Your office or mine?
Love in the workplace
October 18 2001 -
Canada seems to be the place to study workplace romance. For the second time this year (at least)
researchers have been commissioned to check out the truth of that juicy mainstay of
office gossip. This time, Diet Coke asked Thompson Lightstone & Company Ltd to conduct a telephone
survey of working Canadians who agreed to answer questions about romantic
relationships in the workplace.
The survey was commissioned to give 'a real-life dimension' to new Diet Coke office
romance-themed television commercials being aired across country. The Diet Coke Break
advertising campaign (running from September to November) has three episodes, following
romantic encounters between two workers with a Diet Coke vending machine being used as a place
to leave love notes for one another.
"As an extension of our current ad campaign for Diet Coke, we developed
the Diet Coke Office Romance Survey to tap into Canadians' opinions on office
dating and flirting," said Maria Soler, Brand Manager, Diet Coke, at Coca-Cola
Ltd. "The results show that Cupid's arrow is making its mark in many
workplaces across the country."
Not surprisingly, the survey found that flirting is alive and well in the Canadian
workplace. Perhaps more surprisingly just 38% of respondents said that they had flirted with a colleague -
a remarkably small proportion one might think - with one in four taking it to the dating stage.
18 to 29 year olds were found to be the most prevalent (or maybe the most honest) flirters,
nearly a half (49%) saying that they flirted at work. And singles were the most willing to confirm
that they were flirts as you might expect.
Seriously, 17% of people surveyed said they had met their current 'significant
other' at work.
Back in February (the month in which Valentine's day falls) a workopolis.com survey found
that 63% of Canadian employees said they had been romantically involved with a fellow worker.
But surprisingly just 57% felt that workplace romances were acceptable. 1024 workers were
surveyed.
The survey found that 80% of respondents confirmed that co-workers had become personal
friends, and over 70% said that work was an important source of friendship and personal
support. In fact. 25% described it as "very much" so.
Comments on the office romances varied from: "very dangerous" and
"a minefield" to "excellent hunting ground." Other employees surveyed made
comments such as: "they should be kept a secret", "they
increase a worker's productivity" and work attendance" and "they can work well
until the relationship develops problems". One comment is memorable:
"better to avoid, but hard to resist."
Kim Peters, President of Workopolis said:
"Our survey shows a surprising amount of romance in the Canadian
workplace. As we all continue to work longer hours and strive to keep the
balance between work and social activities, it seems natural to find
friendship and even romance with colleagues. It is challenging for employers to determine appropriate policies
on office relationships, especially when the work place is such a frequent
source of friendship for workers."
The relationship survey produced the following findings:
Have any of your co-workers become your personal friend?
Yes 89%
No 11%
Is work an important source of friendship and personal support for you?
Very much 25%
Somewhat 48%
Not Very 22%
Not at all 5%
Have you ever developed a romantic relationship with a co-worker?
Yes 63%
No 37%
Do you think romances are acceptable in the workplace?
Yes 57%
No 43%
See also: on HRM Guide USA
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