My sales director is sleeping with her PA

Hi Aunty B,

I have a very flirty sales director who is drop dead gorgeous and a great hit with clients. She loves selling and is fun to have around the office.

But the other night on the way home I spied her with her PA in a bar and a lot of things suddenly made sense. I put it out of my mind but my CFO raised it with me yesterday. He shares the PA and says her performance has deteriorated since the affair has begun and the PA is favouring the sales director!

Do I have to deal with this? Tell me I don’t….

B Woods,
Sydney

Dear B,

Sorry for not replying sooner but I thought this might be appropriate for St Valentine’s Day (though not sure why).

How tacky. Don’t you have enough to deal with than having to be concerned about the private lives of frisky staff? Oh that’s right. You’re an entrepreneur. You don’t have a private life.

Unfortunately office affairs are now very common as we live in the office and then take the office home with us on our BlackBerrys.

Some figures out today show that 11% of Australians meet their mate at the office. But just think; you might live in the US where 33% of people fall in love around the water cooler.

Look B, this has now become a performance issue, so deal with it you must.

Make sure first that the affair is not a fantasy.

Also check that CFO is not imagining a drop in performance. Then it is all about performance management, KPIs, warnings, incentives, etc.

You know the drill. One employment solutions company, Onetest, says a recent study shows 70% of people agree that workplace relations leads to a drop in productivity due to socialising, long lunches and lengthy discussions at work.

In my experience office romances have simply led to staff being less grumpy.

Also remember that failed workplace romances can lead to harassment and discrimination claims – and grumpy staff again!

Some firms recommend you have a policy on relations between co-workers. Phew. Yet another policy. (And what on earth would it say?)

I reckon the situation just needs commonsense management.

Good luck,

Your Aunty B

What do you think? Do you have horror stories of office romances. Should office romance be banned? Send in your comments to auntyb@smartcompany.com.au