction in respected Habr-users.



The topic of relations at work is very sensitive, especially from the point of view of maintaining production processes, a favorable working climate and labor productivity. In any case, that's what HR says about it. Moreover, they do this carefully, among themselves, not wanting to provoke discussion and open discussion in the team.

Nevertheless, with enviable periodicity there are stories of high-profile layoffs and fireplace outs. Let's look at them again at the beginning, and then discuss in the comments?

Love and Burgers


A love affair with McDonald's employee cost Steve Easterbrook the position of CEO and a place on the board of directors. The manager admitted that he violated corporate policy.

In a letter to McDonald's employees, the 52-year-old top manager admitted that he violated corporate policy by his behavior: “It was a mistake. I respect the values ​​of the company, and therefore I agreed with the opinion of the council that it was time for me to move on. ”



Banks, money, two trunks


In May 2007, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz resigned. The 62-year-old banker helped his beloved woman, Shah al-Rize, get a well-paid job.

The scandal erupted after the American Association of Bank Servants demanded to check the validity of the payroll of one of the WB employees - Shah al-Rize. Unions were surprised at her fast-paced career and even more rapid wage growth. They were embarrassed by the fact that Paula Wolfowitz and Mrs. al-Riesa have long been connected by a romantic relationship.

A special commission of inquiry was created, which, after a special investigation, published an official report evaluating the actions of the President of the World Bank. The commission concluded that Wolfowitz did indeed violate the rules governing the work of a financial institution and deliberately allowed a conflict of interest in the service. As a result, the man ejected from a well-paid job.



Open window


Melinda French, a graduate of Duke University, who got a job at Microsoft as a project manager, was not too impressed when the founder and CEO of the company, Bill Gates, approached her at a corporate party in 1987 and invited her to have dinner together a couple of weeks later. once wrote Business Insider. “For me, this is too unexpected,” the girl answered then, as the future wife of one of the richest people in the world admitted in an interview.

However, then Melinda left her number to Bill, asking him to call back closer to the day that he had in mind. Instead, Gates called her that evening, asking, "Is this unexpected enough for you?" As it turned out, it was.

Bill and Melinda met for seven years before legalizing their relationship. Melinda admitted that her mother did not consider marriage with the head of the company a good idea.



Curious statistics


More than half of Russians do not mind office romances, and a third had to hide them. This was shown by a survey of the "Work.ru" service in February 2020.

So, 53% of respondents consider office romances appropriate. At the same time, 24% of them believe that it is better to hide relations from the leadership.

It is noteworthy that most Russians fear not conflict with their superiors (7%) or dismissal (9%), but gossip by colleagues (31%) and the transfer of conflicts from home to work and vice versa (44%). Another 9% of respondents said that "you need to work at work."
24% of Russians are ready to sacrifice an official romance for work’s sake, only 14% would have made the opposite choice. However, the majority of respondents (62%) are sure that they could find a compromise.

As far as employers are concerned, the majority of them treat service romances neutrally, if the relationship does not interfere with the work process and the romance does not start between the boss and subordinate. The survey was attended by 4.6 thousand Russians.

Question: what do you think, relations at work is normal? And should the employer somehow influence, prohibit or regulate them?

PS All lovers on a holiday!

More articles:


All Articles