In the last decade people have become more focused on their career, friends and hobbies and unfortunately often relationships have been left on the back burner. This does not mean that people stopped searching for their special someone; it just means that the search for them is no longer a top priority. If you are working 12 hour days and focused on your career it makes sense when you hear people entering in relationships with their co workers. But is this a good idea?
Studies have revealed that workplace relationships have no better chance of succeeding than any other relationship and issues can arise when a workplace relationship is over. More often than not, the end of a relationship leaves “bad blood” between the parties involved, so encountering the person on a daily basis you decided to stop seeing romantically, will undoubtedly create conflicts. A survey on 941 working Australians by CareerOne.com in 2010 has shown that of “all the people that met their partner at work, only 5% end up in marriage.”
Office politics
Having noticed that workplace relationships are becoming more commonplace, companies are now starting to implement internal regulations in which they prohibit relationships between co-workers, especially between managers and their direct reports. These interdiction’s also have been motivated because of the conflicts of interests which may arise from a relationship between co-workers. Some companies have policies of disclosure for their employees when they enter an office relationship. Even if the idea of a secret relationship can give you a thrill and make everything more exciting, remember that failing to disclose a relationship with a co-worker might lead to disciplinary actions taken against you or even employment termination.
It is not all bad news, many couples who are happily married admit to meeting at work and feel that understanding their partner’s role and workplace give them a better understanding of the stresses facing them in their jobs
My Personal Experience
My husband and I met each other at work and we then continued worked together for five years including a year stint in Singapore. We were always very conscious that when we were at work, we focused on work. Even when there were work functions and partners were invited, we maintained our professionalism. Our experience has been very positive, if one of us worked late, then the other didn’t mind as we knew what we had to do to do our jobs well. In the beginning, the major downside was the majority of our conversations were about work so we made a decision that every night we would only chat about work for a 1/2 hour. Though it was difficult, I think that is what saved our relationship from being one of convenience and being boring.
In the end if you are considering entering an office relationship, weigh in all the facts involved including the ramifications if the relationship ended and if you still think that this is your true love then go for it! I am glad we did!
What has been your experience?