Look beyond the viral video to learn lessons from the kiss-cam scandal

It happened over the summer, but HR professionals may still be reeling from the infamous kiss-cam scandal in which a company’s CEO and HR executive were shown in an embrace on a jumbo screen at a concert. The moment went viral, and both execs soon resigned. But what lessons have been learned since the incident about policies, crisis management, and workplace culture in general?

‘Oh, no!’ moment

Back in July, a tech company’s CEO and chief people officer went to a Coldplay concert. That may not sound scandalous, but it turned out that way because both were married to other people, not each other, and in addition to attending together, they were caught on the big screen in what didn’t look like professional behavior between executives.

Besides the personal implications, their professional lives were suddenly in shambles. Both ended up resigning. Their company and its employees also found themselves under a microscope as rumors swirled, exploding into viral discussions about appropriate company policies.

A slew of questions popped up during debates over how employer policies should address employee relationships.

Should employers prohibit romantic relationships between coworkers or at least between managers and subordinates? Should some relationships be allowed but subject to both parties signing some kind of HR waiver? Should employees in a relationship be assigned so they don’t work together? Or should management stay silent on the issue?