Most people spend much of their time at their workplaces, making them closer to their workmates, sometimes culminating in dating co-workers.
In a discussion on the Fatboy show today on whether it is okay to start a relationship with a co-worker, presenters Olive Najjuma and James Onen said that given the amount of time most people spend at work, it is un unusual for co-workers to fall in love, but they have considered the consequences of the romance.
Olive advised that “If you're married and like a workmate, just leave it at that. If you are in a long time relationship or when you want a fling, (because you can have a fling with a workmate), but when it ends, there’s going to be trouble because you look at each other every day and if you report to one another, it will affect your productivity.”
James Onen, the co-host of the show added that it gets worse when the fling ends and one starts dating another person in the same workspace.
He reasoned that for some reason, some organizations have a no-dating policy or will transfer one of their workmates in a relationship to another branch.
He, therefore, said, “I think the cons outweigh the pros but if both people are aware of that and understand the risks, they could take precautionary measures to mitigate some of the potential negative consequences. This means that if things don't turn out well, it doesn't have to affect their performance.”
However, he said that he would understand if a woman chose to sleep with their superior to get a job promotion.
“I am not saying that women should go ahead and sleep with their superiors, what am saying is that if they chose to, I would understand and I wouldn't judge them for their decision, I don't live their life or know their challenges, how important the job is to the person or advancing in the career in that organization,” Fatboy explained.
Olive disagreed with this saying that it would kill the worker's credibility and ruin their reputation even when they decide to advance in another organization because for “some reason it always comes to light.”
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.