Valentine’s Day is upon us, but too much love in the workplace can be bad for business, according to a study by global management consultancy Hay Group.

The research into the working relationships of executive teams found that leaders who place too much emphasis on affiliation with their teams are less focused on productivity and performance.

Chris Watkin, associate director at Hay Group, says: “The message to senior business leaders is: don’t overdo the love. Our research demonstrates that too much concern with relationships and popularity damages team productivity.”

The found that teams’ whose members are interdependent, and work towards a common purpose, perform more effectively.
Teams that are little more than a collection of individuals deliver weaker performance, no matter how talented or experienced the team members.

It found overly affiliative executives fail to: avoid favouritism, make unpopular decisions, and exclude people from teams which may already be at optimum size.

“Too much affiliation at the top reduces team effectiveness, as leaders become overly concerned with maintaining popularity and good relationships, and fail to address underperformance and make tough decisions,” adds Watkin.