PRACTICALITIES BEFORE ETHICS

Apart from the murky ethical issues that these kinds of conflicting relationships raise, there are some very practical, everyday issues that bear consideration. Sometimes, dealing with the practical implications of a situation can help you to avoid the ethical ones altogether.

The first question that usually comes to mind is: what happens when the relationship is over? How will that affect the professional relationship between the protagonists or their relationships with their colleagues? Indeed, many organizations have ethical guidelines specifically prohibiting these liaisons to avoid the kinds of interpersonal and business problems that often arise.

Let's look first at the situation where you become involved with someone higher up on the organizational chart. The fundamental problem with this kind of relationship is like the physician 's dilemma when dating a patient. The situation creates an imbalance of power and the potential for abuse. A person in a more powerful position can use that power to manipulate the other person in the relationship whether consciously or unconsciously. And if the sexual advances are unwanted, this is at the very least considered to be harassment .

So, there is danger in the boss-underling relationship, mostly for the underling. What about the effects this relationship has on others? When the formal lines of communication within an organization are disrupted by these informal liaisons, suspicion can arise among the rest of the tribe. This suspicion can lead to distrust and can have an impact on the working relationships. When this happens, you are clearly facing a moral problem.

But what about personal relationships with your peers? And who among us has not been tempted to date someone at work? Indeed, isn't that where we often meet people? As silly as some organizations' rules against fraternization among employees might seem, and the ethical issues might be less clear, they have some real practical value. For many people, it's difficult, if not impossible , to make that clean break between personal and professional time when face-to-face with the beloved. It is difficult to get work done and this may, in fact, lead to the ethical problem of short-changing your employer who pays your salary.

Another practical question: how will this relationship be viewed by your colleagues? For people in, the business of managing perceptions for our clients and employers , we are often less able to confront the issue of how our own behaviour will be perceived by those around us. When two people in a place of business have a personal relationship, it does affect the way their colleagues view them.

So it's clear that there are problems when you're sleeping with colleagues. That's not the only place where personal relationships can pose professional problems.