By Susan Mwape
There is a place and time for everything in life. I have sat and had an optical view of different things lately and I think it’s about time I shared a scenario that keeps obstructing my optic lens.
Lets talk about the workplace. This is a very professional environment that provides the employees with an atmosphere of exertion. This atmosphere is not meant to be destructed by non work factors and that is one of the reasons most are employees will employ non family members, husbands, wives, fiancées or relations generally.
In instances where individuals or employees fall in love with their employers of fellow employees, a lot of unrest has been known to arise. This situation in most workplaces becomes a second class case of “incest”. Relationships eminent form the workplace start by causing great discomfort among workmates further to the discomfort caused by the new love birds.
Because relationships require nurturing the two people that get into an affair get into the way of work, each one of the two has to offer favours to the other especially in the case of senior and junior employees. Firstly, work Quality and input is overshadowed by the alleged relationship between an inexperienced person and supervisor especially if it’s between co-work and supervisor. Work is highly affected in the sense that incapacity or inability of the junior party is covered and not recognized because they are servicing each other’s private needs through favours.
In most cases, the official communication channel is distorted because important and professional details of work are discussed during the private affairs between employee and supervisor. In most cases feedback is brought from the secret ‘formal’ meetings where others are excluded emerges as matching orders, for example, “the boss has said this in incorrect”. The junior who are this is point is in such relationships aptly occupies an artificially supervisory role over co-workers even when their qualifications and abilities are average.
Once in such relationships, the two are overshadowed by their secret affairs and their frustrations are vented on other seemingly better positioned and capable co-workers. Usually expecting a lot of recognition and respect which they have not openly acquired. Any failure to get that kind of attention from co-workers leads to emotional outbursts and gossiping to the supervisor about better placed co-workers as defensive and comforting mechanisms.
If such relationships are to be accepted, People should be bold enough to come out in the open and declare their relationships as well as struggle to separate and distinguish professional work and private love affairs. Because the two (work and love) can never mix without the other suffering.
It is clear that this phenomenon is a consequence of a complex problem facing most countries like Zambia, including high levels of unemployment, gender insecurity lack of early childhood socialization and poor work policy regulations and codes of conduct and unstable marriages. In most cases the people that indulge in these kinds of relationships are usually married.
From the way I see it the need for standardized work policy on professional ethics, serious punitive measures for culprits and there is need for counseling the victims. Need to have early childhood socialization respect for culture, marriages and human rights
There is a place and time for everything in life. I have sat and had an optical view of different things lately and I think it’s about time I shared a scenario that keeps obstructing my optic lens.
Lets talk about the workplace. This is a very professional environment that provides the employees with an atmosphere of exertion. This atmosphere is not meant to be destructed by non work factors and that is one of the reasons most are employees will employ non family members, husbands, wives, fiancées or relations generally.
In instances where individuals or employees fall in love with their employers of fellow employees, a lot of unrest has been known to arise. This situation in most workplaces becomes a second class case of “incest”. Relationships eminent form the workplace start by causing great discomfort among workmates further to the discomfort caused by the new love birds.
Because relationships require nurturing the two people that get into an affair get into the way of work, each one of the two has to offer favours to the other especially in the case of senior and junior employees. Firstly, work Quality and input is overshadowed by the alleged relationship between an inexperienced person and supervisor especially if it’s between co-work and supervisor. Work is highly affected in the sense that incapacity or inability of the junior party is covered and not recognized because they are servicing each other’s private needs through favours.
In most cases, the official communication channel is distorted because important and professional details of work are discussed during the private affairs between employee and supervisor. In most cases feedback is brought from the secret ‘formal’ meetings where others are excluded emerges as matching orders, for example, “the boss has said this in incorrect”. The junior who are this is point is in such relationships aptly occupies an artificially supervisory role over co-workers even when their qualifications and abilities are average.
Once in such relationships, the two are overshadowed by their secret affairs and their frustrations are vented on other seemingly better positioned and capable co-workers. Usually expecting a lot of recognition and respect which they have not openly acquired. Any failure to get that kind of attention from co-workers leads to emotional outbursts and gossiping to the supervisor about better placed co-workers as defensive and comforting mechanisms.
If such relationships are to be accepted, People should be bold enough to come out in the open and declare their relationships as well as struggle to separate and distinguish professional work and private love affairs. Because the two (work and love) can never mix without the other suffering.
It is clear that this phenomenon is a consequence of a complex problem facing most countries like Zambia, including high levels of unemployment, gender insecurity lack of early childhood socialization and poor work policy regulations and codes of conduct and unstable marriages. In most cases the people that indulge in these kinds of relationships are usually married.
From the way I see it the need for standardized work policy on professional ethics, serious punitive measures for culprits and there is need for counseling the victims. Need to have early childhood socialization respect for culture, marriages and human rights
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