business socializing at the spa

The thought of getting even partially undressed with my coworkers is stomach turning at best.  According to a recent article on Knox News however, some companies disagree with me.

It’s Friday night and the techno beats are bouncing around the dimly lighted room. Perfectly groomed men and gaggles of smartly dressed young women are kicking back with wine, hors d’oeuvres and some pretty intense touching. No one is complaining about the very public interactions, especially not Leonard Lanzi.

With bare feet soaking in a sudsy pedicure tub, Lanzi, an executive with Junior Achievement, is surrounded by his employees, who seemed to be having a good time making fun of the boss’s calloused feet. Lanzi, for better or worse, invited the office to Happy Hour Friday at Dtox, a new place to socialize in Atwater Village near Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Despite the name, Dtox isn’t a bar, or a rehab joint, but a day spa that once a month throws open its treatment room doors to add a social element to massages, facials and pedicures.

Although it sounds like it could be fun with a co-ed group of friends, my aversion to doing it with people from work isn’t entirely unfounded;

If the idea of fraternizing with friends, or worse, business colleagues, when you’re wet, sweaty and covered with goop horrifies you, it should, says Diane Diehl, an expert in business protocol. “It really is very unprofessional, and it puts management at a disadvantage,” she says. “It brings down the necessary boundary of respect of the position. Avoid it.”

Read more about the transformation of spas into social gathering spots here