Love is found in the strangest of places – even at work. Workplace dating has the good and the bad.
Several companies have strict policies concerning romance in the workplace because it makes for complications that can affect productivity negatively. There are several workplaces within certain industries that only hire members of the same sex (i.e. all male or all female staff) all in an attempt to create a conducive environment for work.
You might want to ask: what’s the big deal?
We all know, or at least have an idea, how romance goes. It’s all sunlight and flowers when it starts. A few miles down the road potholes start to appear. Many times, grey skies and stormy weather become the prevalent theme.
And you cannot help but wonder where all that sunshine went to.
Workplace dating can be messy especially when it has run its course. Things are said and done, lines are crossed – and the farther away the other person, the better. Usually.
Now bring all that anger and hurt and frustration into closer confines – with someone you not only have to see every day, whether you like it or not, but someone you have to work with.
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Not really the most ideal of circumstances.
I have one rule when it comes to work and romance: ‘do not *censored* where you eat.’ It’s that simple.
This is not to say dating in the workplace always ends in disaster. That would be a limited and biased perspective. People have had and continue to have successful dating lives in their workplace. In fact, it is suggested that if someone suspects their partner of infidelity, seven out of ten times it’s with somebody they work with.
The reason for this assumption is pretty obvious.
The average workday is from 8 am – 6 pm. That’s ten out of twenty-four hours, which implies that the place where the average working individual spends most of his or her optimum awake time is in the workplace. This further suggests that the average working individual spends more time with his or her colleagues than with any other person.
What are the dynamics of attraction? Are we/aren’t we likely to like someone as we spend more time with them? I could go on and on – but the basic truth remains: dating in the workplace is more likely to happen than not.
So what does that imply? Is workplace dating wrong or right?
Surveys and statistics available online suggest that romance in the workplace if controlled and properly managed could be a good thing. Many employees of different companies agreed that they experienced a boost in confidence and positive self-imagery when they received a confirmation of mutual attraction from a colleague. This, in turn, boosted their performance levels; they were happier, inspired to work harder, show up for work earlier, dress better – generally take better care of themselves.
As good as that sounds, however, there could also be some negative effects. There was a tendency to stay at work for as long as possible, neglecting other aspects that make for balanced living. There was also a noticeable lassitude toward work whenever the object of affection wasn’t around. The breakups after mutually-agreed hookups were also messy, according to roughly eighty percent (80%) of the respondents. In a couple of cases, someone had to quit the company when the romance went sour because they couldn’t cope. At least one respondent was fired when his performance dropped.
With love, romance, and mostly every other thing that has to do with life, there are no hard and fast rules about dating in the workplace, unless insisted upon by the company. Personally, it interferes with my work (romance does actually) so I prefer not to dabble, but there have been and there are several successful workplace dating relationships. As long as work remains work, as long as your personal lives do not interfere with your responsibilities (you are there to work after all) by all means go for it.
Life is too short to follow all the rules.
What do you think of workplace dating? Have you ever been involved in workplace dating? How did it turn out? Let us know in the comments!
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