Office Romance: Pros & Cons of Intimacy with a Co-Worker

For many professional men and women, office romance is quite common. While corporations across the United States do not permit office romance, professional couples are continuing to pursue relationships at work.

As a woman in the working world, how you handle your office romance may be the difference between being employed and no longer being employed. While many companies do not look favorably upon office romance, it is up to the individuals involved in the office romance relationship to handle themselves in a professional manner in the office so as to avoid exposing their relationship to management and co-workers.

So, if we must hide our office romance relationships why, then, do we even bother to pursue them? For many professional adults, office romance leads to more than just a feeling of rejuvenation from a personal level. In fact, those who are involved in an office romance will report they actually feel they perform better at work and are more motivated. Commonly, creativity is enhanced and many of these working professionals describe they are more apt to make significant professional contributions, in terms of concepts and innovations, to their company.

While these are positive aspect of an office romance, there are also negative affects. For example, office romances, when not maintained properly or privately, can impede the professional opportunity for one, or both, individuals resulting in missed opportunities for professional advancement. Also, should other co-workers be unaware of your office romance, it is quite common for professional relationships to be strained in a competitive nature, even when you intend to remain professionally objective.

Just as office romance can boost creativity and motivation in the professional couple; it can also lead to significant de-motivation and decreased productivity. This is to say, when issues and concerns within the personal relationship stem over into the office, the couple involved in the office romance may lose sight of their professional objectives and, thus, create a complicated and inefficient work environment.