Chantal Gautier, Senior Lecturer and Sexologist at the University of Westminster, spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live about office relationships.
Gautier explains the inevitability of workplace romances, as by being in close proximity and regular contact, it is easy for sparks to fly and relationships to be built. With this in mind, she highlights that banning them would be impractical and instead suggests ways in which people can navigate these relationships without causing issues for themselves and their colleagues in the office.
She said: “It is a natural phenomenon that people are drawn to each other in the workplace and that is because there are several factors that come into play here when we think about the laws of attraction. We think about for example the proximity effect, which basically means the more you spend time with someone the more likely you’re going to feel attracted to them [...] given that we dedicate significant chunks of our time to work we gain I suppose access to a pool for potential matches.”
She goes on to suggest a variety of ways people can maintain an office relationship while continuing to work efficiently and not irritate other colleagues. To do this she explains that both the couple and the organisation can work together to make it functional.
She said: “Basically you want to take measures to curb the distraction, so minimise communications that are not part of work related nature, except when, for example, it is essential, and avoid physical touch like kissing or holding hands in the work place.”
Gautier added: “Considering that relationships are going to be happening in the workplace, prohibiting them is not really the solution, if anything it will go underground […] Organisations also need to put in place measures, support systems, just like support systems that they do for mental health issues or trainings for Diversity and Inclusion or conflict resolution or leadership skills etc. Why are we not then also incorporating training on office relationships especially when a relationship is falling apart because we know that a happier and more satisfied employee tend to be more productive.”
Listen to the full interview on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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