Office Romance – Yes or No?

Well, there’s this cute new guy who’s just joined the organization you work. And what makes it better is that he works in your department. Before you know it, he asks you out on a date. You go out for a couple of dates and now you’re in a relationship. Do you know you have entered into an exciting office romance? Yes, you’re dating a guy at work. That may be exciting, but is it risky? In this Skillopedia session let’s see the various things that happens when you indulge in office dating.










Pros:

Draws you closer to each other: 
People in general, spend a major chunk of their time at work. So if you are in a relationship with someone from work, you get to see them every day. Obviously, because you work in the same office, you have a lot of things in common. Working with someone everyday gives you a feel of their personality, their ethics and their intelligence. This in turn helps you be more close to your partner.

Good level of understanding: 
Someone who works with you understands the pressures and demands of your job. They know how it will impact your time and availability to spend time outside of the office. This kind of understanding is very good for a relationship because we are naturally drawn to people who understand us.

Safety of dating someone you “know”: 
Dating someone from office can make it safe because you already know this person quite well. You know their daily schedule. People prefer dating people from a familiar environment rather than some “creep” you meet at a club, a bar or any other random place.

A force for good: 
It can improve your productivity levels if you share ideas of work, encourage your partner when he/she feels pressurized and collaborate well together. You are like a team which is bound to work for your own mutual good.

Cons:

Talk of the town: 
Remember-office relationships are never a secret! Your love life will soon become the subject of gossip around the cafeteria; people are going to have their eyes on you and the person you are dating. When a relationship is always scrutinized, it can create a wedge between you and your partner.

Hamper job performance: 
It could also lead to performance issues as you may find yourself exceeding your lunch breaks or sneaking off alone and therefore reducing the amount of effort you put at work. 

Workplace drama: 
If the relationship doesn’t work out, it will definitely be very hard on the person who didn’t want the relationship to end and has to see their ex every single day. This can result in poor performance, absenteeism, hurtful office gossip and such other unnecessary drama that you may want to avoid. Sometimes, a sexual harassment claim may also come up which would be a very tedious affair for the company and the parties involved.

Bad job ethics: 
If the relationship is between you and a supervisor, office gossip may start indicating that you are getting special “perks”. Even if this is not true, you become an outcast and people try to stay away from the “boss’ favorite”. In fact even the supervisor may face a problem with disciplining his partner simply because of the relationship that they have. Sometimes, the subordinate may feel that he/she doesn’t have to work as hard as the others. This eventually leads to bad job bad ethics.

So basically, if you want to indulge in a workplace, make sure you consider carefully before jumping right in. You don’t want to be faced with the option of finding the love of your life and losing the best job you ever had.