It is no mystery that office
romance or loving relationships in the office have become increasingly
common. And it is that spending long hours at work, spending time with the same
people, can give rise to feelings and convey mere professional help.
It is no wonder, then, that the workplace present for many,
the best opportunities for dating or office
romance. According to experts, working together would provide more time and
space to meet and eventually fall in love. Indeed, some say that today, the
office is the new place to find love.
Several studies reinforce these findings. A Wall Street
Journal survey revealed that 40% of respondents confessed to having an office romance at some point in their
careers whereas lower figure does not fall within that percentage also referred
to married people.
A survey conducted revealed that three out of four employees
believe that office romances are
more common now than a decade ago. Meanwhile, according to a survey which was published
by the BBC, six out of ten women have secret affairs with colleagues at work
and in this line; three in ten have ever been unfaithful throughout their race.
The problem, however, lies in the relationship itself, but
that these office romances have the potential
to become the starting point of favoritism and conflicts of interest. In many
cases, these relationships are not known properly handled, hindering the
working environment and then creating tension and unease among peers.
In this regard, the expert opinion is divided. While some
believe that office romances cannot
be realized, since they generate drawbacks in terms of performance and work
performance, others argue that employees are still people with feelings and
emotions, so many times; this type of relationship is inevitable.
Office Romance is
prohibited
To avoid possible problems, several organizations decided to
be categorical on this issue and prohibit office
romance between employees and corporate or standard, they use rules to regulate
these relationships.
A scholar, shares this idea, saying that "The Company
should have a contingency plan to prevent the both the parties and make sure
their talent is not wasted, so that people can be relocated to areas where
their individual productivity is not impaired by the proximity of the beloved or
office romance".
The latter companies do not include prohibitions, provided
that, consider that romantic relationships or office romance will not affect or interfere with the duties of its
employees, nor jeopardize the unity of the team.
Corporate Favoritism
Currently, most
companies allow romances between colleagues. However, this changes if the
affair between superiors and subordinates, and that-eventually could lead to a
corporate favoritism, leading to unfair treatment and unethical.
In this case, other employees may feel they are getting
fewer benefits and opportunities compared to "employee choice" that
will ultimately the same position, the same responsibility and the same
workload. If this happens, the work environment will be weakened, while the
"favorite" will be fixed target of rumors, envy and resentment.
You know that. Before getting involved with someone at work,
find out what your company policy applies in such situations. In this way, you
will be better prepared for whatever may come.