What is the Impact of Coworkers having an Affair
Workplace romances are everywhere, in romantic novels and films, and in real life. Work colleagues work closely together and they spend a lot of time together it is natural that feelings of friendship deepen into something more. There are good reasons to keep your private life and your work separate from one another.
It is natural for people to take a friendly interest in one another in any situation and the workplace is no exception. In many workplaces however this friendly interest can change all too easily into malicious gossip. Two colleagues having a romantic liaison can send the office grapevine into overdrive. Could you bear being the subject of speculative gossip?
Other workers may also tease you about your romance. Can you put up with heavy handed attempts at humour, especially from those who dislike you and may use ‘teasing’ to get at you?
If one or both of you are married there are even more reasons why you should think twice, or a million times, before embarking on an affair. A malicious colleague may think it their duty to advise a spouse of the situation, do you really think that an office “fling” is worth breaking up your marriage for?
If the romance is a temporary thing and your relationship breaks down, it may leave bad feelings between you two. That has two bad effects, you may lose both a partner and a colleague, and the bad feeling between you two may also affect all your other colleagues and the atmosphere in the workplace. Any break up will excite the office grapevine beyond all bounds and this may also exacerbate the bad feeling between you and lead to misunderstandings.
If your romance progresses happily, you may find after a while that you have nothing to say to one another, especially if you work closely together. Whilst teenagers in their first love affair long to be together all the time, it is not always healthy for those in an adult relationship to be together all the time.
Some workplaces try to forbid workplace romances, these bans rarely work. Workplace romances can lead to productivity losses. For the two people conducting the workplace romance, love, not work, is the focus, and the two may forget why they are at work. Their colleagues’ who are observing the romance, productivity may also be lost because people are busy talking about or speculating about the romance or because some people see other people not working at full speed as their excuse to slacken off too. The couple may show their affection at work and this may embarrass and distract their colleagues.
It is usually best to keep work and private life separate from one another. However, surveys of married couples show time after time that a high proportion met their spouse at work, so workplace romances can work out. If you have a choice it is probably best not to embark on a workplace romance but sometimes things just happen and forewarned is forearmed. It may work out happily or it may just be one of those things you chalk up to experience.
