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Singling out singles: Structuring employee services
to accommodate the dating game
by Michael P. Scott
Corporate
America's effort to help workers juggle a job and family
has left some single employees feeling overworked and
unappreciated. Savvy companies seeking to establish
themselves as Employers of Choice are paying closer
attention to the needs of singles in the workplace.
"When it comes to employee services, it is important
to offer something for everyone," says David Dale,
CESM, manager, employee services, Ashland Inc.,
Lexington, KY. "Therefore, one of our objectives in
seeking top talent is to position ourselves as being
single friendly."
My life is my
job
In my role as an organizational consultant and speaker, I
have heard many stories of singles' needs being ignored
and how they often feel taken advantage of at work
because of their marital status. The laments of being
asked to work extra hours, while married employees are
given the flexibility to leave work early if need be, are
common. "When most of an employee's waking hours are
spent at work, it becomes difficult to meet people
socially," says Helen Patton, supervisor II
activities, State Farm Insurance Co., Bloomington, IL.
"Therefore, many single employees at our company
have expressed a desire to meet new people at work and
through work." The challenge for employee services
providers is to effectively integrate the needs of
singles into employee events and programs.
Condoning
office romance
Unfortunately, the concerns over workplace sexual
harassment claims have caused many organizations to
abandon specific corporate initiatives designed to help
singles mingle. According to a survey by American
Management Association (AMA), New York, NY, 80 percent of
workers know of, or have been involved in, an office
romance. Dennis M. Powers, author of the book The
Office Romance: Playing With Fire With-out Getting
Burned, says up to one-third of all relationships
start at work with one-half of them resulting in
long-term commitment or marriage. Office romances aside,
there are a number of ideas that you can pursue to ensure
that single employees feel enriched and appreciated in
the workplace. Make Company Events More Inclusive.
Single individuals are placed in a tough position when
company events are geared to couples and families, as
they are traditionally defined. Make a valuable
investment in meeting the needs of single employees by
creating programs that accommodate all types of
employees. "When it comes to who an employee can
bring to a company event, we even avoid using the term
'significant other'," says Dale. "We encourage
employees to bring a friend, which thereby broadens the
definition beyond family."
Establish
Special Interest Clubs.
Employee clubs can provide a great avenue for nurturing
the interests of all employees as well as offering an
outlet for single employees to meet. Gourmet cooking,
chess, reading groups, and photography clubs can be
promoted to your entire workforce, while realizing that
single people may have the most to gain from
participation.
Conduct
Special Interest Brown Bag Luncheons.
Spice up speaker sessions by covering such topics as
"How to Find the Right Mate," "A Single
Person's Guide to Handling the Holidays" or
"Tools for Maintaining Your Sanity as a Single
Parent." When planning programs, remember the term
'single' covers a cross section of employees, including
single parents, the recently divorced, widows and those
in alternative life-styles. Sensitivity to the diverse
needs of these groups is vital.
Dating
Services.
Dating services are not currently prevalent as employee
services offerings. However, it is likely that companies
with large numbers of single employees soon will offer
employee programs in partnership with established dating
services. The structure of the program may be as simple
as posting the offerings of a particular dating services
company on the employee services website.
Educate
managers.
Managers should be required to monitor employee workload,
making sure that single employees are not continually
picking up the slack of coworkers who are absent from
work due to family responsibilities. Managers also should
be taught to assign projects under the premise that
single employees require work/life balance as much as
employees with families.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the key to recruiting and retaining single
employees lies in quality programming and educating
managers on being sensitive to the challenges faced by
singles. Those who feel the extra work-load and hours are
always being dumped on them will ultimately look
elsewhere to companies that are more single friendly.
"It really boils down to this: employees who have
happy personal lives and meaningful relationships will be
the most productive in their work," says Patton.
"Helping attune management to this fact is critical
to competing in this tough labor market."
Michael P.
Scott is the President of the Carson City, NV-based
Nevada Star Frontier Exchange, a strategic communications
firm that assists individuals and organizations in
reaching new frontiers of success. He can be reached at power2u@ix.netcom.com.
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