Love Relationships at Work

Bips was a young, vivacious woman with lots of dreams and career goals. She had recently joined a multi-national company at an entry-level position and was really excited about her new job. She had a great workplace, supportive colleagues and a boss (John) who always encouraged her and appreciated her work. Bips secretly had the hots for her boss, but she didn't dare speak to anyone about it, lest her boss found out. Little did she know that John hadn't been able to take his eyes off her ever since she'd first stepped into the office. Well, such things rarely remain a secret for too long, and soon, both of them had begun seeing each other. As the days passed, Bips realized that she was beginning to fall in love with John. One night however, she noticed a picture of another woman in his wallet. It turned out that the other woman was John's wife. She questioned him about it and he looked the other way. It dawned on her. Things began to get ugly between them. Soon, word spread among the other co-workers. When the news reached the ears of the company's CEO, he called them both to his cabin. Twenty minutes later, both were seen clearing their respective desks and drawers.

The above story was one possible scenario regarding the outcome of love relationships at your workplace. However, that does not mean that anyone and everyone who falls in love with someone from their workplace will suffer the same fate. No Sir, that is definitely not what I am suggesting. What I am suggesting is that the concept of love relationships in the office is something that is extremely tricky, and one which needs to be given careful thought.

How Safe Are Relationships at Work?
Basically, when it comes to office or workplace romance, there are 2 main possibilities:

• A genuine love relationship between two co-workers.
• A casual fling or affair between two co-workers.

At the same time, there is another very important factor to consider - whether or not one of the co-workers is single. If you have a scenario wherein one of them is single, but the other is a married person having an extramarital affair, then this is nothing but a recipe for professional disaster. This kind of relationship will only invite trouble, regardless of whether the concerned twosome are genuinely in love with one another, or are having a casual affair. Such relationships are frowned upon at most professional workplaces and the outcome is never too pleasing for the two people involved. You will only end up ruining your professional reputation, spoiling your professional resume and hindering your career ambitions.

If however, it happens that both the concerned people are single and are genuinely in love with one another, then the situation is completely different. This type of relationship can, or may, have a positive outcome. Consider a situation wherein you (single) are in a serious relationship with someone else (also single) from your office. Now if that person happens to be working in a different department, then things shouldn't be a problem. If you both are serious about each other, and if you both feel that your relationship can grow in the future, or can go ahead in a positive direction, then it's no one else's business. This is a perfectly acceptable situation and one against which nobody should have a problem.

However, if you have a situation, wherein, you (single) happen to be in a serious love relationship with someone else (also single) who is either your superior, subordinate, or someone from your department whom you regularly work with, then this situation could lead to a few complications. However, these complications can be dealt with. If you are in a genuine relationship with either your superior or subordinate, and both of you see a positive future for your relationship, then you can consider speaking to someone from the higher management in order to get yourself transferred to a different department. That will solve the problem of awkwardness which otherwise would have existed, should either of you land up in a position where one has to report to the other.

Well, this was a little bit of relationship advice regarding the sensibility of entering into a love relationship at work. Remember, whether it is a fling or a love relationship at the workplace, it always manages to raise a few eyebrows. However, if you both are genuine about it and you ensure that you follow certain workplace ethics, then there's no reason why it shouldn't work.