Office (or concert?) Romances

Good morning, Corporate Sisters! 

I’m pivoting what I was going to talk about today because I think there’s a very obvious topic we need to discuss. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re likely aware that there’s been a very public affair within the corporate world. 

It’s gone viral worldwide, so it’s a very extreme example of the potential consequences of office romances. 

Here’s my take: Office romances aren’t inherently bad, but they do require certain levels of maturity, and they should be treated with caution. (OBVIOUSLY unless you’re already married to someone else - then OBVIOUSLY you shouldn’t be considering an office romance at all. OBVIOUSLY.)

I’ve seen marriages come out of office romances, and I’ve seen really awkward breakups that affect the dynamics of multiple departments.

In my opinion, you need to go into the relationship with the understanding that you may break up and still have to work together. You need to be mature enough to admit to yourself that you know you won’t be able to handle working with an ex, if you KNOW you wouldn’t be able to handle that. If that’s the case, you should probably not engage in an office romance.

Corporate leadership tends to get really annoyed when personal things affect the productivity their teams. This can also damage your reputation - you don’t want to be seen as the “younger woman who let her emotions infect the whole team.” Even if the relationship (or the breakup) was his idea (or fault), the woman tends to take the fall on that one.

You should also make sure you’re aware of what your HR rules are about office romances. Some companies make it a fireable offense to have a relationship with a fellow employee, so just make sure you glance at your regulations.

Don’t choose a relationship over your career unless you’re really confident in that decision.

I found my husband in college, so I’ve never dated anyone I worked with. (We both have remote jobs now, so maybe we do have an office romance?? Our house is our office??) But like I said, I’ve seen wonderful marriages come out of it, so it’s really just about your priorities.

I’ll see you next week! Remember, you can either kick this week’s ass, or let it kick yours.