By hiring employees, companies themselves create ideal conditions for the development of romantic relationships between colleagues. Opinion of Chantal Gauthier.
In her book The Psychology of Work: Insights into Successful Working Practices, Chantal Gautier explored how the office becomes the perfect place to develop romantic relationships. “Organizations themselves make a significant contribution to the development of office romances by hiring employees,” she says. “This can be explained by the psychological theory of the law of attraction: we are drawn to those we look like.”
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- Are you ready for (new) love?
As a rule, employers recruit employees based on how a person fits into the team, and this suggests that among the new staff there will be many like-minded people and people with the same type of thinking. For example, many recruiting agencies in an interview ask what the views of applicants are, what are their interests and values, and this is done to ensure that they correspond to the culture of the company.
As a result, offers are often received by candidates with a similar mindset, desire for education and upbringing. Chantal Gauthier’s research suggests that this creates the potential for mutual attraction and the emergence of office romances.
“A person is often attracted to one of his colleagues. Of course, sexual harassment at work is unacceptable, but what if the relationship has developed by mutual consent, is this really against company policy? It’s time for a frank discussion about whether employers can manage personal relationships between employees.”
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- Romance at work – a risky adventure?
Companies such as American Apparel, Staples, Delta Airlines and Lloyds have recently announced their official position regarding personal relationships at work. Some of them look at romantic relationships between employees liberally, while in others, office romances are strictly prohibited.
This raises two important questions.
Can a company prevent “love” if human rights laws enshrine everyone’s right to privacy?
Can office romances be considered commonplace? “We spend more time at work than at home, and we develop relationships and attachments,” says Chris Butt, CEO of software company Cognisess. “This is a common story, and it would be unwise for the company to introduce any rules here.”
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- Friendship at work: how to get around the pitfalls?
Chantal Gauthier says that in a survey of 1000 full-time employees from various industries, 39% of respondents reported that they had a close relationship with a colleague, and 16% had more than one office romance. In 30% of cases, such novels end in marriage. At the same time, every tenth participant in the survey had to change jobs due to an office romance.1. These numbers are understandable, as people are working longer hours due to the tightening of requirements in organizations, and it is not surprising that offices become a favorable environment for developing close relationships.
There is no consensus among scientists or among company leaders about whether office romances are good or bad. Some even believe that couples in love are happier and more productive. One possible reason is that they seek to make a good impression on their superiors by protecting themselves from judgment.
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- What and how to talk on the first date?
Usually problems begin when couples break up. With this in mind, it is easier for companies to ban romance in the workplace, as they fear that the breakdown of relationships will provoke a decrease in employee productivity.
And yet Chantal Gauthier believes that companies should not discourage romance, but recognize their existence. And in the future – to find a balance between protecting their interests and recognizing the right of their employees to privacy and personal well-being.
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1 The survey was conducted on the CareerBuilder.co.uk website