In this blog, I will examine the news of inappropriate relationships in the workplace. On November 3, the US Eastern time, McDonald’s announced the dismissal of CEO Steve Easterbrook because Easterbrook violated the company’s policy and had intimate relations with unnamed employees. Easterbrook’s dismissal is, in fact, because of the violation of the company’s internal non-fraternization policy—having a proper relationship between labours in workplaces. And I think although the dismissal of employees will cause a massive loss to the corporation, the corporation should hold a zero-tolerance attitude on this issue.
This issue may affect several employees and employers in McDonald’s; the corporation’s reputation will also be involved. Because the subject in this incident is the CEO of the company, so his mistakes will have a substantial negative impact on the company, which is irreversible for a while. According to the management value and ideology in the book, “The values and beliefs of the original owner of a company could affect the firm’s approach to unions, and the values of key managers toward unions could also impact the employer’s labour relations strategy.” (Suffield and Gannon, 51) Finally, as McDonald’s is a well-known company with considerable influence, the concern of the relationship between labours in workplaces will also expand and affect the entire American industry
In my opinion, this issue is mainly due to the manager himself. As he doesn’t pay enough attention to the company’s management policies, or worse, the manager chooses to ignore the regulations. It is supported by the news report, which mentions that: The CEP demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee.
Furthermore, this issue will negatively influence the working environment in this corporation. First of all, as mentioned before, the main reason beneath this dismissal is managers neglecting the corporation’s policy. According to the textbook, the system of the labour union has a noticeable impact on labour relations(Suffield and Gannon, 51). The misbehaviour of the company manager will provide a negative role model for the employees; as the employees also tend to violate the company policy if their manager violates it. This dismissal will also make female employees worry about their safety and consistently keep distances from managers; and thus lower their working efficiency.
This situation should be dealt with carefully as a relationship in the workplace usually involves more than two people. And in this case, the dismissal of a manager is, in fact, the company’s huge loss. Because it takes the company a significant amount of time and money to cultivate a manager, it is necessary to have a zero-tolerance attitude towards similar behaviours, which violate the company’s policies. All the employees should be punished equally regardless of the position of the subject; to establish a healthy and legal workplace environment that attaches responsibility and fairness for the company.
Reference:
1. Suffield, Larry, Gannon, Gary.L, Labour Relations 5th Edition
yufei wang 