"Going Bridal" at Work
bevhunt
114 Posts
An article in our Sunday paper (by Tribune Media Services) talked about how workers become unproductive when they are planning a wedding. At the end of the article, it suggests that workers take vacation days to do the planning and vendor visits.
We have two employees currently "going bridal" and I wish they would take this advice to heart. They are not Bridezillas and do limit their phone calls to lunch and break times, but I think the whole department is distracted by all the planning. One of them polled her coworkers about which bridesmaids' dress to choose and the other has colleagues helping her do Google searches for her on flowers and DJs during lunch.
Don't think there is anything actionable. Any suggestions--or similar stories?
Comments
If there is a problem with going online or the phone doing wedding stuff during working hours, have her supervisor remind her of your Internet Use or Telephone Use policy. The problem should clear itself up after she comes back from the honeymooon.
You don't say if the problem is reduced productivity or if just general disruption of routine.
Although I am happily married, I always chuckle when I recall the comedian's line, "wait 'till you figure out 'until death do you part' isn't a promise it's a goal!"
It's very exciting for some people to get married. They'll get over it and then it will be their turn to be irritated by someone else's wedding planning bliss.
I know there are places that just can't accept the "down time" from production or other work. Policy and other legitimate concerns govern that. I fully understand.
Here, we just leave them alone as long as it does not get way out of hand. What is out of hand? We know it when we see it. They are excited as TX says and we share their joy.
And it seems to happen with pregnancies, marital issues/divorces, child custody issues, planning vacations, children's parties/graduations and a lot of other personally-related issues that employees have in their lives outside of work. I guess the wedding process tends to overshadow some of these though. I have to agree that we watch it until it gets "out of hand" or almost there....but I would say stick with your performance standards. If the employee isn't meeting her standards set, then her manager needs to step in. Especially if she is distracting other employees' productivity also.