@work

Let’s do a little reality check here. Everybody knows not to steal—that seems common sense. Yet according to the University of Florida 2005 National Retail Security Survey, employee theft is responsible for 47 percent of store inventory shrinkage.3 People also take in other ways, such as using an excessive amount of work time for personal matters, online shopping, chatting, or investing; they spend many times more than the 40 to 50 minutes per day that most people do. Much of the surfing is for shopping, travel, auctions, investment, news, and sports, but 24 percent of employees also visited Web sites with live music, 15 percent with games, and 4 percent with porn. Another survey estimates that workers spend over an hour each day on personal business, costing about $8,800 per worker per year. C. D’Abate and E. Eddy, “Engaging in Personal Business on the Job: Extending the Presenteeism Construct,” Human Resource Development Quarterly 18, no. 3 (2007): 361–84. Also E. Palmer, “The Work Force Is Surfing,” iMedia Connection, October 28, 2005, “Vault Survey of Internet Use in the Workplace” (Fall 2000) reported in “26% of Employees Use Instant Message at Work,” Business Wire, October 13, 2000

As a further example, almost everyone knows instances where the adage “to act professionally and treat others with respect” is not followed at work.

One book discusses that women, in competition with other women, often shy away from direct confrontation and engage in competition by talking behind backs, spreading gossip, and sabotaging others. Competition involving men is also often neither respectful nor professional. “We have people that backstab and make it their duty to slaughter certain coworkers just because they don’t like or get along with them,” states an employee.

As related to equal treatment and performance, some people are promoted based on their friendships with others, and when they turn out to have deficient skills and achievements, their friends and bosses continue to support them and encourage others to “not make waves” and “wait their turn.” Some managers give very difficult assignments to those they personally dislike and pass them over for desirable assignments that would prepare them for promotion. Studies show also that people who are perceived as handsome or attractive are more likely to receive employment offers and promotion than those who are not, which not fair with regard to merit. In many workplaces these patterns are very common, not the exception, and people experience them.

As a further example of adages that do not exactly describe reality, almost everyone knows that they should avoid improper decorum and that sex and alcohol in the workplace are clear examples of inappropriate, unprofessional conduct. In a nationwide sample of 1,522 employed U.S. adults aged 18 and over, 17 percent have secretly dated someone from work, 37 percent have flirted with a colleague, and 8 percent currently have a secret crush at work. According to one survey, by the American Management Association, of 390 managers and executives, 30 percent said they had dated a coworker and 44 percent of office romances led to marriage. In yet another survey, 31 percent stated that while they did not date their boss or another superior, they would be willing; “I have fantasized about it, that’s for sure,” says one respondent. Other surveys report higher numbers. Many other data sources are online surveys whose results should be treated with caution because of possible self-reporting bias. Vault’s 2008 online Office Romance Survey reported that 47 percent of workers in the United States and 43 percent of workers in the United Kingdom have had an office romance. Consistent with the AMA (“Workplace Dating”), 50 percent stated that they have worked with a couple who was having an office romance and went on to get married (“Love Is Blooming by the Watercooler,”. Another online survey reports that nearly 40 percent of workers have had a workplace romance (“Be My Valentine? Nearly 40 Percent of Workers Have Had a Workplace Romance,” Spherion Survey, January 29, 2007. Vault’s 2008 survey finds that 56 percent of U.S. employees had dated a coworker during their careers, and 25 percent of those surveyed admitted to dating a superior. Another online survey, participated by 31,207 people and reported on MSNBC and Elle.com “Office Sex and Romance Survey” (by Janet Lever, California State University at Los Angeles), reports that roughly half of women and 20 percent of men have had an affair with a superior; for 28 percent of women and 10 percent of men, it was with their boss. Only 7 percent of women have dated a subordinate, compared with 25 percent of men.

And alcohol and illicit drug use occurs, too. According to one study, workplace alcohol use and impairment directly affects 15 percent of the U.S. workforce (19.2 million workers) every year, and 3.1 percent of employed adults use illicit drugs while at work.