People say - Trend is Your Friend...But is this trend truly worth following?

One might be thinking of what trend am I talking about. Let me explain –

Infidelity experts say that over 70% of single employees will be involved in a love affair with someone on the job. Workplace is the number one place to have secret affairs. The question that needs to be asked is that – Is this a healthy trend?

Office affairs might sound exciting but they are inimical to one’s career. If someone is contemplating to have an office affair, he can do so but at his own risk as can be understood from the story.

People in office love affairs are the ones who do not have peace neither at work nor at their home. They have this fear of getting caught lurking in their mind constantly.

Office affairs can cause serious problems like legal problems at workplace, divorce, public embarrassment etc. At times one gets derailed from his career path. There will always be distraction at workplace which might hamper one’s work assignments, raises and opportunities for advancement. Efficiency and effectiveness of work will get hampered. Moreover, productivity of workers around may also suffer. Co-workers might not be comfortable in working with such a person. The worst that can happen is that one might be transferred to another department or may be even fired from the company.

This is one game in which Head – You lose. Tails – You lose. It is a complete LOSE-LOSE situation. A person will earn a bad reputation at work. Colleagues and seniors would not like such a person and would always tread with caution while dealing with such a person. The TRUST factor is completely lost. To add to the woe, there would be family and personal complications for such a person. No matter how tempting it may sound, the risk is not worth it.

Affairs in the office or outside can seriously tarnish one’s reputation which might then become very difficult to rectify. There are many historical precedents to this.

For example – Nicholas Sarkozy’s affair with public relations executive Cecila Ciganer-Albeniz and then later divorcing her and marrying Carla Bruni. This caused much furore and brought him ill-repute.

Another example is that of our first Prime Minister –

The reported love affair between Jawaharlal Nehru and Lady Edwina Mountbatten which blossomed during a 1947 trip to Mashobra, a hill station. Lady Pamela Hicks (Lady Edwina’s daughter) has herself written about it. She says - "It amazes me that 60 years on people are still so fascinated by them. When you think that Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India, an incredible man, and that my mother was an amazing woman, and that both left an extraordinary legacy to history, it's odd that the only thing people want to know is: Did they go to bed together?"

Another recent example is that of Paul Wolfowitz, former president of World Bank. Mr. Wolfowitz resigned after a scandal over his girl friend- Shaha Ali Riza's pay rise. Ms Riza was the acting manager of external relations and outreach at World Bank. This shows how love affairs at work can put question marks on one’s character and lower one’s stature.