personal vs. professional
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Sup haters 😎
Everyone loved that intro on Monday so I'm going to keep it up until I'm told otherwise... I'm listening!
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Come hang out with me IRL at an event you'll actually love! ❤️
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Anywaysss, happy Friday everyone and welcome to another edition of Dear Hebba & Friends!
This is the newsletter where all your HR questions are answered by the fabulous HR folk in my Safe Space community! 💗
If you have an HR question or concern of your own, you can submit it here and watch for its appearance in a future edition! 👀
This week, we're discussing that tricky line of personal versus professional. Namely, some of HR's worst nightmares like:
📲 What happens when social media blurs that line?
👗 When is it appropriate to enforce dress codes in the workplace? And how do we still be mindful of personal expression, misogyny, and feminism?
And lastly, it's Friday. Should we really have to work? Does anything matter? Everything is made up anyways. Here I go...
Enjoy and let me know your thoughts! 💕
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ASK AWAY
💼 personal vs. professionalCopy anchor linkCopied
✍🏽 How do I handle an employee who has a visible and public social media account with a lot of followers and is VERY open and shares A LOT about her personal life on her public page?
Context: Small NPO in a conservative area. We support gov, biz, & community leaders, CEOs, Unis, other NPOs. Funding comes from donations. I support her and she has every right to share her life but we still have to be aware of our publicity as an organization. Help!
📣 Jennifer Dawson, Chief People Officer at StartOut:
This may not be helpful if this is considered an urgent issue, but I would recommend coming up with a social media and/or public engagement policy that addresses this. I don't recommend trying to control employee's social media activity if it is truly personal activity and not tying to their professional profiles, but you can put some policies in place like requiring that they not share their employer and if they share opinions, explicitly stating that it is only their personal opinion and not on behalf of their employer, etc.
📣 Jessica Winder, SVP of People at Refine Labs:
We opted for a more casual "suggestion chat" rather than a full-on crackdown when discussing this. Since it was an employee's personal Instagram, the conversation aimed at offering advice rather than imposing strict rules. Thankfully, they were understanding and open to the suggestions.
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✍🏽 Workplace dress codes: Who gets to decide what is "appropriate" while allowing for personal expression? Finding the balance between feminism, real-world misogyny, and freedom of expression. And how to talk about it with staff.
Context: 11 employees, marketing firm, all women and gender non-conforming folks.
📣 Manaan Alexander, Operations Lead at CommandBar:
This is a tough question but I think I would start by asking the “why” behind wanting to implement a dress code. Sounds like they might have client facing teammembers so there could be an answer like - “We work with lots of different companies and want to make sure our clients feel xyz so we’d like to implement some rules of the road for client facing work” - this might be especially important if you do work in a more traditional sector. Or is this question coming from inside the company where someone feels uncomfortable, etc. Once you can answer the why, it’ll be easier to figure out what next steps you need to take.
📣 Laura García-Courrau, Global Director of HR at Our World Energy:
Agreed 100% with Manaan. The course of action should be dictated by the root cause of this ask.
📣 Jessica Winder, SVP of People at Refine Labs:
Here is what I've used in a previous Culture Playbook - not sure of the culture/tone of your company but this worked for us.
" Alright, team, listen up. We're all adults here, so let's keep it real. When you're on the clock, dress like you mean business. That means no frayed jeans, offensive tees, or anything that makes HR raise an eyebrow. We're not spelling out every little detail, because we trust you to use that adult judgment. Clean, neat, and professional—that's the look. Got it? Good. Let's show the world we mean business without the dress-up drama."
Many more People Leaders had thoughts and advice on these questions...
Find out what they had to say in the private Safe Space forum.
🚨 ON YOUR RADAR
🤠 November 14th: I've teamed up with Rippling to host a happy hour you'll actually love in Austin, Texas. Join us for an evening of tacos, corn hole, and insightful discussion about company culture!
💻 November 15th: I'm hosting another HR Therapy. We're breaking down what an effective HR tech stack looks like going into 2024. Join me!
👥 November 15th: Safe Space member Mariel Davis, Co-Founder at Spokn, is hosting an interactive session to provide practical tips and creative ideas to grow your ERG community!
🎧 I Hate It Here Podcast: I've been releasing new episodes of my podcast with some pretty amazing guests! Check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!
🔗 Hirefor Partnership: HireFor makes your life easier when it comes to recruiting (and Safe Space members get a HUGE discount).
💰Pay Transparency matters (but it's also difficult). That's why I created this course to help you stay ahead of the curve.
🎵 Screaming into the Void: I made this Spotify playlist for when you want to rage. Please enjoy (and send me song recommendations)!
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FRIDAY FUN
😤 some praise, finallyCopy anchor linkCopied
Extremely rare image of HR getting the praise they deserve on a daily basis. I hope you receive some praise this week.
Is anyone else on booktok and think this trend is hilarious?? LMK 📚
That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed! If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I'm allll ears.
Reminder: Today is FRIDAY. 🙏
