Relationships are inevitable

Relationships are inevitable in the workplace. There can be two kinds of relationships in the workplace. One between the supervisor and subordinate and other between the co-workers. Out of these two kinds, the relationship between the supervisor and the subordinate requires immediate attention of the employer. This kind of romantic relationship is observed between Mr. Pritam (HR manager) and Jagruti Patel (Senior Software Engineer). Such a relationship is a cause of concern for the employer. The subordinate may benefit from this relationship as in she may get good appraisal rating or promotion just because of her romantic relationship with the supervisor. This will cause anger and resentment among other employees who are working day in and day out to get high ratings and promotion. These relationships become even more dangerous for the firm if they end abruptly. The Supervisor may start giving bad ratings to the subordinate and the subordinate can claim that she was getting good ratings when they were in relationship and now that the relationship has ended, he is giving bad reviews.

I think the contracts are not the solution to these kinds of issues. Such contracts send the wrong message to the employees that the company is trying to interfere in their personal life. Employer should handle these issues with extreme care. Handling these issues with anxiety may cause anger and resentment among the entire workforce. Employer should arrange a meeting with both the employees and tell them that they should avoid showing off their emotions in the workplace as these are not in the best interest of the firm. Most of time, this step will work. Even after making them aware of the consequences, if the two employees continue to show their emotions in workplace, the employer should end their professional reporting relationship by transferring one of the employees to another office or by assigning different project in the same location.