No one at work wants to “meet the girls”

Here’s a fool-proof way to hold your career back. Remember that great shirt you got at Forever XXI? The one with the sparkly sequins and plunging neckline? “The girls” never looked so good. Well here’s what…don’t wear it to work unless you are employed in an LA tanning salon, a massage parlour, or as a bikini barista. Because in corporate America, no one really wants to see the girls.

I see so many 20-something gals come to work with the low necklines, and then wonder why they aren’t considered for promotions and/or taken seriously. I know, I know…you are getting all steamed up reading this. You’re thinking I must be some middle-aged prude with a bad figure who is jealous. Not so. I’m the HR person that the guys in the office come to saying how awkward they feel trying to look you in the eyes instead of at your neckline. I’m the HR person to whom your manager says “will I get sued for sexual harassment if I tell her to button up a bit?” I’m the HR person who hears comments about you like “My God, what was she thinking?” and “Does she have absolutely no sense of appropriateness?” And I’m the HR person who sees the CEO roll his or her eyes when your name comes up.

Listen gals, you are lucky to have a great figure. I’m not saying you can’t be proud and show that off. Just remember that you have no control over how others perceive you, only over how you present yourself. You may feel it’s fine to lean over and offer full exposure to others in the office. But you don’t really wish for your co-workers to be uncomfortable do you? You aren’t really wanting folks to talk about you behind your back in a derogatory way, are you? Of course not. So please, put the girls away during the day and then if you are so inclined, show them to the world outside of work.

CEO’s and their Butt Kissers

Let’s start this blog with some thoughts for CEO’s regarding corporate politics around “moving up” in the firm. Corporate politics are alive and well and living in a company near you. Companies spend loads of cash crafting those corporate values and culture statements and plaster them all over their websites. Some even share them with interviewees…hoping to impress them with the firm’s deep committment to shared values. Well, that’s lovely isn’t it? But the truth is that most leaders will toss those values out the door if their favorite butt-kisser comes calling. I’m talking about those “up and comers” who will do just about anything to impress the boss. And if the boss needs an ego boost, we have the perfect recipe for workplace dysfunction. We see folks with questionable ethics, inability to follow policy, and an uncanny knack for turning out mediocre deliverables get promoted and praised every day. I’m not saying everyone has to run around being a model of corporate values, but I do think that if a firm invests so much time and energy into developing and publishing them, the top leaders should use them as anchors…holding themselves to them when big decisions must be made. Hey CEO’s – don’t promote your buddies, and then claim to have worked closely with HR on a leadership succession program that resulted in these promotions.  Apply those corporate values when it comes to promotions and praise. Take a close look at the employees who are truly top producers, can be depended on to “do the right thing,” and really take pride in stuff like client service. These are the individuals who should get attention and praise. And coincidentally, I’ll bet their behavior maps pretty well to those corporate values now doesn’t it?