Remarks by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i that police officers will not be allowed to engage in romantic relationships with each other have highlighted the controversy around romance at the workplace.
As men and women work together for hours at a time, natural instincts will inevitably kick in. Indeed, many people say they met their marriage partners while working together. For others, falling in love with a workmate turned out to be an experience of painful memories.
The big question facing employers is whether romantic relationships enhance or hinder the ability of employees to work together. Some people say romantic relationships interfere with day-to-day interaction between employees. An employee in a romantic relationship with the boss may be promoted to a position he or she is not qualified to hold, and this creates resentment among colleagues.
A professional setting where romantic relationships are prevalent can result in sexual harassment when a supervisor makes unwanted sexual advances on a subordinate employee. The employee may agree to the relationship for fear of unfavourable treatment should the demands not be met. Matiang’i said the move to discourage romantic relationships among police officers is aimed at addressing rising cases of sexual harassment in the service.
Esther Mlale, an industrial safety officer at the Coast, agrees with Matiang’i but says romantic relationships should be allowed if the employees are in different departments or locations. “Romantic relationships interfere a lot with cohesion because people don’t know how to relate with the couple. For example, how do you relate with your boss’s girlfriend when she’s your subordinate? Can you really tell her anything?” she wonders.
Mlale says some organisations tolerate love affairs among employees, but if the relationship gets serious, such as if the couple marries, then one of them would have to get a job elsewhere. Matiang’i hinted at a similar approach for the police. “If it happens that two police officers fall in love, then one has to leave the service,” he said.
For Fridah Mogaka, a communications officer in Nairobi, the main problem with workplace romance is when junior staff are in a love affair with colleagues in top management. She says such staff develop an attitude problem that makes the work environment difficult for everybody else. “It is worse when the junior staff is a man in a relationship with a female manager,” Fridah says. BY THE STAR