Couples In the Same Team

Hi

Would like to know if its ok to have couples in the same team.

1. Couples are of the same level- agents , When i say couples it could be husband and wife , Girl friends and boy friends etc .

Recently had one bad experience hence thought of taking a collective opinion

Regards

KM

Question asked by mathewe2s

Well… in my humble opinion, contact centres are a hot bed of social activity, especially if you recruit college leavers and younger agents…

I think you will be hard pressed to enforce a “no relationship” policy… as then it will just drive it underground.

If there has been a bad expereince in your centre, I suggest you treat it on a case by case basis. Also, the business must be agnostic to the relationshop, which means if the couple approaches the business and asks for staggered shifts or same shifts or another unusual demand, you should only deploy it if it benefits the company. No one else will have this sort of benefit in the centre, so why should they?

Hope this helps.

Gene

With thanks to GPR

Many companies, especially US based organisations, avoid allowing couples to work in the same team. There are many reasons for this;

1. Domestic Issues in the work place

As an example, I have personal experience of a team that included a couple. The couple in question brought their domestic arguments into the work place and pulled colleagues in to the disputes. This caused divisions in the team and distraction from the work.

In many cases relationships are short lived. Some may argue that it isn’t worth disrupting a team and moving someone when a relationship may be short lived. However, unless the relationship ends amicably, the fallout from a split can be even worse and more disruptive to the working environment.

2. Potential for conflicts of interest

A couple are always likely to want to go on holiday together, so when it comes to fairly allocating holiday requests their Manager may be faced with a tricky problem on an ongoing basis. The interest of the couple conflicts with other members of the team and the Managers ability to manage resources smoothly. Alternatively, what if an opportunity for promotion comes up e.g. team leader, one of the couple is a prime candidate but appointing them would give them some form of managerial responsibility for their partner. Even the most professional of people might find it challenging not to favour their partner in the course of their duties.

3. Commercial Risks

Allowing couples to work in the same team could increase the risk and potential for fraudulent activity. Again I have real life experience of a couple who managed to falsify their sales figures. They colluded to gain unauthorised access to a system and change non-sales records to sales records. The activity was only discovered after a complaint from a customer. The couple were motivated by financial gain as the changes they made would improve their bonus payments.

Having a ‘no relationship policy’ may drive it underground but a carefully crafted policy is worth considering. You can design it so it intentionally drives short term relationships underground while encouraging longer term relationships to be declared. Those in short-term relationships are likely to behave more professionally to keep a lid on it and keep domestic stuff out of the work environment.

The key to implementing something like this is make sure your policy is clearly defined and properly communicated, ensuring your staff understand the reasons for implementation.

There are of course always the exception to the rule and some couples can work together without anyone being the wiser but as a Manager, I’d prefer not to have a couple in my Team. As a Romantic……….well that’s a different story.

Hope this helps.

With thanks to Janette

avoid it at all costs. if 2 team members declare they have become a couple – move one. It never works. ever. If they have an arguement out of work, IT WILL impact in work. I’m 100% behind the Americans on this one. (Can you tell I’ve had to deal with this several times – an absolute nightmare).

With thanks to James

I have employed a couple on the same team for nearly two years, one has worked his way up to being a team leader and the other is a team member and they are brilliant.

As always it is how these things are managed……………….

With thanks to andrew mason

Couples in the same team are a ticking time bomb. Yes it depends how things are managed, however it depends more on the ouple and what sort of relationship they have in the first place. This is a gamble I would advise against. This is an issue which could potentialy affect every memeber of your team and not just the couple themselves.

With thanks to David Guthrie

I have two couples and Mother and Son in my team.

I have had no issues at all.

I agree that there could be issues but this applies to all things in business.

I think to seperate them straight away would cause even more issues.

With thanks to JasonIngold

Although some people in this forum have had bad experiences with couples, I would suggest deciding from casa to case what to do. There are some couples who can very reasonably separate between their job and private life.

With thanks to MaryGilles

well in my case this can go either way.It’s about the way the couple behave specially when they at work.yes sometimes due to arguements the quality of the work they have to perform might get effected.as long as its not effected to the job & both of them are working towards achieving the ultimate goal of the company i think upto a certain level this can be tolerate…But not in all incidents!!

With thanks to Srikanth

Just say no! It is inviting trouble – it is very simple to reassign one to another team, so why take the chance?

With thanks to dlexmond

Currently I have a couple in my team and as long as they keep everything professional while at work I dont see any issue with it.

(They themselves have said they would move jobs/ departments if they did break up)!

With thanks to blondie

Personally I think the relationship isn’t so much the issue, but the maturity of the individuals.

I have seen both situations, one where they two individuals got on great, dated and worked together for a few years before they both moved on. In another instance I have seen a couple break up, who subsequently couldn’t stand the sight of each other. However, they were both professional enough they didn’t let it effect their work, and I think that is the key point.

In the same way most people wouldn’t let their personal life have a negative affect on their work, just because you work together doesn’t mean this should be any less true.

Obviously if one individual is in a position of authority over the other then its a very different matter. I have seen how badly that can turn out, and really the only solution is for one of them to move to a different area.

With thanks to KevinP

Well said Kevin P ,

If common sense is applied everything is okay we are all grown ups now

With thanks to nicholson

In my Call Center it is strictly forbidden to have a relationship with the same team members. But in my opinion it is not fair, because these things shouldn’t be a matter of contracts.

With thanks to MarcS

Author: Jonty Pearce
Reviewed by: Robyn Coppell