Workplace romances and HRM: a private matter or organisational concern?

Previous research has highlighted the phenomenon of workplace romances in different countries. However, little attention has been paid to this topic from within human resource management even though social relationships can impact on organisational harmony and effectiveness. This exploratory study seeks to partially address this gap by presenting findings from a small survey of HR practitioners and employees in France. The main results were that HR practitioners reported little interest in, or concern with, the occurrence of employee romances. However, employee non-participants in workplace relationships expected the human resource professional to intervene in romances more frequently than was preferred by these professionals. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.