Relationships at the workplace: The highs and lows of working with your spouse
Apr 25, 2011
NOWADAYS, people spend more time at work than at any other place. With the absence of adequate time to socialise, employees find it easier to get attracted to each other, which sometimes culminate into marriage.
By Maureen Nakatudde
NOWADAYS, people spend more time at work than at any other place. With the absence of adequate time to socialise, employees find it easier to get attracted to each other, which sometimes culminate into marriage.
Working with your spouse could be good if you are both at the same level.
However, it might not work out if one of you is a boss and brings in the other as a junior.
Julius Kikooma, a lecturer and a psychologist at Makerere University says: “There will always be mummers among co-workers that the spouse never got the job on merit,†he says.
He adds that this could also cause an inferiority complex on the side of the spouse who was brought in.
“The partner who got the other a job will always feel that they did them a favour,†he says. According to Kikooma, this kind of attitude may ruin the relationship and the other person’s career.
Joy Kyomuhangi, a human resource officer in Kampala, says although some couples might blend well at home, it might not be the same case at work.
“You might find that the person you stay with at home is completely different at work,†she says.
Kyomuhangi adds that spouses working together might also fail to set boundaries between home and workplace matters.
“Since you work together and share the same challenges, you might bring home issues into the office,†Kyomuhangi says.
Experts say spouses working together might increase jealousy in the relationship. If ones’ partner tries to be friendly with a co-worker, especially of the opposite sex, the other might become jealous.
The couple becomes enslaved in their workplace and is unable to connect with other people because their spouses could be watching.
For this reason, some companies discourage workplace relationships.
However, Kyomuhangi says although working together might be hard for some couples, others find it easy.
“It offers time for couples to bond.â€
Kyomuhangi says couples can also share moments of stress together.
When one of the spouses is going through a bad moment, the other will be there to comfort them, she says.
Kyomuhangi adds that since the spouses are working together, they each understand the nature of the other’s work.
“When you return home late, there will not be any quarrels because your spouse knows where you have been.â€
NOWADAYS, people spend more time at work than at any other place. With the absence of adequate time to socialise, employees find it easier to get attracted to each other, which sometimes culminate into marriage.
Working with your spouse could be good if you are both at the same level.
However, it might not work out if one of you is a boss and brings in the other as a junior.
Julius Kikooma, a lecturer and a psychologist at Makerere University says: “There will always be mummers among co-workers that the spouse never got the job on merit,†he says.
He adds that this could also cause an inferiority complex on the side of the spouse who was brought in.
“The partner who got the other a job will always feel that they did them a favour,†he says. According to Kikooma, this kind of attitude may ruin the relationship and the other person’s career.
Joy Kyomuhangi, a human resource officer in Kampala, says although some couples might blend well at home, it might not be the same case at work.
“You might find that the person you stay with at home is completely different at work,†she says.
Kyomuhangi adds that spouses working together might also fail to set boundaries between home and workplace matters.
“Since you work together and share the same challenges, you might bring home issues into the office,†Kyomuhangi says.
Experts say spouses working together might increase jealousy in the relationship. If ones’ partner tries to be friendly with a co-worker, especially of the opposite sex, the other might become jealous.
The couple becomes enslaved in their workplace and is unable to connect with other people because their spouses could be watching.
For this reason, some companies discourage workplace relationships.
However, Kyomuhangi says although working together might be hard for some couples, others find it easy.
“It offers time for couples to bond.â€
Kyomuhangi says couples can also share moments of stress together.
When one of the spouses is going through a bad moment, the other will be there to comfort them, she says.
Kyomuhangi adds that since the spouses are working together, they each understand the nature of the other’s work.
“When you return home late, there will not be any quarrels because your spouse knows where you have been.â€