According to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.com of 8,000 employed people, about 40% of employees have taken part in office romances. There are 121 million employed individuals in the U.S. If the 40% statistic holds true to all of those people then there are nearly 50 million people that are or have been involved in an office romance. From a human resources perspective this is a problem. Let’s take a look at five reasons why office romances may not be as good an idea as you thought.
Although we at PayTech enjoy a good fairy tale every now and then, your job is not the time or place for happily ever after. When it comes to your career, it’s better to error on the side of the what-ifs. What if it doesn’t work out? It will be really awkward for both of you as well as your co-workers. What if your boss finds out? Depending upon company policy he/she may have to let one of you go or insist that it ends. These are things to consider when you’ve got the hots for the person who sits across from you.
Let’s just say that you do start dating a co-worker. What happens when you or your sweets gets a promotion? One of you is now dating there boss. This not only opens up the opportunity for blackmail down the line but what happens when they do something wrong? Would you really be able to discipline your love interest? Our bet is that you wouldn’t.
We still haven’t convinced you yet, huh? Well what happens when your co-workers begin to find out. You’ll do everything you can to keep it a secret but eventually someone will let it slip and you have now become the topic of gossip. Whether good or bad, people begin to see you differently. If you want people to take you seriously, reconsider asking for a date.
Now that it’s out in the open, people may begin to treat you different socially. If you sit together in the break room for lunch, will people now feel they should let you two be? You may even be excluded from conversations because they don’t want that information being forwarded to your love interest. They may not do it consciously but at some point you’ll be treated differently. Ultimately it could affect how your business operates.
The last and definitely most HR related, is harassment potential. What happens if it ends poorly? Will your ex then tell Human Resources that you are or were making unwanted advances? How do you think your career will handle harassment charges? Most likely not very well. So before you ask out your office love interest, join an online dating service. It’s worked for plenty of people, why not you?
Dating your work love interest is not a good idea. However, using PayTech as your Human Resources Support system is a great idea. If you need help with HR and aren’t sure where to go, you’ve come to the right place. Give us a call today and get on the right track.
