The Hindu Business Line : `Office open to romance'

According to a latest survey by MonsterIndia.com, part of the global online careers and recruitment site Monster Worldwide, nearly 58 per cent of 12,191 respondents admitted to either having indulged in or were open to office romance.

While 42 per cent thought the idea was `inappropriate,' about 25 per cent admitted to have had a relationship with a colleague, 23 per cent didn't mind indulging in office romance and 10 per cent said they were currently having `one'.

While popular American people practices such as TGIFs (Thank God it's Friday), management education and work-life balance, caught on very fast in the country, India Inc took some time to shake off its reticence in `office romance' matters. Turned off by Bollywood's much-hackneyed boss-secretary relationships, they had banned all `personal relationships' between colleagues.

C. Mahalingam, Senior Vice-President, HR, Symphony Services, says, "Companies are now open to having couples working with them, though typically they wouldn't be in reporting relationships. In fact, when we recruit candidates, we check the employability factor of the spouse." This is a big change in the Indian corporate policy when those rare romances ended in marriages also ended one partner's relationship with the company. According to Dhruv Shenoy, Vice-President Marketing, Monster Asia, the poll result is an indication of the changing social dynamics at the workplace.

"To keep up with the pressures of job and career, employees may be inclined to spend more and more time at the office. It also may mean they are spending more time with their colleagues, resulting in more companionships formed at the workplace."

Mahalingam explains that the transformation in India Inc came about when referral programmes started becoming popular.

From friends, cousins, to spouses, companies have been welcoming them all.

In fact, Wipro's intranet Channel W is said to have encouraged employees to `look' for suitable partners within the company.

`Employee engagement can be higher and so is retention if couples work for the same company," says Mahalingam.

"But, some companies are not excited about romance," he added.

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