Recently my coworker Tam asked me if I had heard about the clerk who got fired from Harrods, the high-end department store in London. Harrods, Tam explained, has a strict dress code that requires female clerks to wear makeup. The woman refused and was let go.

I googled to learn more and found this article  on Inc. magazine’s website. It turns out the clerk, Melanie Stark, wasn’t actually fired but instead resigned. She says that though she had worked several incident-free years at the store without lipstick, blush, or eyeliner, last year managers began pressuring her to start making herself up. She refused to apply and, she says, started paying the consequences. Managers sent her home, hid her in the stockroom, and transferred her. Finally she quit, “exhausted, stressed, and upset.”

For its part, Harrods claims that employees receive the strict dress code (all 13 pages’ worth) before they sign on, and that though managers did talk to Stark about her appearance and lack of adherence to the code, she was the one who chose to end her employment, not Harrods. Regardless, the incident has raised eyebrows worldwide.

At FlashPoint we work with clients to develop policies, many of which pertain to employee behavior and end up in the handbook. The company dress code is often one of the stickiest areas, especially when it comes to professional or service-oriented environments, where the organization needs to portray a certain image to customers. It’s often hard to define just exactly what the “image” is, and if the company keeps things too general, employees often end up confused. Go to the other extreme, and the company can run into situations like the one at Harrods.

In this case, it appears that Harrods took a sensible approach, at least from an HR perspective. The company developed a very detailed dress code policy and gave it to employees up front so they knew what they were agreeing to. When Stark didn’t follow the policy, managers discussed it with her (though it seems they didn’t do so immediately, which they should have done; it might have prevented the situation from escalating). When she continued to shun makeup, they pulled her from the floor and assigned her other duties. For the most part, it appears they consistently played things by the book.

Yet something about this still seems wrong—that Harrods was being boorish. The reason, I suppose, lies in the 13-page dress code itself, and the fact that the department store tells women that they must paint their faces in order to be attractive and presentable to customers. While many people who shop at Harrods no doubt agree, others surely find this to be offensive (and even discriminatory) in the 21st century.

It is the right and responsibility of a business to know its customers and provide them with the service they want and expect—and this includes regulating how employees dress. But as society’s standards change, companies must always reassess and update their policies to stay current. Was Harrods being reasonable in this case? Or was it trying to force an employee to fit into an old-fashioned sense of beauty?

We know you have thoughts, so please share.

George Hanlin is a consultant at FlashPoint.

Image: Louisa Stokes

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As part of the 2010 Indiana State Human Resources Conference, FlashPoint asked HR professionals across the state to tell us about the innovative HR-related programs they have introduced at their organizations. I had the opportunity to collect these innovative ideas and present them at the conference where attendees were invited to vote for the idea they considered most innovative. While a winner was selected (to be highlighted here soon), FlashPoint thought that all the ideas were deserving of a little more attention! Now, I get to share the details of these exciting and innovative programs. My hope is that these “mini case studies” will inspire you and your organization to be innovative!

Innovative idea submitted by: Susan Rush, Vice President, Human Resources
Organization:  Buchanan Group, Inc.

Manager’s Resource Manual

Joellyn: Can you briefly describe your innovative HR-related program?

Susan: We developed a Manager’s Resource Manual including comprehensive forms as a reference & resource for training and information on the mission, values, performance factors & behaviors, recruiting & hiring, new employee orientation, performance management, time off, safety & other workplace policies, separation of employment, and legal compliance.

Joellyn: Why did you develop this program? What problem/situation were you hoping to address?

Susan: Managers did not have a standard or any specific tools to best support, develop and review employees. Additionally, legal compliance was an issue that we needed to make sure all managers were aware of.

Joellyn: Why do you consider it innovative?

Susan: It is a one-stop tool to assist managers in handling the managerial portion of their jobs, including standardizing how we handle employees, reviews, legal compliance, etc.
It has become very widely used and referenced by the managers.

Joellyn: What impact have you seen? How did the program address your problem/situation and how has it improved the company and/or the HR function?

Susan: Managers now have a tool that they can review prior to delving into any topic to ensure legal compliance, to gain tips on handling employees with standard issues, to coach and develop them to meet/exceed expectations, to improve the performance review process. It has helped employees become better equipped to handle situations and provides managers with an immediate resource. It has helped supervisors appreciate the value of the Human Resource department and equipped both parties to better support each other.

What idea does this inspire for you and your company? Do you have a Manager’s Resource Manual?

Each month I’ll highlight another HR-related innovative idea. I invite you to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss other, similar posts. We have more innovative ideas on our FlashPoint website.

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Whenever I dress up for Halloween I often go as someone (or something) that’s related to a current event. Depending on who’s been in the news, and what he or she has been doing, that can sometimes be controversial.

So take it from someone who’s turned a few heads—allowing your employees to dress up for company Halloween celebrations can be trouble. The problem is, when you allow employees the opportunity to come to work in costumes, you open yourself up to claims of harassment and creating a hostile work environment. As much as you’d like to think your employees will use good judgment, sometimes they don’t; sometimes they show up to work in outfits that are inappropriate and do things that they wouldn’t dream of when not in disguise.

As an example, a few years ago we learned of a company that hosted a workplace Halloween party. A couple of employees dressed in outfits that were degrading and performed a skit that insulted some of their coworkers. The company ended up defending itself against an EEOC charge and making amends.

You don’t want this to happen to you, and the easiest way to prevent it is to prohibit Halloween costumes altogether. I know it’s not very fun, but it’s best to keep the workplace professional and leave it to your employees to celebrate on their own outside the office. If you do decide to allow costumes, at least be sure that you:

• Reiterate to your employees your company’s anti-harassment policies.
• Provide guidelines about what kind of costumes are not appropriate. Make sure that employees understand you won’t tolerate outfits that others may find insulting, offensive, or discriminatory.

Whether you’re a company owner, a manager, or head of HR, you have enough to deal with on a daily basis. The last thing you need is a Halloween nightmare on your hands. Be safe!

George Hanlin is a consultant at FlashPoint.

Image: Elvis Santana

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“FlashPoint needs to blog!”

“You need to get on Facebook!”

“You need to tweet!”

OK, we get it and . . . ta-da  . . . now you’re reading our first blog. Let me tell you, though—we’ve struggled a bit with social media. We’re HR consultants. You know . . .  the people who write policies (even some about social media), who develop organizational strategies, who provide hr training on topics such as management development and workplace conduct. That’s right—REALLY exciting stuff that I’m sure you’re dying to hear about!

Actually, we do work on some really cool things that we think you’ll find interesting, and we’re excited to share them. But I’m trying to make a point here. As we considered a blog and started researching how businesses are using social media, we found more on what we SHOULDN’T do than on what we should. We found that some companies tweet so many times a day that a working person couldn’t possibly keep up. Some company employees post things that shouldn’t be said in a locker room, let alone a board room. And then there are things that are just . . . well . . . boring. Despite these bad examples, we’ve still decided to join the blogosphere. Our goal is to be engaging and relevant, to blog in moderation, and to mind our manners (so at least our moms will read what we have to say).

Here is what you can expect from our postings:

1. Some thought leadership around business trends
2. Information on our commitment to the community
3. Some fun facts about our team (such as Krista’s affinity for Vampire movies)
4. HR resources and tips
5. Client news and engagements
6. Information on current events

So there you have it. At times like this I feel like Lloyd Christmas in the movie Dumb and Dumber, when he looked at Harry while they were traveling to Aspen and said, “We’re really doing it, man!”

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